Wheelchair Challenge Cup

Wheelchair Challenge Cup

The women's, men's, and wheelchair Challenge Cup trophies
Sport	Wheelchair rugby league
Instituted	2015[1]
Inaugural season	2015
Country	England  France  Scotland  Wales
Winners	Catalans Dragons (2024)
Most titles	Halifax Panthers (4 titles)
Broadcast partner	BBC Red Button (final only)
Related competition	RFL Wheelchair Super League

The Wheelchair Challenge Cup is a wheelchair rugby league competition organised by the Rugby Football League.

The Wheelchair Challenge Cup was established in 2015.^[1] Originally the tournament was played using a knockout format. Halifax defeated Medway Dragons 120–40 in the opening round of the 2015 competition^[2] and went on to win the final against Mersey Storm^[3][4] before completing the double by winning the league championship.^[5] Another double followed for Halifax in 2016 which included a 92–48 win over Leeds Rhinos in the cup final. Leeds had scored over 100 points their previous two rounds but faced a Halifax side who had not lost a match since June 2015.^[6][7] Halifax repeated the double again in the 2017 season with a 110–48 cup final win over Leeds that included 15 tries by Jack Brown.^[8] Other notable matches included a 160–0 win for Leeds over Argonauts in the opening round and the first all-Scottish match in the competition between Dundee Dragons and Glasgow Panthers in the quarter-finals.^[9]

In 2018, a plate competition was introduced which was intended to reduce the number of one-sided fixtures being played. The two plate finalists qualified for the quarter-finals of the cup though the finals of both competitions were played on the same day.^[10] Hereford Harriers defeated North Wales Crusaders for the plate and Halifax won the cup competition for the fourth time by defeating Dundee Dragons 62–18 in the final.^[11] In 2019, the plate was replaced by Challenge Trophy played as a separate competition competition for teams outside of the Super League. Leeds Rhinos won 74–46 against Argonauts to win the cup for the first time.^[12]

In the draw for the 2020 cup, which contained only six teams, two were given byes to the semi-final,^[13] but following the cancellation of the 2020 competition a new format was introduced in 2021 with the teams playing in a round-robin tournament.^[14] The top two teams qualified for the final which was a repeat of the 2019 final with Leeds retaining the title with a 60–26 victory.^[15] The following year it was the top four from the round-robin stage that qualified for the semi-finals. French team, Catalans Dragons, made their début in the competition, but lost in the final to Leeds who claimed the cup for the third time.^[16][17] The 2023 competition saw the top two teams advance to the final. Catalans and Leeds were both unbeaten in the qualifiers and drew 4–4 against each other to set up a rematch in the final which Catalans won 66–20 to add the Challenge Cup to their French Championship and Coupe de France titles.^[18][19][20]

From 2024, the Challenge Cup reverted to a straight knockout format, like the running game, for the five Super League sides, Catalans Dragons, and the Challenge Trophy finalists.^[21][22] Hereford Harriers and Edinburgh Giants, who qualified through the Challenge Trophy, were both knocked out in the quarter-finals.^[23] Catalans Dragons retained the title with a 81–18 win over Wigan Warriors in the final.^[24]

Round One

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Halifax

120

Medway Dragons

40

Halifax

W

Halifax

W

Leyland Warriors

Leyland Warriors

120

Gravesend Dynamite

22

Halifax

W

Mersey Storm

Mersey Storm

W

Leeds Rhinos

Sources:^{[a][2][3][4][25]}

	Round 1				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
					Halifax	24
	Gravesend Dynamite	102			Gravesend Dynamite	0
	Hereford Harriers	32							Halifax	84
									Bradford Bulls	35
					Hull F.C.	52
	Bradford Bulls	72			Bradford Bulls	62
	Dundee Dragons	34											Halifax	92
													Leeds Rhinos	48
					Leeds Rhinos	144
	Glasgow Panthers	66			Glasgow Panthers	4
	Keighley Cougars	18							Leeds Rhinos	104
									Medway Dragons	48
					Medway Dragons	48
	Folkestone Spitfires	124			Folkestone Spitfires	26
	Dartford Vipers	4

Sources:^{[26][3][27][28]}

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Leyland Warriors	28
	Halifax	58
					Halifax	72
					Dundee Dragons	12
	Dundee Dragons	58
	Glasgow Panthers	28
									Halifax	18
									Leeds Rhinos	62
	Leeds Rhinos	96
	Mersey Storm	40
					Leeds Rhinos	84
					Medway Dragons	66
	Medway Dragons	46
	North Wales Crusaders	36

Sources:^{[b][8][29][30]}

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Dundee Dragons	46
	Medway Dragons	10
					Dundee Dragons	24
					St Helens	0
	Hereford Harriers	42
	St Helens	44
									Dundee Dragons	18
									Halifax	62
	Leyland Warriors	24
	Halifax	92
					Halifax	68
					Leeds Rhinos	42
	Argonauts
	Leeds Rhinos

Sources:^{[c][d][10][11][32][33][34][35]}

	Round One				Semi-finals				Final
	30 June
	Argonauts	104
					21 July
	St Helens	4
					Argonauts	78
	30 June
					North Wales Crusaders	27
	North Wales Crusaders	64
									17 August
	Hereford Harriers	51
									Leeds Rhinos	74
									Argonauts	46
					30 June
					Leeds Rhinos	62
					Halifax	48

source:^[36][37][38]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts		LEE	ARG	HAL	LEY	HUL	NWC
1	Leeds Rhinos	5	5	0	0	124	24	+100	10			16–6	20–12	24–0	30–6	34–0
2	Argonauts	5	3	1	1	84	52	+32	7				6–6	22–6	24–12	26–12
3	Halifax Panthers	5	3	1	1	76	58	+18	7					8–6	24–12	26–14
4	Leyland Warriors	5	1	1	3	57	88	−31	3						16–16	29–18
5	Hull F.C.	5	1	1	3	58	104	−46	3							12–10
6	North Wales Crusaders	5	0	0	5	54	127	−73	0

	Final
	1	Leeds Rhinos	60
	2	Argonauts	26

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts		LEE	CAT	WIG	HAL	LON	HUL	WAR
1	Leeds Rhinos	6	6	0	0	100	12	+88	12			8–0	8–6	24–6	20–0	18–0	22–0
2	Catalans Dragons	6	5	0	1	162	16	+146	10				20–4	42–0	30–4	30–0	40–0
3	Wigan Warriors	6	4	0	2	97	42	+55	8					11–2	10–6	36–6	30–0
4	Halifax Panthers	6	3	0	3	72	83	−11	6						10–6	36–0	18–0
5	London Roosters	6	2	0	4	46	80	−34	4							10–6	20–4
6	Hull F.C.	6	1	0	5	30	134	−104	2								18–4
7	Warrington Wolves	6	0	0	6	8	148	−140	0

	Semi-finals					Final
	1	Leeds Rhinos	36
	4	Halifax Panthers	6
						Leeds Rhinos		48
						Catalans Dragons		34
	2	Catalans Dragons	30
	3	Wigan Warriors	6

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts		CAT	LEE	HUL	HAL	LON	WAR	WIG
1	Catalans Dragons	6	5	1	0	11			4–4	16–0		1–0
2	Leeds Rhinos	6	5	1	0	11				12–4
3	Hull F.C.	6	4	0	2	8					8–4	8–4	12–2	16–0
4	Halifax Panthers	6	—	—	3+	—
5	London Roosters	6	—	—	3+	—
6	Warrington Wolves	6	—	—	3+	—
7	Wigan Warriors	6	—	—	3+	—

	Final
	1	Catalans Dragons	66
	2	Leeds Rhinos	20

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	27 April
	Leeds Rhinos	86
					18 May
	Hereford Harriers	12
					Leeds Rhinos	30
	27 April
					Wigan Warriors	48
	Wigan Warriors	70
									1 June
	Halifax Panthers	32
									Wigan Warriors	18
	4 May
									Catalans Dragons	81
	London Roosters	108
					18 May
	Edinburgh Giants	4
					London Roosters	12
	11 May
					Catalans Dragons	74
	Hull FC	6
	Catalans Dragons	78

Source:^{[38][23][39][40][41][42][24]}

List of finals

Year	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Venue	Ref.
2015	Halifax	?–?	Mersey Storm	unknown	[3][4]
2016	Halifax	92–48	Leeds Rhinos	Huddersfield Sports Centre	[26][43]
2017	Halifax	110–48	Leeds Rhinos		[8]
2018	Halifax	62–18	Dundee Dragons	Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Bradford	[11]
2019	Leeds Rhinos	74–46	Argonauts	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	[12]
2020	Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Leeds Rhinos	60–26	Argonauts	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	[15]
2022	Leeds Rhinos	48–34	Catalans Dragons	Allam Arena, Hull	[17][44]
2023	Catalans Dragons	66–20	Leeds Rhinos	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	[19]
2024	Catalans Dragons	81–18	Wigan Warriors		[24]

Team	Winners	Runners-up
Halifax Panthers	4	0
Leeds Rhinos	3	3
Catalans Dragons	2	1
Argonauts	0	2
Dundee Dragons	0	1
Mersey Storm	0	1
Wigan Warriors	0	1

In 2018, the Rugby Football League introduced a Plate competition as part of the Challenge Cup.^[10] It was planned to continue in 2019,^[45] but was instead replaced by the inaugural Wheelchair Challenge Trophy.^[46] The Challenge Trophy is played alongside the Challenge Cup, for teams outside the Super League. This was originally played as a separate competition,^[47] but in 2024 it was announced that the two finalists would qualify to take part in the Challenge Cup.^[22]

List of finals

Year	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Venue	Ref.
2018	Hereford Harriers	63–32	North Wales Crusaders[c]	Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Bradford	[11]
2019	Gravesend Dynamite	75–48	Hull FC	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	[36]
2020	Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Gravesend Dynamite	19–12	Warrington Wolves	Cardinal Newman Catholic High School, Warrigton
2022	Gravesend Dynamite	82–40	Mersey Storm	Allam Arena, Hull	[48]
2023	Gravesend Dynamite	88–80	Sheffield Eagles	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	[49]
2024	Hereford Harriers	17–16	Edinburgh Giants	National Basketball Performance Centre, Manchester	[50][51]

Team	Winners	Runners-up
Gravesend Dynamite	4	0
Hereford Harriers	2	0
Edinburgh Giants	0	1
Hull	0	1
Mersey Storm	0	1
North Wales Crusaders	0	1
Sheffield Eagles	0	1
Warrington Wolves	0	1

• Wheelchair Super League
• Challenge Cup
• Women's Challenge Cup