The 2016 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 115th staging of the
Challenge Cup the main
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
knockout tournament for teams in the
Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.
The cup was won by
Hull F.C.
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
who beat
Warrington Wolves
The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004.
Founded as Warrington ...
12–10 in the final at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
on 27 August 2016.
The defending champions,
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...
who were looking to win the trophy three times in a row were defeated by
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...
in the sixth round.
The format of the competition is eight knock-out rounds followed by a final. The first two rounds are composed entirely of amateur teams. The nine winners of the second round ties are joined in round 3 by the 15
Championship 1 teams. For the fourth round the 12
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
teams are included in the draw. Starting in 2015 and continuing for the 2016 competition round 5 sees four
Super League teams entering the competition. These are the four teams that finished in the bottom four positions of the 2015 Super League and are;
Widnes Vikings
The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two r ...
,
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...
,
Salford Red Devils
The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...
, and
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...
. These are the same four teams that joined at this stage in the 2015 competition. The remaining eight Super League teams join in round 6.
First round
The draw for the first round of the 2016 Challenge Cup was held on 7 January 2016 at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
and featured 36 amateur teams from around the United Kingdom including two student teams, all three armed services and the police. Home teams were drawn by
Tom Briscoe
Tom Briscoe (born 19 March 1990) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Leigh Leopards in the Betfred Super League and has played for England at international level.
He previously played for Leeds Rhinos a ...
and the away teams drawn by
Lizzie Jones.
Fixtures for the first round were played over the weekend of the 30–31 January 2016.
Second round
The draw for the second round was held at
RAF Coningsby
Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and ho ...
on 2 February 2016 and the teams were drawn by
Sheffield Eagles coach
Mark Aston
Mark Aston (born 27 September 1967) is the head coach of Sheffield Eagles in the Betfred Championship. He is an English rugby league coach, and former rugby league who spent the majority of his playing career with Sheffield Eagles. He also h ...
and
Batley Bulldogs
Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...
coach
John Kear
John Kear (born 25 November 1954) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship and the Wales national rugby league team. He also works as a pundit for BBC Sport and is a f ...
.
Ties were played on 13 February.
Third round
The third round draw was held on 16 February at
North Wales Crusaders
The North Wales Crusaders ( cy, Croesgadwyr Gogledd Cymru Rygbi'r Gynghrair) is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in ...
ground, the Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium, Wrexham. The draw was made by
Paul Rowley and
Lee Briers
Lee Paul Briers (born 14 June 1978) is a professional rugby league coach who is on the coaching staff of the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, and a former Wales international rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
A Gr ...
. The 12 ties were played over the last weekend of February.
Fourth round
The draw for the fourth round was made on 1 March at the White Lion
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
in
Swinton. The draw was made by retired players
Adrian Morley
Adrian Paul Morley is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward from the 1990s through the 2010s. A Great Britain and England international, he played for the Leeds Rhinos (with whom he won the 1999 C ...
and
Paul Wellens
Paul Simon Wellens (born 27 February 1980) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of St Helens in the Betfred Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer.
A Great Britain and England interna ...
.
The 24 teams in the draw comprise the 7
Championship 1 teams and 5
National Conference League
The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...
teams who won through from the third round and the 12 teams of the Championship.
Ties were played over the weekend of 18–20 March.
[
]
Fifth round
The fifth round draw was made on Tuesday 22 March. This round sees the first entry of Super League clubs when the teams that finished 9th – 12th in the 2015 season are in the draw. The draw was made by Sam Tomkins
Sam Tomkins (born 23 March 1989) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and occasional for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and England at international level.
He is the two time and current and r ...
and Chris Hill (Hill was a late replacement for Sean Long). Ties were played over the weekend of 15–17 April.
The tie between Batley and Featherstone was shown live on Sky Sports 5.
Sixth round
The draw for the sixth round was made on 21 April 2016 live on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
''Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' programme. The teams were drawn by ''Today'' presenter John Humphrys
Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter for the '' Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until 2019 he presented on the BBC Radio 4 ...
and former England and Great Britain international player Martin Offiah
Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted i ...
. Ties were played over 6–8 May 2016.
Sky televised the Batley v Catalans game on Friday 6 May. The BBC broadcast Castleford v Salford on Saturday 7 May and St Helens v Hull on Sunday 8 May.
Quarter finals
The quarter final draw was made after the conclusion of the St Helens vs Hull game, live on BBC 2. The home teams were drawn by Linzi Prescott (widows of Steve Prescott) and the away teams by Tommy Martyn
Thomas Martyn (born 4 June 1971) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for Ireland, and at club level for Oldham ( Herit ...
. Ties will be played over the weekend of 23–25 June.
All four matches were broadcast live. The games at Huddersfield and Hull were shown on Sky Sports and the other two games by BBC Sport.
Semi finals
The semi-final draw was made immediately after the Wigan v Castleford quarter final game. The draw was made by Castleford and Leigh player Bob Beardmore and Ian Gildart
Ian Frederick Gildart (born 14 October 1969) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who in the 1980s and 1990s played for Wigan, Wakefield Trinity and Oldham as a , before assisting at Wigan St Patricks ARLFC.
Background
Gil ...
who played for Wigan, Wakefield Trinity and Oldham.
Final
The final was played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 27 August 2016. Hull were seeking a first ever Challenge Cup victory at Wembley while Warrington were looking for their first win since 2012.
In a close fought game Hull came from 10–0 down with only 20 minutes left to play to win 12–10. Hull , Marc Sneyd was voted the winner of the Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed i ...
.
Teams:
Hull: Jamie Shaul, Stevie Michaels, Mahe Fonua
Mahe Fonua (born 24 December 1992) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a or er for Doncaster RLFC in the RFL League 1.
He has previously played for the Melbourne Storm and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and Hull FC in ...
, Kirk Yeaman, Fetuli Talanoa, Carlos Tuimavave
Carlos Tuimavave (born 10 January 1992) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a or for Hull F.C. in the Super League.
He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
Backgroun ...
, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton, Liam Watts, Sika Manu
Viliami Sikalamu "Sika" Manu (born 22 January 1987) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward for Tonga and New Zealand at international level, being a member of the World Cup winning Kiwi team who beat Australi ...
, Mark Minichiello
Markus Antonio "Mark" Minichiello (born 30 January 1982) is a former Italy international rugby league footballer who played as a forward.
He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL ...
, Gareth Ellis
Gareth Ellis (born 3 May 1981) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the Super League and the NRL, and England and Great Britain at international level.
He played at club level for the Wakefield Tr ...
(captain). Substitutes (all used): Josh Bowden, Frank Pritchard
Frank Semu Pritchard (born 3 November 1983), also known by the nicknames "Cranky" and "Frank the Tank", is a former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand and Samoa at international level. A , he played in the Nationa ...
, Danny Washbrook, Chris Green.
Tries: Fonua (1), Shaul (1). Goals: Sneyd (2/2).
Warrington Wolves: Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell
Matthew Russell (born 6 June 1993) is a Scottish professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or er for the Warrington Wolves in the Betfred Super League and Scotland at international level.
He previously played for the Wigan Warriors i ...
, Toby King, Ryan Atkins
Ryan Atkins (born 7 October 1985) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for York City Knights in the Betfred Championship and formerly England at international level.
He previously played for the Bradford Bu ...
, Rhys Evans
Rhys Karl Evans (born 27 January 1982) is an English former professional footballer and goalkeeper coach. He played as a goalkeeper, who won two England under-21 caps.
Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, he began his career with Chelsea, where he st ...
, Kurt Gidley
Kurt Geoffrey Gidley (born 7 June 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative an ...
, Chris Sandow
Chris Sandow (born 9 January 1989) is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a goal-kicking or , he could also play as a .
Background
Sandow was born in Kingaroy, Queensland.
Sandow grew up in Quee ...
, Chris Hill (captain), Daryl Clark
Daryl Clark (born 10 February 1993) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Warrington Wolves in the Betfred Super League and England at international level.
He played for the Castleford Tigers ( Heritage â ...
, Ashton Sims
Ashton Sims (born 26 February 1985) is a Fijian former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Fiji, and at club level for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, the Brisbane Broncos and th ...
, Ben Currie, Jack Hughes, Joe Westerman. Substitutes (all used): George King George King may refer to:
Politics
* George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician
* George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon
* George Clift King (18 ...
, Brad Dwyer, Ben Westwood
Ben Westwood (born 25 July 1981) is an English former rugby league footballer who played as a or in the Betfred Super League. He played for England and the England Knights at international level.
He previously played for the Wakefield Trin ...
, Ryan Bailey.
Tries: Russell (1), Currie (1). Goals: Gidley (1/3).
References
Notes
{{2016 in rugby league
Challenge Cup
2016 in rugby league
2016 in English rugby league
2016 in Welsh rugby league
2016 in French rugby league
2016 in Scottish sport