The

2012 Challenge Cup The 2012 Challenge Cup (also known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th staging of the most competitive European rugby league tournament at club level and was open to teams from England, Wales, Scotland and France. ...

Final was the 111th cup-deciding game of the rugby league

Season. It was held 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 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 25 August 2012, kick off 14:30. The final was contested by

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The game saw Warrington beat Leeds by 35 points to 18.

Background

The 2012 Challenge Cup Final would be Leeds Rhinos third consecutive Challenge Cup Final which included a 30–6 defeat to opponents Warrington Wolves in the 2010 Final. Apart from 2010, the only other time these two sides had faced each other in the final was during the

1935–36 Challenge Cup The 1935–36 Challenge Cup was the 36th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First Round Second Round Quarter Finals Semi Finals Final Leeds beat Warrington 18-2 in the Challenge Cup Final played at W ...

where Leeds won 18–2. The 2012 Final would be Warrington's sixth final and Leeds's eleventh. This would be the first of two major finals these two teams would contest in the 2012 season with the teams also competing in the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested b ...

Route to the final

Leeds Rhinos

As a 2011 Super League team, Leeds entered in at the fourth round, drawing Super League side

Wakefield Trinity 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 Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

, beating them by 38 points to 18. The fifth round saw Leeds face Super League opposition again, beating

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 ...

, 26 points to 10. The quarter finals saw them face

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 ...

side Leigh Centurions, thrashing them 60 points to 12. Finally, the semi-finals saw the Rhinos draw rival club, and eventual Super League league leaders,

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

, beating them 39 points to 28.

Warrington Wolves

As a 2011 Super League team, Warrington also entered in at the fourth round. A fourth round victory over

side

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England who compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. Keighley's home ground, Cougar Park has a capacity of 7,800. History Early y ...

saw them progress to the fifth round where a beat Super League side

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

32 points to 16. The Wolves faced London Broncos in the quarter finals, thrashing them 50 points to 14. Finally, Warrington faced

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 semi-finals, thrashing them by 33 points to 8.

Match details

References

{{2012 in rugby league Challenge Cup finals Leeds Rhinos matches Warrington Wolves matches August 2012 sports events in the United Kingdom 2012 sports events in London