The 2022 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2022 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the third playing of the

RFL 1895 Cup The 1895 Cup is a British rugby league competition for clubs in the Rugby League Championships. History There have been many cup competitions for the lower leagues of rugby league. In 2002 the Championship Cup was founded for Championship and ...

, a

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 ...

football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The competition for clubs who play below the top-tier Super League, with amateur clubs joining lower-tier professional clubs in qualification for the first time. The competition was played from April to May 2022. The final was played as a

curtain raiser A curtain raiser is a short performance, stage act, show, actor or performer that opens a show for the main attraction. The term is derived from the act of raising the stage curtain. The first person on stage has "raised the curtain". The fashio ...

to the 2022 Challenge Cup Final at

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the third-largest football stadium in England and the ...

, London on 28 May 2022.

Format and eligibility

All professional RFL member clubs below the Super League are eligible to participate in the 1895 Cup, as well as those amateur teams which entered the Challenge Cup. Newly formed Cornwall R.L.F.C. who play in League 1 decided not to enter the competition. The 2021 competition had run with an altered format due to the disruption caused to that season by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under these changes, the early rounds of the

2021 Challenge Cup The 2021 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup, was the 120th edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). This yea ...

served as the opening rounds of the 1895 Cup, with the four teams which progressed from round 2 of the Challenge Cup also becoming semi-finalists of the 1895 Cup. That format was popular among teams, and so the 2022 tournament returned with an adapted version of that, reflecting the re-formatting of the Challenge Cup to facilitate the re-entry of amateur sides to that tournament. This adapted format for 2022 saw five teams progress from round 5 of the Challenge Cup, and hence qualify for the 1895 Cup. Any Championship, League 1 or amateur team that subsequently won in round 6 of the Challenge Cup would qualify automatically for the semi-finals of the 1895 Cup. However, none of the five teams that reached s round 6 of the Challenge Cup won. This fixed the format for the 1895 cup with two of the five qualifiers competing in a play-off match on 9/10 April, to reduce the number of teams to four for the semi-finals on the 7/8 May, with the final held on the 28 May.

Qualification

The five teams who won in the fifth round of the Challenge Cup, and therefore qualified for the 1895 Cup, were Sheffield Eagles,

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 Rugby Football League season, 1995–96 and 1996 RFL Division Two, 1996 ...

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

and Leigh Centurions. The draw for the play-off match and the semi-finals was made on 28 March.

Play-off round

Due to ongoing building work at Sheffield's ground, the match will be played at Featherstone Rover's stadium instead.

Semi-finals

Barrow, Featherstone and Leigh all received a bye to this round.

Final

References

{{2022 in rugby league 2022 in English rugby league 2022 in Welsh rugby league RFL 1895 Cup