The Leeds Rhinos–Wigan Warriors rivalry, recently branded as the War of the Roses derby, is 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 112 ...

rivalry born from the

roses rivalry The term "Roses rivalry" can refer to sporting rivalries between teams from the English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The name of the rivalry is derived from the historic Wars of the Roses which was fought between the House of Lancaster a ...

and strong competitive history between the clubs with them both being considered two of the best in England.

History

The rivalry between

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 Headi ...

and

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 Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

is the primary representation of the

in rugby league. Both clubs are the most decorated in their respective counties and have 33 league championships between them to date (beaten only by the collective hall of St Helens and Wigan Warriors at 38). The rivalry has been described as the most underrated rivalry in British rugby league, and having the grounds to be placed with the aforementioned

Good Friday Derby In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

between St Helens and Wigan and the Hull Derby. The rivalry was not present in the early years of rugby league, despite both clubs being founder members of the NRFU, with Leeds not winning their first league title until 1961. From then, the competitive rivalry started to intensify, but it wasn't until Wigan's period of dominance in the late 80s and 90s then Leeds's dominance in the late 00s and early 10s which saw both teams win

the treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

in their respective periods and the rivalry become what it is today.

Name

Since the discontinuation of the county origin series

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

in 2003, the Leeds-Wigan rivalry has seemingly inherited the name in the years since only adding to the rivalry's intensity. As representatives of the largest cities in each county (

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

), the term "Roses Derby" is often used to describe matches between sports teams from these cities, the term has been used for a greater period of time to describe matches in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. Historically, the term referred to the rivalry between the

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 126 ...

and the

House of York The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, ...

in the counties where both clubs are located get their name.

Head to Head

:''Statistics correct as of 19/8/22'' In all competitions, competitive and uncompetitive:

Meetings in major finals

* 1982–83 League Cup Final: Wigan 15–4 Leeds * 1993–94 Challenge Cup Final: Wigan 26–16 Leeds *

1994–95 Challenge Cup The 1994–95 Challenge Cup was the 94th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup (due to sponsorship by Silk Cut cigarettes), the tournament commenced with the first round in D ...

Final: Wigan 30–10 Leeds * 1994–95 Premiership Final: Wigan 69–12 Leeds *1995–96 Charity Shield: Wigan 45–20 Leeds *

1998 Super League Grand Final The 1998 JJB Super League Grand Final was the first staging of the Super League Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding game of 1998's Super League III, and the first Grand Final of the Super League era. It was held on Saturday ...

: Wigan 10–4 Leeds * 2011 Challenge Cup Final: Wigan 28–18 Leeds *

2015 Super League Grand Final The 2015 Super League Grand Final was the 18th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XX season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2015, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. The ...

: Leeds 22–20 Wigan

Collective Honours

:''As of the

2022 Challenge Cup Final The 2022 Challenge Cup Final was the 121st final of rugby league's Challenge Cup knock-out competition, which was contested between Huddersfield Giants and Wigan Warriors. It took place on 28 May 2022 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Wigan won ...

Notes

References

Rugby league rivalries Sports rivalries in the United Kingdom {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds Rhinos-Wigan Warriors rivalry