The 2001 Challenge Cup (officially known as the 2001

Silk Cut Silk Cut is a British brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group, a division of Japan Tobacco. The packaging is characterised by a distinctive stark white packet with the brand name in a purple, blue, red, silver, wh ...

Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) 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 ...

football tournament which began its preliminary stages in December 2000 and ended with the final on 28 April 2001.

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 ...

were the reigning champions, following their 24–18 victory over Leeds Rhinos in the

2000 Challenge Cup The 2000 Challenge Cup (officially known as the 2000 Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby league football tournament which began its preliminary stages in December 1999 and ended with the final on 29 April 2000. The final w ...

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...

Round 1

Ties were scheduled to be played over the weekend of 2–3 December 2000, although two matches did not take place until 9 and 16 December.

Round 2

Ties were due to be played over the weekend of 16–17 December 2000 but the round was not completed until 13 January 2001. ;Notes A. After extra time

Round 3

Ties were played over the weekend of 26–28 January 2001.

Round 4

Ties were played between 10–14 February 2001

Round 5

The fifth round fixtures were played over the weekend of 24–25 February 2001.

Quarter-finals

The quarter finals was played over the weekend of 9–11 March 2001

Semi-finals

The ties were played on 31 March and 1 April 2001. ----

Final

The 100th Challenge Cup final was played on 28 April 2001 and was the first to be played at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

Hear'Say Hear'Say were a British pop group. They were created through the ITV reality TV show '' Popstars'' in February 2001, the first UK series of the international '' Popstars'' franchise. The group, who were signed to Polydor Records, originally ...

performed before the match. St Helen's

stand off ''Whole Lotta Sole'' (known as ''Stand Off'' in North America) is a 2012 independent criminal comedy film co-written and directed by Terry George and starring Brendan Fraser, David O'Hara, Colm Meaney, Yaya DaCosta and Martin McCann. Plot H ...

Sean Long was 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

St Helens:

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 ...

Sean Hoppe Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

Kevin Iro Kevin Leslie Iro (born 24 May 1968), also known by the nickname of '"The Beast", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for New Zeala ...

Paul Newlove Paul Newlove (born 10 August 1971) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain and England international representative, he competed in the Super League competition, featur ...

, Anthony Sullivan;

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 ...

, Sean Long,

David Fairleigh David Fairleigh (born 1 September 1970 in Wyoming, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australian int ...

Keiron Cunningham Keiron Cunningham (born 28 October 1976) is a professional rugby league coach and former player. A Great Britain and Wales international representative , he played his entire professional career at St Helens, making nearly 500 appearances for ...

Sonny Nickle Sonny Nickle (born 4 May 1969) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He played at club level as a or for Hunslet, St Helens, Bradford Bulls, Sheffield Eagles and the Leigh Centu ...

Chris Joynt Christopher Michael Joynt (born 7 December 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Not to be confused with the American cannabis activist with the same name. A Great Britain international repres ...

(c),

Peter Shiels Peter "Stretch" Shiels (born 4 September 1973 in Bankstown, New South Wales), is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the Penrith, Western Suburbs, Western Reds, the Newcastle Knights ...

Paul Sculthorpe Paul Sculthorpe MBE (born 22 September 1977) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for England and Great Britain at international level, as well as representing ...

Subs: Steve Hall, Anthony Stewart, Vila Matautia,

Tim Jonkers Tim Jonkers (born 3 July 1981) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who played as a forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played his club football with St Helens, with whom he had Challenge Cup and Super League grand final ...

Coach: Ian Millward Bradford: Michael Withers,

Tevita Vaikona Tevita Vaikona (born 18 August 1974) is a Tongan professional rugby league and rugby union footballer, a winger who played rugby league and picked up many honours before switching codes to rugby union. In 2002, Vaikona was voted best rugby leagu ...

Scott Naylor Scott Naylor (2 February 1972) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and has coached in the 2010s and 2020s. He played at representative level for England, and at club level for Wigan, th ...

, Shane Rigon, Leon Pryce, Henry Paul,

Robbie Paul Robert Rawiri Hunter-Paul (born 3 February 1976) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. He has since become a business owner and television pundit, runninXtra Mile Marketing an inbound and digital marketing company. Robbie retired fr ...

(c), Joe Vagana, James Lowes, Brian McDermott, Jamie Peacock,

Daniel Gartner Daniel Gartner (born 15 October 1972 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. His position was second row forward and he played in Australia with the Manly-Warringah Sea ...

, Mike Forshaw
Subs:

Paul Deacon Paul Deacon (born 13 February 1979) is an English rugby union coach who is the head coach of the Sale Sharks in Premiership Rugby, and former a professional rugby league footballer and coach. A Great Britain and England international represe ...

, Paul Anderson,

Lee Gilmour Lee Andrew Gilmour (born 12 March 1978) is an English assistant coach at Wakefield Trinity in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. He played in the Super League for the Wigan Warriors ( Heritage № 911) (wit ...

, Stuart Fielden Coach: Brian Noble

UK Broadcasting rights

The tournament was screened in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

by the BBC.

References

External links

*
Challenge Cup
on the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisat ...

's website'' {{Challenge Cup Challenge Cup St Helens R.F.C.

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involve ...