The 2015 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th staging of the

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 ...

tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs. 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 ...

retained the trophy beating

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 ...

50-0 at Wembley Stadium on 29 August 2015.

First round

The draw for the first round of the 2015 Challenge Cup was held on 8 January 2015 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 40 amateur teams from around the United Kingdom including two student teams, all three armed services and the police. Home teams were drawn by

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 ...

and the away teams drawn by Brian Noble. Fixtures for the first round were mostly played over the weekend of the 31 January – 1 February 2015. Three fixtures were postponed until the following weekend due to bad weather forcing the postponement on the original date.

Second round

The draw for the second round was made on Monday 2 February at the Oulton Raiders club. The draw was made by two players who played in the 2014 final. Home teams were drawn by players Ryan Hall of Leeds Rhinos and away teams by Oliver Holmes of Castleford Tigers. Following the conclusion of the first round ties; two clubs, Rochdale Mayfield and Hull Dockers, were reported to the Rugby Football League's Operational Rules Tribunal for each fielding an ineligible player. The Tribunal found both clubs guilty of the offence and disqualified them from the competition. The teams they defeated in the first round, Great Britain Police and Leigh Miners Rangers, were reinstated into the cup and played in the second round.

Third round

The draw for the third round was made on 17 February 2015 at Heritage Quay,

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

. Round three saw the 14 Kingstone Press League 1 professional teams joining the competition to create a pool of 24 teams for the draw. The draw was made by previous

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 ...

winners Alex Murphy and

Mal Reilly Malcolm John Reilly OBE (born 19 January 1948) is an English former rugby league player and coach. He played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, ...

. Ties were played over the weekend of 7/8 March 2015.

Fourth round

The draw for the fourth round was made on 10 March 2015 at the Provident Stadium, home of the

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 ...

. The draw was made by Leeds Rhinos'

Jamie Peacock James Darryl Peacock MBE, (born 14 December 1977) is a motivational speaker, leadership mentor and former English professional rugby league footballer. He played for Leeds Rhinos and the Bradford Bulls in the Super League, and captained both ...

and

Hull FC 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 ...

Leon Pryce Leon Pryce (born 9 October 1981) is a professional rugby League coach who most recently coached Workington Town in League 1 and an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Gre ...

. The 12 winners of the third round ties were joined by the 12

Kingstone Press Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, a ...

teams. Ties were played over the weekend of 21/22 March 2015.

Fifth round

The draw for the fifth round was made on Tuesday 24 March 2015 in Hull. The four clubs who finished the 2014 Super League season in 9th to 12th places;

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

respectively; joined the 12 winners from the fourth round in the draw. The draw was made by ex-players Johnny Whiteley (home teams) and Phil Lowe (away teams). Ties were played over the weekend 17–19 April.

Sixth round

The draw for the sixth round took place live on Sportsday on the BBC News channel on 20 April. The eight winners from this weekend’s fifth round ties joined with the top eight First Utility Super League teams from 2014 in the draw to produce eight ties that will be played over the weekend of May 16–17. Home teams were drawn by

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 wi ...

and the away teams by

Nathan McAvoy Nathaniel Joseph McAvoy (born 31 December 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or . He spent most of his club career with Salford (1994–98 and 2004–05) and Bradford Bulls (1998–2002 and 2007), b ...

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter finals was made live on BBC Two on 17 May after the

v Leigh Centurions game. The four ties that will be played over 25–28 June. The draw was conducted by former players Neil Fox (Wakefield Trinity) and

Tony Barrow Anthony F. J. Barrow (11 May 1936 – 14 May 2016) was an English press officer who worked with the Beatles between 1962 and 1968. He coined the phrase "the Fab Four", first using it in an early press release. Life Early life In the late 1 ...

(Leigh). Barrow drew the home teams and Fox, the away teams.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi finals was made live on BBC Two on 28 June after the St. Helens v

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 ...

game. The two ties were played on 31 July and 1 August. The draw was conducted by former Great Britain and St Helens player

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 ...

and former footballer turned television presenter

Chris Kamara Christopher Kamara (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional football player and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022. As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. H ...

Final

The final was played at

on 29 August 2015, between the 1980 winners Hull Kingston Rovers, in their first final since 1986, and the 12 time winners and holders, the Leeds Rhinos. Leeds' victory set a new record for the largest winning margin. The

winner was the Leeds'

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 ...

who scored five tries - the first player to achieve this feat at Wembley. Teams: Hull Kingston Rovers: Kieran Dixon,

Josh Mantellato Josh Mantellato (born 21 April 1987) is a former Italy international rugby league footballer who most recently played on the for The Entrance Tigers in the Denton Engineering Cup. He previously played for the Wyong Roos in the Central Coast Di ...

Kris Welham Kris Welham (born 10 March 1987) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a for Sheffield Eagles in the RFL Championship and the England Knights at international level. He has played for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League a ...

, Liam Salter,

Ken Sio Ken Sio (born 29 October 1990) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays on the for the Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League. He has previously played for the Parramatta Eels and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL and Hull ...

, Maurice Blair,

Albert Kelly Albert Kelly (born 21 March 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Brisbane Rugby League. He has previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Gold Coa ...

Adam Walker Adam Walker may refer to: * Adam Walker (American football, born 1963), American football running back * Adam Walker (American football, born 1968), American football running back * Adam Walker (Australian politician) (1829–1902), Australian polit ...

, Shaun Lunt, Tony Puletua,

Kevin Larroyer Kevin Larroyer (born 19 June 1989) is a French professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Halifax in the Betfred Championship. He previously played for Toulouse Olympique, Catalans Dragons, Hull Kingston Rov ...

, Graeme Horne, Tyrone McCarthy (captain). Substitutes: John Boudebza, James Donaldson, Dane Tilse, Mitch Allgood. Leeds Rhinos:

Zak Hardaker Zak Alexander Hardaker (born 17 October 1991) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Leigh Leopards in the Super League. He has played for the England Knights, England and Great Britain at international l ...

Kallum Watkins Kallum Paul Watkins (born 12 March 1991) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or forward for the Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League and England at international level. He previously played for the Le ...

, Joel Moon, Ryan Hall,

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is the defence coach for the England national rugby union team. He is a former professional rugby league footballer, captain and director of rugby for the Leeds Rhinos. Sinfield also represented England ...

(captain),

Danny McGuire Daniel Phillip McGuire (born 6 December 1982) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or , and is currently the interim head-coach of Hull Kingston Rovers. He spent the majority of his professional career play ...

, Mitch Garbutt,

Adam Cuthbertson Adam Cuthbertson (born 24 February 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and forward for the Featherstone Rovers in the Betfred Championship. He has previously played for the York City Knights ...

, Stevie Ward,

Carl Ablett Carl Ablett (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or for the Leeds Rhinos in the Betfred Super League and England at international level. Ablett spent time on loan from Leeds at ...

Brett Delaney Brett Delaney (born 26 October 1985) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a and forward in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for Leeds Rhinos, Leeds in the Super League and for the Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Titans ...

. Substitutes:

Rob Burrow Robert Geoffrey Burrow (born 26 September 1982) is an English former professional rugby league player. An England and Great Britain representative, he spent his entire 16-year professional career with Leeds Rhinos in the Super League, making ...

Kylie Leuluai Kylie Leuluai (born 29 March 1978) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand Māori and Samoa international representative , he most notably played at club level for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. He ...

, Mitch Achurch, Brad Singleton.
Tries: Delaney (1), McGuire (1), Briscoe (5), Singleton (1), Burrow (1). Goals: Sinfield (7/9)

UK broadcasting rights

The tournament was jointly televised by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...