The 2023 Women's Challenge Cup Final was the 11th final of 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 organisa ...

Women's Challenge Cup The Women's Challenge Cup is a rugby league knockout competition organised by the Rugby Football League. The competition started in 2012. History 2012–2016: Foundations The Women's Challenge Cup was set up in 2012 to run alongside the men's ...

knock-out competition. The 2023 final marked the first time the final of the Women's Challenge Cup had been played at Wembley. The final was a repeat of the 2022 final with defending champions St Helens taking on last season's runners-up

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 Head ...

. The cup was won by St Helens, who won their third consecutive cup final, defeating Leeds Rhinos 22–8. St Helens captain,

Jodie Cunningham Jodie Cunningham is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a or at international level for England women's national rugby league team, England and domestically for St Helens Women, St Helens in the RFL Women's Super League, Women's S ...

was named player of the match. For the first time in its history, both the women's and men's final took place 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 Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on the same day – 12 August 2023.

Background

St Helens are two times defending champions of the Challenge Cup having won in

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and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

. They also won the tournament four times in a row between 2013 and 2016. Upon gaining their place in the final St Helens were second in

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

behind their semi-final opponents

York Valkyrie The York Valkyrie are the women's rugby league team of York RLFC (known as York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Valkyrie, who were established in 2016 as the York City Knights Ladies, compete in the Women's Super Lea ...

. Leeds Rhinos entered the final aiming to avenge their 2022 defeat to St Helens. They last won the competition in

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retaining it after their

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victory. Upon qualification Leeds were in third place in Super League, one place and one point behind St Helens.

Route to the final

St Helens

Leeds Rhinos

Source:

Match details

Post match

Following both the women's and men's challenge cup final, Wembley will host the Year 7 boys schools' final and the final of the 2023 1895 Cup. The 1895 Cup Final saw

Halifax Panthers The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, which formed in 1873. Halifax were one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. They have been Rugby Le ...

beat

Batley Bulldogs Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part ...

12–10. The men's final saw

Leigh Leopards The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

beat

Hull KR 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 Challenge ...

17–16.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Challenge Cup 2023 in English rugby league 2023 in English women's sport 2023 in women's rugby league

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

August 2023 sports events in the United Kingdom 2023 sports events in London 2023 Women's Challenge Cup final Leeds Rhinos matches St Helens R.F.C. matches