2018 Challenge Cup

The 2018 Challenge Cup, also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 117th staging of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.

The cup was won by Catalans Dragons, who beat Warrington Wolves 20–14 at Wembley on 25 August 2018 to become the first non-British team to win the challenge cup in its 117-year history. The defending champions, Hull F.C., went out at the quarter-final stage.

The Catalans fullback, Tony Gigot, was voted the winner of the Lance Todd Trophy, becoming the first Frenchman to win the trophy since it was first awarded in 1946.

The format of the competition was eight knock-out rounds followed by a final. The first two rounds were composed entirely of 48 amateur teams. The 12 winners of the second round ties were joined in round three by the 14 League 1 teams. For the fourth round, the 13 winners from round 3 were joined by 11 of the 12 Championship teams (Toulouse Olympique. who play in the Championship, chose not to enter the 2018 cup competition). Round five saw four Super League teams entering the competition, namely those that finished in the top four positions of the 2017 Qualifiers—Warrington Wolves, Widnes Vikings, Hull Kingston Rovers and Catalans Dragons. The remaining eight Super League teams joined in round six.

*Toulouse Olympique did not participate in the competition.

The draw for the first round was made on 12 December 2017 at Media City and streamed live on the BBC Sport website. The draw was made by recently retired Hull F.C. captain, Gareth Ellis, and former Lance Todd Trophy winner, Paul Wellens. The 48 teams in the draw comprised 39 English amateur teams, the winners of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish leagues, two teams from the Universities rugby league and representative teams for the three armed services and the police.

Ties were played over the weekend of 27–28 January 2018 with the exception of one game postponed to the following weekend.

The draw for the second round was made on 31 January 2018 at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium and streamed live on the BBC Sport website. The draw was made by Warrington Wolves former prop forward and Swinton Lions coach, Gary Chambers, and current Warrington forward Sitaleki Akauola. The 24 teams in the draw comprised the winners from the first round.

Ties were played on 10 February 2018. Batley Boys won their tie with a drop goal in golden point extra time, having won their first round tie in the same fashion.

The draw for the third round was made on 13 February live on the BBC Sport website. The draw was made by Super League players Alex Walmsley and Kriss Brining. Ties were played over the weekend of 24–25 February.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Kells	30–4	British Army	24 February 2018, 2:00pm	Old Arrowthwaite	C. Smith	300
Normanton Knights	18–0	Batley Boys	24 February 2018, 2:00pm	Queen Elizabeth Drive	M. Smaill	350
Askam	6–64	York City Knights	24 February 2018, 2:30pm	Fallowfield Park	B. Milligan	750
Hunslet Club Parkside	16–24	Workington Town	24 February 2018, 2:30pm	John Charles Stadium	T. Crashley	285
Pilkington Recs	32–16	Millom	24 February 2018, 2:30pm	Ruskin Drive	J. Stearne	285
Hemel Stags	0–74	Newcastle Thunder	25 February 2018, 2:00pm	Pennine Way stadium	A.Sweet	115
North Wales Crusaders	28–24	Keighley Cougars	25 February 2018, 2:30pm	Racecourse Ground	J.Jones	281
Bradford Bulls	82–6	West Wales Raiders	25 February 2018, 3:00pm	Odsal Stadium	N.Woodward	1,505
Coventry Bears	42–12	Distington	25 February 2018, 3:00pm	Butts Park Arena	C. Worsley	267
Doncaster	82–6	Myton Warriors	25 February 2018, 3:00pm	Keepmoat Stadium	M.Mannifield	388
Hunslet	72–16	Oulton Raiders	25 February 2018, 3:00pm	South Leeds Stadium	B. Pearson	896
Oldham	42–0	Featherstone Lions	25 February 2018, 3:00pm	Vestacare Stadium	L. Staveley	364
Whitehaven	16-14	London Skolars	25 February 2018, 6:00pm	Recreation Ground	M. Griffiths	439
Source:

The draw was conducted by former player (and Challenge Cup winner) Rob Parker and former Scottish international Andrew Henderson.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Kells	6–56	Toronto Wolfpack	16 March 2018, 6:15pm	Recreation Ground	N. Bennett	1,000
Doncaster	34–0	Newcastle Thunder	16 March 2018, 8:00pm	Keepmoat Stadium	L. Staveley	398
Normanton Knights	8–20	Rochdale Hornets	17 March 2018, 2:00pm	L.D. Nutrition Stadium	G. Dolan	Not recorded
Barrow Raiders	28–16	Sheffield Eagles	18 March 2018, 3:00pm	Craven Park	B. Robinson	936
Batley Bulldogs	4–8	Leigh Centurions	18 March 2018, 3:00pm	Fox's Biscuits Stadium	T. Grant	606
Whitehaven	25–18	Dewsbury Rams	18 March 2018, 3:00pm	Recreation Ground	A. Sweet	414
Workington Town	20–22	London Broncos	18 March 2018, 3:00pm	Derwent Park	M. Griffiths	548
York City Knights	26–12	Swinton Lions	18 March 2018, 3:00pm	L.D. Nutrition Stadium	M. Mannifield	525
Halifax	6–27	Oldham	20 March 2018, 7:30pm	The Shay	B. Pearson	688
North Wales Crusaders	6–66	Featherstone Rovers	20 March 2018, 7:30pm	L.D. Nutrition Stadium	J. Roberts	1,098
Coventry Bears	31–20	Pilkington Recs	25 March 2018, 3pm	Butts Park Arena	A. Sweet	395
Hunslet RLFC	10–34	Bradford Bulls	2 April 2018, 2:00pm	South Leeds Stadium	N. Bennett	1,081
Source:

The draw was made on 20 March 2018 by two Women's Super League players, Faye Gaskin of St. Helens and Gemma Walsh of Wigan Warriors.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Widnes Vikings	90–0	Coventry Bears	21 April 2018, 13:00	Select Security Stadium	J McMullen	1,438
Warrington Wolves	54–6	Bradford Bulls	21 April 2018, 15:00	Halliwell Jones Stadium	T Grant	4,710
Doncaster	16–26	Featherstone Rovers	22 April 2018, 15:00	Keepmoat Stadium	M Rossleigh	1,076
Leigh Centurions	40–0	London Broncos	22 April 2018, 15:00	Leigh Sports Village	L Moore	2,507
Oldham	0–32	Hull KR	22 April 2018, 15:00	Bower Fold	G Hewer	1,064
Toronto Wolfpack	16–12	Barrow Raiders	22 April 2018, 15:00	Furness Heating Components Stadium	G Dolan	1,140
Whitehaven	38–0	Rochdale Hornets	22 April 2018, 15:00	Recreation Ground	L Staveley	604
York City Knights	22–34	Catalans Dragons	22 April 2018, 15:00	Bootham Crescent	C Kendall	3,081
Source:

The draw for the Sixth Round was made on 25 April 2018, live on Chris Evans' Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Two, alongside Leeds Rhinos veteran forward Jamie Jones-Buchanan, and Warrington Wolves winger Josh Charnley.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Featherstone Rovers	20–38	Hull F.C.	10 May 2018, 7:35pm	LD Nutrition Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	2,322
Leigh Centurions	22–10	Salford Red Devils	11 May 2018, 7:35pm	Leigh Sports Village	L. Moore	4,024
Huddersfield Giants	24–14	Wakefield Trinity	11 May 2018, 7:45pm	John Smith's Stadium	G. Hewer	2,631
Widnes Vikings	20–23	Leeds Rhinos	11 May 2018, 8:00pm	Select Security Stadium	G. Dolan	1,865
Castleford Tigers	18–36	St. Helens	12 May 2018, 2:30pm	Mend-A-Hose Jungle	J. Child	5,342
Catalans Dragons	56–10	Whitehaven	12 May 2018, 3:30pm	Stade Gilbert Brutus	M. Rossleigh	2,533
Hull KR	10–28	Wigan Warriors	13 May 2018, 3:00pm	MS3 Craven Park	C. Kendall	3,524
Toronto Wolfpack	10–66	Warrington Wolves	13 May 2018, 4:00pm	Halliwell Jones Stadium	B. Thaler	6,507
Source:

The draw for the quarter-finals was made live on BBC Two directly after the conclusion of the Toronto v Warrington game. The draw was made by former players Nathan McAvoy and Robbie Hunter-Paul. Ties were played 31 May – 3 June with all four ties being televised either on Sky Sports or the BBC.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Huddersfield Giants	6–20	Catalans Dragons	31 May 2018, 7:35pm	John Smith's Stadium	G. Hewer	2,151
Leeds Rhinos	52–22	Leigh Centurions	1 June 2018, 7:35pm	LD Nutrition Stadium	C. Kendall	3,277
Warrington Wolves	23–0	Wigan Warriors	2 June 2018, 2:30pm	Halliwell Jones Stadium	R. Hicks	10,213
St. Helens	25–22	Hull F.C.	3 June 2018, 3:30pm	Totally Wicked Stadium	B. Thaler	9,644
Source:

On 30 May 2018 the RFL announced that the semi-finals would be played as a double header at the University of Bolton Stadium in Bolton on Sunday 5 August 2018. The draw was made live on BBC Two, directly after the end of the St Helens v Hull FC match. The draw was made by Sophie Rohan and Emily Burnette (the members of Belle Voci), who would sing "Abide with Me" before the final on 25 August.

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
St. Helens	16–35	Catalans Dragons	5 August 2018, 12:30pm	University of Bolton Stadium	R. Hicks	26,086
Warrington Wolves	48–12	Leeds Rhinos	5 August 2018, 2:45pm		C. Kendall
Source:

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Catalans Dragons	20–14	Warrington Wolves	25 August 2018, 3:00pm	Wembley Stadium	R. Hicks	50,672
Source:

Teams:
Catalans: Tony Gigot, Lewis Tierney, David Mead, Brayden Williame, Fouad Yaha, Samisoni Langi, Josh Drinkwater, Mickael Simon, Michael McIlorum, Sam Moa, Benjamin Jullien, Benjamin Garcia, Remi Casty (c).
Substitutes (all used): Julian Bousquet, Jason Baitieri, Kenny Edwards, Mickael Goudemand.
Tries: Tierney, Garcia, Williame. Goals: Drinkwater (4/4)

Warrington: Stefan Ratchford, Tom Lineham, Bryson Goodwin, Toby King, Josh Charnley, Kevin Brown, Tyrone Roberts, Chris Hill (c), Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Harvey Livett, Jack Hughes, Ben Westwood.
Substitutes (all used): Ben Murdoch-Masila, George King, Declan Patton, Joe Philbin.
Tries: Murdoch-Masila, G King. Goals: Roberts (3/3)

The primary broadcast organisation for the competition is BBC Sport. As in 2017 the BBC streamed one tie from each of the first five rounds live on the BBC Sport website with two games from the 6th, 7th and 8th rounds being broadcast live on BBC TV.

• 2018 Women's Challenge Cup

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