The 2022 Women's Challenge Cup (sponsored as the 2022 Betfred Women's Challenge Cup) was the 10th staging of the Rugby Football League's cup competition for women's rugby league clubs. The competition was won by St Helens who beat Leeds Rhinos 18–8 in the final at Elland Road on 7 May.

Format

The competition has a different format from previous years. Instead of being a straight knockout tournament, the first stage was played using a single round-robin format with the top two teams from four groups advancing to the quarter-final stage, at which point knockout format was resumed.

Entry was limited to the 12 teams of the Women's Super League plus three Championship teams; Hull FC, Oulton Raidettes and Widnes Vikings; together with the Army women's team. Each team was seeded into one of four pots with one team from each pot being drawn into each group.

Seeding pots for group stage draw
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Castleford Tigers Leeds Rhinos St Helens York City KnightsFeatherstone Rovers Huddersfield Giants Warrington Wolves Wigan WarriorsBarrow Raiders Bradford Bulls Leigh Miners Rangers Wakefield TrinityBritish Army Hull FC Oulton Raidettes Widnes Vikings
Groups
Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
St Helens Warrington Wolves Barrow Raiders British ArmyLeeds Rhinos Huddersfield Giants Leigh Miners Rangers Hull FCYork City Knights Wigan Warriors Bradford Bulls Widnes VikingsCastleford Tigers Wakefield Trinity Featherstone Rovers Oulton Raidettes

On 6 March 2022 Widnes Vikings withdrew from the competition and were replaced by another Championship side, Dewsbury Moor.

Group stage

The draw for the group stages was made on 7 December at Elland Road, Leeds. Making the draw were footballers Jermaine Beckford and Gemma Bonner.

Group A

Group A fixtures
HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
Barrow Raiders00–68St Helens13 March 2022, 14:00Craven Park
British Army08–50Warrington WolvesAldershot Military Stadium
St Helens88–00British Army27 March 2022, 14:00Totally Wicked Stadium
Warrington Wolves36–16Barrow RaidersHalliwell Jones Stadium
Warrington Wolves00–54St Helens3 April 2022, 14:00Halliwell Jones Stadium
Barrow Raiders38–00British ArmyCraven Park
Source:
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1St Helens33002100+2106Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage
2Warrington Wolves32018678+84Advance to quarter-finals
3Barrow Raiders310254104−502
4British Army30038176−1680

Group B

Group B fixtures
HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
Huddersfield Giants08–38Leeds Rhinos12 March 2022, 12:00John Smiths Stadium
Leigh Miners Rangers72–00Hull FC13 March 2022, 14:00Twist Lane
Hull FC000–48Leeds Rhinos—N/a
Leigh Miners Rangers06–46Huddersfield Giants27 March 2022, 14:00Twist Lane
Leeds Rhinos92–00Leigh Miners Rangers3 April 2022, 14:00Headingley
Hull FC000–114Huddersfield GiantsMKM Stadium
Source:
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1Leeds Rhinos33001788+1706Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage
2Huddersfield Giants320116844+1244Advance to quarter-finals
3Leigh Miners Rangers310278138−602
4Hull FC30030234−2340

Group C

Group C fixtures
HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
Dewsbury Moor00–78York City Knights13 March 2022, 14:00Dewsbury Moor Sports Club
Bradford Bulls06–44Wigan Warriors13 March 2022, 17:00Horsfall Stadium
York City Knights46–00Wigan Warriors20 March 2022, 12:00York Community Stadium
Wigan Warriors62–00Dewsbury Moor27 March 2022, 12:00Robin Park Arena
Bradford Bulls04–76York City Knights27 March 2022, 14:00Odsal Stadium
Dewsbury Moor04–22Bradford Bulls3 April 2022, 14:00
Source:
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1York City Knights33002004+1966Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage
2Wigan Warriors320110652+544Advance to quarter-finals
3Bradford Bulls310232124−922
4Dewsbury Moor30034162−1580

Group D

Group D fixtures
HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
Castleford Tigers10–32Wakefield Trinity13 March 2022, 14:00The Mend-A-Hose Jungle
Oulton Raidettes10–30Featherstone Rovers
Oulton Raidettes40–00Castleford Tigers27 March 2022, 14:00
Wakefield Trinity00–32Featherstone RoversBelle Vue
Featherstone Rovers86–00Castleford Tigers3 April 2022, 14:00Post Office Road
Wakefield Trinity12–14Oulton RaidettesBelle Vue
Source:
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1Featherstone Rovers330014810+1386Advance to quarter-finals with home advantage
2Oulton Raidettes32016442+224Advance to quarter-finals
3Wakefield Trinity31024456−122
4Castleford Tigers300310158−1480

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals are scheduled for the weekend of 9/10 April. The teams topping each group will have home advantage in the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals
HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
St Helens24–00Huddersfield Giants10 April 2022, 14:00Totally Wicked Stadium
Leeds Rhinos40–00Warrington Wolves10 April 2022, 14:00Headingley Rugby Stadium
York City Knights92–20Oulton Raidettes10 April 2022, 14:00York Community Stadium
Featherstone Rovers12–10Wigan Warriors10 April 2022, 18:00Post Office Road
Source:

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was made on 10 April with the matches played on 24 April as a double header at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Team 1ScoreTeam 2Match Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
York City Knights24–26Leeds Rhinos24 April 2022, 14:30Halliwell Jones Stadium
St Helens82–00Featherstone Rovers24 April 2022, 17:30
Source:

Final

The final was played at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 7 May 2022. The match formed part of a triple-header with the semi-finals of the men's Challenge Cup. The attendance of 5,888 was a new record attendance for a women's rugby league match in Great Britain.

Details

7 May 2022 12:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
St Helens18 – 8Leeds Rhinos
Tries: Burke, Partington (2), Cunningham Goals: Stott (1/4)Tries: Hornby Goals: Winfield-Hill (2/3)
Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 5,888 Referee: Liam Rush Player of the Match: Zoe Hornby (Leeds)
Team details
St HelensPositionLeeds Rhinos
NameNumberNumberName
Rebecca Rotherham1FB4Fran Goldthorp
Ebony Partington17WG17Tasha Gaines
Carrie Roberts3CE13Hannah Butcher
Amy Hardcastle4CE1Caitlin Beevers
Leah Burke5WG18Sam Hulme
Zoe Harris6SO6Georgia Roche
Beth Stott15SH7Courtney Winfield-Hill
Isabelle Rudge20PR8Aimee Staveley
Tara Jones9HK9Keara Bennett
Chantelle Prowl10PF15Danielle Anderson
Paige Travis11SR11Chloe Kerrigan
Naomi Williams14SR12Elycia Watson
Jodie Cunningham13LF15Zoe Hornby
Vicky Whitfield8IN20Emma Lumley
Alice Sandham21IN14Shannon Lacey
Emily Rudge12IN16Orla McCallion
Rachael Woosey19IN26Alex Barnes
Derek HardmanCoachLois Forsell

Broadcast matches

RoundMatchDateBroadcast method
Group stage match, week 1Barrow Raiders v St Helens12 March 2022Broadcast live on BBC Red Button
Group stage match, week 2York City Knights v Wigan Warriors20 March 2022Broadcast live on Our League
Group stage match, week 3Wakefield Trinity v Oulton Raidettes3 April 2022Broadcast live on Our League
Quarter-finalFeatherstone Rovers v Wigan Warriors10 April 2022Broadcast live on Our League
Semi-finalYork City Knights v Leeds Rhinos24 April 2022Broadcast live on BBC Red Button
St Helens v Featherstone Rovers
FinalSt Helens v Leeds Rhinos7 May 2022Broadcast live on BBC Two

See also

Notes