2023 Women's Challenge Cup

The 2023 Women's Challenge Cup (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2023 Betfred Women's Challenge Cup) was the 11th staging of the Rugby Football League's cup competition for women's rugby league clubs.

2023 Women's Challenge Cup

Duration	Group stage plus three knockout rounds
Number of teams	16
Broadcast partners	BBC Sport
Biggest home win	York Valkyrie 122–0 Hull KR (7 May 2023)
Biggest away win	Castleford Tigers 0–106 St Helens (7 May 2023)
← 2022 2024 →

Format

The competition used the same format as in 2022 with four groups of four competing in a single round robin with group winners and runners-up advancing to the knockout rounds. The group stage draw took place on 12 January.^[1]

Groups

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Featherstone Rovers Salford Red Devils Cardiff Demons Wigan Warriors	Huddersfield Giants Bradford Bulls Oulton Raidettes Leeds Rhinos	Warrington Wolves Castleford Tigers London Broncos St Helens	Barrow Raiders Leigh Leopards Hull KR York Valkyrie

Group stage

The fixture list for the group stage was published on 16 February 2023.^[2]

Challenge Cup group fixtures week 1

Group	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue	Referee
1	Salford Red Devils	08–22	Featherstone Rovers	23 April, 12:00	AJ Bell Stadium	J. Pemberton
	Cardiff Demons	20–38	Wigan Warriors	23 April, 14:00	Cardiff University Sports Fields	R. Apsee
2	Leeds Rhinos	72–00	Bradford Bulls	23 April, 13:00	Weetwood Sports Park	F. Lincoln
	Oulton Raidettes	04–54	Huddersfield Giants	23 April, 14:00	Oulton Sports Pavilion	M. Mckelvey
3	London Broncos	00–76	St Helens	22 April, 14:00	The Rock, Roehampton	H. Winnard
	Castleford Tigers	00–72	Warrington Wolves	23 April, 14:00	Mend-a-Hose Jungle	A. Rhodes
4	Barrow Raiders	04–44	York Valkyrie	23 April, 14:00	Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness	J. Hughes
	Hull KR	16–38	Leigh Leopards	23 April; 14:00	Craven Park, Hull	D. Frederick
Source:[3]

Challenge Cup group fixtures week 2

Group	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue	Referee
1	Featherstone Rovers	10–12	Wigan Warriors	7 May; 12:00	Post Office Road	C. Hughes
	Salford Red Devils	08–12	Cardiff Demons	7 May; 13:00	Moor Lane	S. Houghton
2	Bradford Bulls	12–32	Huddersfield Giants	7 May; 14:00	Horsfall Stadium	M. Clayton
	Oulton Raidettes	0000–48[a]	Leeds Rhinos	—
3	Castleford Tigers	000–106	St Helens	7 May; 14:00	Mend-a-Hose Jungle	D. Geddes
	Warrington Wolves	64–10	London Broncos	7 May; 14:00	Victoria Park	O. Ireland
4	York Valkyrie	122–000	Hull KR	7 May; 12:00	York Community Stadium	B. Worsley
	Leigh Leopards	30–22	Barrow Raiders	7 May; 14:00	Twist Lane	L. Flavell
Source:[5]

Challenge Cup group fixtures week 3

Group	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue	Referee
1	Cardiff Demons	36–18	Featherstone Rovers	21 May; 14:00	Cardiff University Sports Fields	R. Apsee
	Wigan Warriors	60–00	Salford Red Devils	21 May; 14:00	Robin Park	S. Houghton
2	Huddersfield Giants	00–54	Leeds Rhinos	21 May; 14:00	Laund Hill	J. Covell-Wood
	Bradford Bulls	38–60	Oulton Raidettes	21 May; 17:15	Odsal Stadium	A. Rhodes
3	London Broncos	40–40	Castleford Tigers	21 May; 14:00	The Rock, Roehampton
	St Helens	38–40	Warrington Wolves	21 May; 14:00	Totally Wicked Stadium	L. Flavell
4	Hull KR	11–20	Barrow Raiders	21 May; 14:00	Craven Park, Hull
	Leigh Leopards	00–54	York Valkyrie	21 May; 14:00	Twist Lane
Source:[6][7][8]

Standings

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wigan Warriors	3	3	0	0	110	30	+80	6	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Cardiff Demons	3	2	0	1	68	64	+4	4
3	Featherstone Rovers	3	1	0	2	50	56	−6	2
4	Salford Red Devils	3	0	0	3	16	94	−78	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Leeds Rhinos	3	3	0	0	174	0	+174	6	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Huddersfield Giants	3	2	0	1	86	70	+16	4
3	Bradford Bulls	3	1	0	2	50	110	−60	2
4	Oulton Raidettes	3	0	0	3	10	140	−130	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	St Helens	3	3	0	0	220	4	+216	6	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Warrington Wolves	3	2	0	1	140	48	+92	4
3	London Broncos	3	1	0	2	50	144	−94	2
4	Castleford Tigers	3	0	0	3	4	218	−214	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	York Valkyrie	3	3	0	0	224	4	+220	6	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Leigh Leopards	3	2	0	1	68	96	−28	4
3	Barrow Raiders	3	1	0	2	46	85	−39	2
4	Hull Kingston Rovers	3	0	0	3	27	180	−153	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was made live on BBC Radio Five, on 26 May.^[9] Ties took place over the weekend of 17–18 June.

Challenge Cup quarter-final fixtures

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leeds Rhinos	54–00	Leigh Leopards	17 June, 13:00	Headingley Stadium
Wigan Warriors	46–10	Huddersfield Giants	18 June, 11:30	Robin Park Arena
St Helens	36–00	Warrington Wolves	18 June, 12:30	Totally Wicked Stadium
York Valkyrie	54–00	Cardiff Demons	18 June, 14:00	York Community Stadium
Source:[10]

Semi-finals

Ties took place over the weekend of 22–23 July, each being part of a double header with one of the men's semi-finals; St Helens v York was played with the Leigh v St Helens men's game and Wigan v Leeds was played with the Hull KR v Wigan men's game. Both of the women's matches were broadcast live on the BBC Sport website.^[11]

Challenge Cup semi-final fixtures

Team A	Score	Team B	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
St Helens	17–16	York Valkyrie	22 July, 11:45	Halliwell Jones Stadium	A. Belafonte	12,113[b]
Wigan Warriors	04–16	Leeds Rhinos	23 July, 14:15	Headingley	E. Burrow	10,926[c]
Source:[12]

Final

Main article: 2023 Women's Challenge Cup final

On 12 August 2022, the RFL announced that the Women's Challenge Cup Final would make its Wembley debut, and be played as a double header with the men's final. The final was played on 12 August 2023.^[13]

Challenge Cup Final

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leeds Rhinos	8–22	St Helens	12 August 2023, 12:00	Wembley Stadium	J. Vella
Source:[14]

Broadcast matches

Round	Match	Date	Broadcast method
Final	Leeds Rhinos v St Helens	12 August 2023	Broadcast live on BBC Two

See also

• 2023 Challenge Cup

Notes

1. Match forfeited by Oulton as they were unable to raise a team.^[4] Under the RFL operational rules the match is recorded as a 48–0 win to the non-forfeiting team.
2. attendance combined for both the women's and the men's games.
3. attendance combined for both the women's and the men's games.

References

1. "Challenge Cup 2023: Draw details for women's and men's competitions as St Helens and Wigan Warriors defend titles". Sky Sports. 12 January 2023.
2. "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup: Our League to stream Cardiff Demons versus Wigan Warriors". RFL. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
3. "Women's Challenge Cup: Round-up". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3376. 24 April 2023. pp. 24–25.
4. "Challenge Cup tie awarded to Leeds Rhinos after opponents fail to raise a team". Yorkshire Evening Post. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
5. "Women's Challenge Cup Round-up | Sunday 7 May". RFL. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
6. "Cardiff Demons join big guns in Cup Quarter-Final draw". RFL. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
7. "Hull KR Women 11 – 20 Barrow". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
8. "Bradford 28 – 6 Oulton Raidettes". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
9. "BBC Radio 5 Live to broadcast Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Quarter Final draw". RFL. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
10. "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Quarter Finals Round-Up". RFL. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
11. "Venues and broadcast details confirmed for Betfred Challenge Cup Semi-Finals". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
12. "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Final Preview". RFL. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
13. "Challenge Cup final to return to Wembley in 2023". BBC Sport. 12 August 2022.
14. "Women's Challenge Cup final: Leeds Rhinos 8-22 St Helens - Saints win third title in first-ever Wembley final". BBC Sport. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.