St Helens created history to win the first women’s Challenge Cup final to be played at Wembley. Women’s rugby league has made extraordinary strides in the past decade; in 2012, the first women’s final was played in front of a handful of people in Dewsbury.
However, the final is now staged alongside the men’s event as part of a double-header and it was Saints who put their name into the history books. Matty Smith’s side have now won seven of the 11 Challenge Cups to be played, including the last three.
Leeds and York have begun paying their players this season and the hope is that further exposure on a national stage for the women’s game could lead to more clubs following suit. The ultimate goal is full professionalism and while that may still be some way off, the final being played at Wembley is hopefully an encouraging glimpse into the future.
Saints continued their dominance of the competition with an impressive performance. Three tries in five first-half minutes swung the contest firmly their way and despite a rally from Leeds either side of half-time, they did enough to deny the Rhinos a third Challenge Cup success.
It was Leeds who began the brighter of the sides, coming desperately close to going ahead through a magnificent break from Amy Hardcastle. She was hauled down close to the line by Eboni Partington and a few minutes later, Saints went ahead as Tara Jones touched down. Phoebe Hook extended Saints’ lead with a fine individual finish before Jodie Cunningham’s superb pass split the Leeds defence to allow Partington to go over in the corner and make it 14-0.
Leeds needed a response before half-time, and they got it when Sophie Robinson scored to narrow the deficit to 10. That gave them heart but you still felt Leeds had to score first after the break to remain in the contest and when Caitlin Beevers lit up the stage with an incredible long-range try you wondered if a comeback was on.
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Instead Saints composed themselves to great effect. Leeds’s momentum was well and truly stunted going into the final quarter when Shona Hoyle finished another impressive move, before a penalty from Amy Taylor settled any nerves and allowed the holders to close out victory with little drama.
