Final four eye Wembley Challenge Cup opportunityImage source, SWPIXImage caption, (From left to right) Sinead Peach of York, Keara Bennett of Leeds, Emily Rudge of St Helens and Eva Hunter of WiganByMatt NewsumBBC Sport Rugby League journalistPublished35 minutes agoWembley and a Challenge Cup final appearance is the carrot dangling tantalisingly above women’s rugby league’s four heavyweights, as the semi-finals take place this weekend.Reigning champions Wigan take on York Valkyrie in Warrington on Saturday (11:30 BST), backed by a bumper support also there to watch the men’s side.Their vanquished opponents last year were St Helens, who after a trophyless 2025 are bidding to return silverware to the cabinet but will have to overcome old foes Leeds Rhinos in Doncaster on Sunday (13:00 BST) to do so.Both games will be shown live on the BBC iPlayer.The final itself will be a double-header with the men’s fixture at Wembley on Saturday, 30 May.Champions Wigan making own memoriesFigure caption, Wigan thrash Saints to win Women’s Challenge Cup for first timeWigan’s all-conquering 2025 campaign saw their potential and promise realised in spectacular fashion.With Izzy Rowe, Jenna Foubister, Grace Banks and Woman of Steel Eva Hunter to the fore, Wigan stormed to Wembley and thrashed fierce rivals Saints under the arch in a mesmerising display of attacking rugby.
They then took that knockout form into the league campaign and were equally dazzling, finishing top of the regular season WSL and beating Saints again in the Grand Final.
For head coach Denis Betts, himself a multiple cup winner with Wigan, it means everything to see the players he has energised making their own history at a club synonymous with success.
“It’s massive this years to see those photos around the stadium of the girls that the club are so good at,” Betts told BBC Sport.
“Most of these girls went and supported those Wigan men’s teams that have their photos of success up, and now they see pictures of Izzy Rowe, Jenna Foubister, Grace Banks, Mary Coleman up around the likes of Liam Farrell.
“It makes a massive difference to them.”
York now stand in the way of the holders’ efforts to retain their crown on Saturday.
