Another St Helens versus Wigan rivalry rounded off the first round of the 2025 Challenge Cup as North West Premier League side Orrell St James made the ten-mile journey south to face National League Premier Division side Thatto Heath Crusaders with the prize on offer being a trip to Halifax Panthers in round two in a weeks’ time.

The two sides met in the 2024 final of the BARLA National Cup when Thatto Heath emerged as 24-4 victors in the game played at Featherstone Rovers Post Office Road back in August of last year.

It promised to be a feisty encounter, much like the game last August which saw the referee have a busy afternoon with the cards.

After a last minute postponement last week due to a frozen pitch, the 2025 Challenge Cup got underway at Queens Avenue in Aldershot for a round one game between the Royal Air Force and the Army.

The RAF left the competition at this stage in 2024 after losing out to the Royal Navy while the Army were also opening round victims as they fell to Fryston Warriors.

The Army were looking to make the second round for the first time in three years while the RAF were last in the second round in 2023, todays victors were rewarded with a round two away game at Wests Warriors and if they were to be victorious in round two then they would have the fantastic prospect of hosting the Leeds Rhinos in round three.

After being iced off last weekend, along with the majority of the round one Challenge Cup fixtures, the game between the Waterhead Warriors and Leigh Miners Rangers finally got underway at Waterhead Park in Oldham this afternoon in the early kick-off, streamed on the BBC Sport website.

Both sides National Conference League Premier Division after being promoted at the end of the 2024 season after finishing top and second in Division One after an almighty tussle last season.

It was an early chance for the two sides to get a run-out and look to progress into the second round and a game at home against Championship side Featherstone Rovers next weekend,

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has detailed how his backroom staff will be reshuffled following the departure of Brett Delaney, who has joined Castleford Tigers as an assistant coach.

Peters has decided against replacing Delaney with an outside hire, instead opting to entrust the defensive duties to assistant coach Danny Ward and transition development coach Shaun Kenny-Dowall.

Ward will continue to lead the defensive systems and principles, while Kenny-Dowall will take on the attacking aspects of Delaney's role.

Jet2 has signed a major sponsorship deal with the Leigh Leopards for the 2025 Betfred Super League season.

The partnership will see Jet2 become the Principal Club Partner of the Leopards, with their logo featuring prominently on the team's home and away shirts, as well as their Magic Weekend kit.

Captain's Challenge will be introduced to northern hemisphere Rugby League on a regular basis in 2025, starting from Round One of the Betfred Super League in February.

 That was one of four laws changes accepted by the Rugby Football League Board at their meeting on Tuesday, following their recommendation by the RFL's Laws Committee.

 The new law will allow the captains in all televised fixtures in 2025, also including the Betfred Challenge Cup, and the Women's Super League and Challenge Cup, to refer a range of on-field decisions to the video referee.

 

England Women Head Coach, Stuart Barrow, has selected a 31-player strong train-on squad ahead of their historic clash against the Australia Jillaroos in Las Vegas (March 1) with a brand-new name included for the first time – Georgie Dagger (nee Hetherington), the reigning Betfred Women's Super League Woman of Steel.

The 27-year-old returns to the international set up following her wedding to York Knights full-back Will Dagger which took place on the same day as England’s 82-0 defeat of Wales on November 2.

The utility made her England debut in the mid-season international against France and was crowned 2024 Woman of Steel after a stunning season which ended with a Player-of-the-Match performance in the Valkyrie’s BWSL Grand Final triumph against St Helens.

Brian Noble’s second stint as head coach of Bradford Bulls will begin with a home game against London Broncos in Round One of the 2025 Betfred Championship, while Oldham and Hunslet each have attractive home openers following their promotion from Betfred League One.

Oldham will host Mark Applegarth’s York Knights at Boundary Park in Round One on Sunday February 16, while Hunslet kick off at Barrow Raiders before they welcome the Bulls to the South Leeds Stadium in Round Two on February 23.

The Championship has been reduced to 13 teams in 2025 as part of the process of producing three 12-team divisions from 2026, which means each team will play 24 fixtures spread over 26 rounds from February to September.

Betfred Super League will have its most streamlined fixture list for the competition’s 30th season in 2025, with more Thursday, Saturday and Sunday fixtures – kicking off with Wigan Warriors launching their bid for a third consecutive title at home to local rivals Leigh Leopards on Thursday February 13, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

For a huge year of Rugby League which includes an historic fixture between Wigan and Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas on March 1, and is set to end with the first Ashes series since 2003, Rugby League Commercial and the RFL have worked with the clubs and broadcast partners to deliver a greater spread of matches across each weekend.

Thursday night fixtures have been confirmed through until the penultimate round in September, including Wakefield Trinity hosting Castleford Tigers in the first match of Rivals Round across the Easter weekend from April 17-19, and two Thursday night games in Round 20 which is split across two weekends from July 24 to August 1.

Super League’s Magic Weekend is heading back to Newcastle next May – and fans have two weeks to snap up tickets at a special early rate to take their pick of the six fixtures at St James’ Park.

On top of the 50% discount on tickets for all season ticket holders when they purchase through their clubs, anyone can take advantage of a 40% discount across all ticketing categories until midnight 2nd December 2024 (Cyber Monday).

Magic Weekend will celebrate its 18th birthday in 2025, and will return to the first May Bank Holiday, just as when it was launched in Cardiff in 2007 as a trailblazing concept for Rugby League and for British sport.

After a big loss last weekend, it was likely that Samoa would prove much tougher opposition for England in the second test match at Headingley Stadium in Leeds as they looked to put into action an extra week of training and build up and ask England some harsher questions.

Shaun Wane made a few changes to last week’s winning side with Liam Marshall into the side for Dom Young and Junior Nsemba being brought into the starting line-up while Samoa also made a couple of changes including Leeds Rhinos bound Keenan Palasia being given a start off the bench.

England were big favourites with the bookies to make it a second win of the two-match series and exact a little more revenge for that exit at the semi-final stage in the last World Cup.

Headingley Stadium was the venue for a top-drawer double-header which started with England’s women taking on the Welsh in the fourth test match between the two nations, England with big wins in all previous meetings.

England were massive favourites as they start their preparation for a three-test match encounter against Australia in 2025, a run out before a true test of England’s women and their current international standing.

Stuart Barrow had some selection problems for a variety of reason and selected a young squad of players hungry to establish themselves on the national stage.

Shaun Wane’s England entered a mouthwatering two game test series against a Samoan side who knocked the hosts out of the World Cup at the semi-final stage in 2022 as the two sides did battle at the Brick Community Stadium in Wigan.

England are unbeaten since that loss but are against a Samoan side containing only two of the players who made it to the World Cup final.

It promised to be a big challenge for England as they looked for a modicum of revenge for the heartbreak of two years ago, the scene was set for an explosive opening in the first ever test series between the two nations.

Following a Rugby Football League compliance investigation, an independent Operational Rules Tribunal was convened on October 17 to consider alleged breaches in March 2024 by Mark Aston and Mick Heys, who were respectively head coach and head physiotherapist at Sheffield Eagles.



The alleged breaches concerned the appearance of Matty Marsh for the Eagles in their Betfred Challenge Cup tie at Wigan Warriors on March 22, 13 days after he had suffered a head injury during a Betfred Championship fixture against Swinton Lions, and without having received the necessary medical clearance to return.

St Helens have earned the highest score in the first official club gradings which are today published as part of Rugby League’s long-term strategic partnership with IMG – and which determine membership of the Betfred Super League in 2025.

Saints have scored 17,02 points out of the maximum of 20 available to clubs across five pillars – Fandom, Finance, Stadium, Community and On-Field Performance.

They are one of nine clubs who have secured an A grading which guarantees a place in Super League.

The others include Wakefield Trinity, who were relegated from the Super League in 2023 and received a B grade in the illustrative gradings that were released last autumn.