Wembley wait is over as Hull KR snatch win

If there is one thing that can persuade tens of thousands of northerners to descend on London, it is a cup final.

We see it regularly in football when the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool reach the latter stages of the FA Cup; this year Newcastle United and Sunderland fans took over Trafalgar Square for their respective finals.

However, the oval ball also attracts supporters from across the band of rugby league clubs between Liverpool and Hull for the annual Challenge Cup final at Wembley. After six months of knockout rugby, the 2025 tournament reached its conclusion, with Hull Kingston Rovers lifting the coveted trophy in front of a bouncing Wembley crowd after an 8-6 win over Warrington Wolves.

Despite being one of the big hitters, Hull KR had only won the competition once, back in 1980, and it had been 40 years since the club last lifted a major trophy. Not only have Robins fans endured this prolonged drought, but they also had to watch bitter rivals Hull FC lift the Challenge Cup on three occasions.

This includes 2016, when Rovers were relegated from the Super League after losing to a golden-point drop goal in extra time against Salford Red Devils. Relegation that year was sandwiched by back-to-back Challenge Cup wins for Hull FC, and fans of Hull KR have endured years of taunting from their city rivals. Even as recently as 2020 the club finished bottom of the table, being saved from relegation only by the outbreak of Covid.

Despite improvements under head coach Willie Peters, recent heartbreak has only accentuated the feeling for Hull KR supporters. In 2023 they reached the Challenge Cup final only to be defeated by another golden-point drop goal, this time at the hands of Leigh Leopards. The following year, they reached the Super League Grand Final before losing 9-2 to a suffocating Wigan Warriors side.

Despite all the trials and tribulations of this historic club, their fans have stuck with them and hundreds of supporters gathered at Craven Park to send their team off on Thursday. Their faith in the club is being repaid by recent performances, but what really mattered was winning a trophy.

They went into the final as favourites against a Warrington Wolves side coached by former cross-code star Sam Burgess, looking to bury the hurt of last year’s Grand Final defeat by Wigan. His side have struggled in the league this season and sit eighth, although they had the added motivation of their hunt to win a 10th Challenge Cup.

Any tags, favourite or underdog from before the match were quickly forgotten as both teams entered a ­battle of attrition that was only enhanced by the raucous travelling fans. Every dominant collision was greeted with as much noise as any point.

It was a final of the finest ­margins, with the rain making any notion of expansive rugby unlikely and at half-time the two sides were separated by just four points. A ­ricochet allowed Josh Thewlis to touch down, with Marc Sneyd ­converting after Warrington fell behind to Mikey Lewis’s penalty. The more the second half went on and Hull KR failed to make dents in a solid yellow wall, the more it looked like their wait would continue. With just three minutes remaining the game turned on its head as Tom Davies got on the end of Tyrone May’s grubber to touch down in the corner and tie the scores.

The try was only awarded after a video review and Lewis’s conversion still needed to go over, but for Robins fans the bitter wait was coming to an end. Lewis converted spectacularly from wide and when the ball went dead at the death, Wembley was flooded with red and white joy.

Earlier in the day, Wigan Warriors put in a dominant display against St Helens in the Women’s Challenge Cup final to lift the cup for the first time. Seven tries by seven different scorers gave Warriors a 42-6 win and ended Saints’ run of four successive tournament wins. It continues Wigan’s impressive start to the season with seven wins from seven games in all competitions, including a 14-44 thrashing of last year’s Challenge Cup finalists Leeds in the semi-final.

Photograph by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images