Wigan Warriors defeat Hull KR 40-10 to win Challenge Cup

Wigan Warriors defeated Hull KR 40-10 in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley. Bevan French scored a try less than three minutes after entering as a substitute on the hour mark. French had returned from hamstring surgery sustained in March and was named in Matt Peet’s 21-man squad six weeks earlier than expected.

Jack Farrimond scored Wigan’s first two tries. He opened the scoring after five minutes by throwing a dummy and darting through, then added a second five minutes before half-time from a short pass by Oliver Partington. Adam Keighran converted both tries to give Wigan a 10-0 lead at the interval.

Hull KR lost prop Dean Hadley to a game-ending head injury three minutes into the match. Mikey Lewis was limping badly during the first half. Peta Hiku scored for Hull KR just before half-time after catching a kick from Tyrone May.

Junior Nsemba scored within three minutes of the second-half restart by catching Harry Smith’s high kick. Keighran kicked a goal to make the score 16-4, then scored two tries of his own. Keighran finished with six successful conversions and a 20-point haul.

French scored Wigan’s sixth try after coming off the bench. Luke Thompson scored Wigan’s seventh and final try. Sam Walters was sent off with a red card for a dangerous tip-tackle on Bill Leyland with two minutes remaining.

The 40-10 victory was the biggest winning margin in a Challenge Cup final since Leeds beat Hull KR 50-0 in 2015. Wigan had lost 62-4 to Hull KR in a Super League match at Craven Park 10 days earlier, when Matt Peet named a team of debutants. Hull KR ended 40 years without a trophy by winning at Wembley 12 months before this final.

Matt Peet is the coach of Wigan Warriors. Willie Peters is the coach of Hull KR.