2022 Challenge Cup final

{{Short description|Rugby league match in the United Kingdom}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox rugby league football match |year = 2022 |title = Challenge Cup Final |image = Giants at spurs.jpg |imagesize = 250px |caption = |alt = |home = {{leagueicon|Huddersfield|12}} [[Huddersfield Giants|Huddersfield Giants]] |away = {{leagueicon|Wigan Warriors|12}} [[Wigan Warriors]] |home_abbr = {{leagueicon|Huddersfield|12}} HUD |away_abbr = {{leagueicon|Wigan|12}} WIG |home_half1 =10 |home_half2 =4 |home_total =14 |away_half1 =6 |away_half2 =10 |away_total =16 |date = 28 May 2022 |location = London, United Kingdom |MoM_title = [[Lance Todd Trophy]] |MoM = [[Chris McQueen]] |anthem_title = [[God Save The Queen]] and [[Abide with Me]] |anthem = Lizzy Jones [[Twinnie-Lee Moore|Twinnie]] |referee = [[James Child]] |attendance = 51,628<ref>{{cite web | url=https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/05/28/wigan-win-the-challenge-cup/ | title=Wigan win the Challenge Cup – Wigan Warriors | date=28 May 2022 }}</ref> |stadium = [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]] |network = [[BBC One]] |commentators = |commentators2= |commentators3= |tournaments = [[List of Challenge Cup finals|Finals]] |last = [[2021 Challenge Cup Final|2021]] |next = [[2023 Challenge Cup final|2023]] }}

The '''2022 Challenge Cup Final''' was the 121st final of the [[Rugby Football League]]'s [[Challenge Cup]] knock-out competition, which was contested between the [[Huddersfield Giants]] and the [[Wigan Warriors]]. It took place on 28 May 2022 at the [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2022/may/wigan-win-thrilling-challenge-cup-final-on-another-historic-day-at-tottenham-hotspur-stadium/ |title=Wigan win thrilling Challenge Cup Final on another historic day at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |date=29 May 2022}}</ref> Wigan won the cup for the 20th time by beating Huddersfield 16–14.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/may/28/huddersfield-wigan-rugby-league-challenge-cup-final-match-report |title=Marshall grabs Challenge Cup glory for Wigan to break Huddersfield hearts|date=28 May 2022 |work=The Observer }}</ref>

==Background== ===Teams=== Wigan Warriors and Huddersfield Giants have faced each other only once before in the Challenge Cup Final during the [[1919–20 Challenge Cup|1919–20 season]] resulting in a 21–10 victory to Huddersfield. Since then, Wigan have established themselves as the most successful team in the tournament, winning the trophy 19 times and reaching a further 13 finals, their last in [[2017 Challenge Cup Final|2017]], and last winning in [[2013 Challenge Cup Final|2013]]. By contrast, Huddersfield's ten Challenge Cup Final appearances consist of six wins and four losses, their most recent in [[2009 Challenge Cup Final|2009]], but have not won the competition since [[1952–53 Challenge Cup|1953]]. Upon making the final, Wigan were fourth in the [[Super League XXVII|Super League]], behind [[St Helens R.F.C.–Wigan Warriors rivalry|rivals]], cup holders, and their semi-final opposition [[St Helens R.F.C.|St Helens]] and [[Catalans Dragons]] Meanwhile Huddersfield were fifth, only 1 point behind, the sides had met twice in the league with each side winning their home games, with little between the sides it made the final one of the hardest to call in recent years.

===Stadium=== [[File:Tottenham Hotspur Stadium South Stand.jpg|thumb|The [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]] hosted the final for one year only]] The 2022 Challenge Cup Final was moved away from [[Wembley Stadium|Wembley]] to the [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]] due to a scheduling conflict between the [[Rugby Football League|RFL]] and the [[BBC]]. This also resulted in the final being moved to late May from its usual date in July or August. The RFL later announced this would be a temporary change, and would return to Wembley for [[2023 Challenge Cup Final|2023]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12196/12379438/challenge-cup-final-tottenham-hotspur-stadium-to-host-showpiece-instead-of-wembley-next-year|title=Challenge Cup final: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to host showpiece instead of Wembley next year|date=12 August 2021|website=[[Sky Sports]]}}</ref>

==Route to the final== ===Huddersfield Giants===

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center; width: 60%;" |- !scope="col" style="width:20%"|Round !scope="col" style="width:60%"|Opposition !scope="col" style="width:60%"|Venue !scope="col" style="width:20%"|Score |- !Sixth round |{{leagueicon|Barrow|16}} [[Barrow Raiders]] |[[Craven Park (Barrow)|Craven Park]] |30–16 |- !Quarter-final |{{leagueicon|Hull FC|16}} [[Hull F.C.]] |[[Kirklees Stadium]] |24–16 |- !Semi-final |{{leagueicon|Hull KR|16}} [[Hull Kingston Rovers|Hull KR]] |[[Elland Road]] |25–4 |}

===Wigan Warriors===

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center; width: 60%;" |- !scope="col" style="width:20%"|Round !scope="col" style="width:60%"|Opposition !scope="col" style="width:60%"|Venue !scope="col" style="width:20%"|Score |- !Sixth round |{{leagueicon|Salford city|16}} [[Salford Red Devils]] |[[DW Stadium]] |20–0 |- !Quarter-final |{{leagueicon|Wakefield|16}} [[Wakefield Trinity]] |[[Belle Vue (Wakefield)|Belle Vue]] |36–6 |- !Semi-final |{{leagueicon|St Helens|16}} [[St Helens R.F.C.|St Helens]] |[[Elland Road]] |20–18 |}

==Pre-match== ===1895 Cup Final=== In the curtain opener, [[Leigh Centurions]] beat [[Featherstone Rovers]] 30–16 in the [[2022 RFL 1895 Cup|2022 1895 Cup]] Final.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/featherstone-16-30-leigh-centurions-claim-1895-cup/ | title=Featherstone 16–30 Leigh: Centurions claim 1895 Cup | date=28 May 2022 }}</ref>

===Anthems=== Regular Challenge Cup anthem singer Lizze Jones sung ''[[Abide with Me]]'' ahead of the final. The [[God Save the Queen|national anthem]] was sung by [[Twinnie-Lee Moore|Twinnie]] from the roof of the [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]].<ref name="pre">{{cite web | url=https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36909/betfred-challenge-cup-final-pre-match-entertainment-revealed | title=Betfred Challenge Cup Final pre-match entertainment revealed }}</ref>

===Ticketing=== Ticket prices started at £30 for adults and £15 for under-16s, with a select number of free tickets for NHS and military personnel.<ref name="pre" />

==Match details== {{rugbyleaguebox|bg=#f1f5fc |date=Saturday, 28 May |time=15:00 (BST) |team1= [[Huddersfield Giants]] {{leagueicon|Huddersfield|12}} |score= 14–16 |report=[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/61594770 report] |team2={{leagueicon|Wigan|12}} [[Wigan Warriors]] |try1= [[Ricky Leutele|Leutele]] (17') [[Chris McQueen|McQueen]] (33') [[Jermaine McGillvary|McGillvary]] (58') |goal1= [[Tuimoala Lolohea|Lolohea]] (2' [[Penalty (rugby)#Penalties in rugby league|pen.]]) 1/5 |drop1= |try2= [[Harry Smith (rugby league)|Smith]] (25′) [[Jai Field|Field]] (42′) [[Liam Marshall|Marshall]] (77′) |goal2= [[Harry Smith (rugby league)|Smith]] (26', 43') 2/3 |stadium=[[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]], [[London]] |referee= {{flagicon|ENG}} [[James Child]] [[Lance Todd Trophy]]: {{leagueicon|Huddersfield|16}} [[Chris McQueen]] |attendance=51,628 }}

===Summary=== The game was viewed by many as a classic, with Wigan breaking Huddersfield hearts, with a match winning try late on. Huddersfield had led the game for the most part, taking a 2–0 lead through a [[Tui Lolohea]] penalty goal. [[Ricky Leutele]] scored the games first try, to give Huddersfield a 6–0 lead, Lolohea hit the post with the conversion. Wigan then scored through [[Harry Smith (rugby league)|Harry Smith]] to which he converted, to level the scores at 6–6. With 20 minutes of the game played, Huddersfield lost prop forward [[Chris Hill (rugby league)|Chris Hill]], with a leg injury. With the scores level at 6–6, [[Chris McQueen]] threw a dummy and went over to give Huddersfield a 10–6 lead. Lolohea missed the conversion (0/2). Half time- Huddersfield 10–6 Wigan.

Wigan came out strong for the second half, and were soon in the ascendancy, as [[Jai Field]] went over in the opening minutes of the 2nd half. Smith successfully converted the try, to put Wigan into the lead for the first time in the game. Huddersfield hit back soon after, with [[Jermaine McGillvary]] touching down in the far corner, despite 4 Wigan defenders trying to keep him out. There was a bit of controversy halfway through the 2nd half, when [[Morgan Smithies]] was penalised of 2 reckless high tackles, within the space of a couple of minutes. many in the crowd were expecting to see the cup final's first yellow card since 2001, but referee James Child was extremely lenient in issuing Smithies with just a ticking off. Lolohea opted to go for the 2 points to try and give the giants A 4 point lead, but missed the relative straight forward penalty. however, with the clock ticking down and Huddersfield defending stoutly, [[Cade Cust]] went off with what appeared to be a dislocated elbow, and was replaced by [[Thomas Leuluai]]. With less than 4 minutes of the game remaining, Wigan were pushing and pushing to find their match winning try, and after a switch of play from right to left by [[Thomas Leuluai]], Smith put an inch perfect kick behind the Giants defence for [[Liam Marshall]] to score the match winning try, to the delight of the Wigan fans, and the despair of the Huddersfield fans. Smith missed the conversion, and with less than 2 minutes remaining, Huddersfield could not gain possession of the ball, and the match was won by Wigan.

==Post-match== The day following the final, Wigan Warriors had a trophy parade outside the Robin Park Area.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2022-05-29/thousands-turn-out-for-wigan-warriors-homecoming-party | title=Thousands turn out for Wigan Warriors homecoming party | date=29 May 2022 }}</ref>

Following, what was dubbed by the media, a successful final for rugby league certain outlets questioned the finals future at [[Wembley Stadium|Wembley]] especially if the trend of declining attendance figures in the sport continued. Wembley and the RFL are in a current agreement to hold the final at the stadium until [[2027 Challenge Cup Final|2027]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/may/30/tottenhams-challenge-cup-final-shows-rugby-league-there-is-life-outside-wembley | title=Tottenham's Challenge Cup final shows rugby league there is life outside Wembley | Rugby league | the Guardian }}</ref>

The match was watched by 1,519,400 people on [[BBC One]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/05/31/cup-final-tv-audience-figures/ | title=Cup Final TV audience figures – Wigan Warriors | date=31 May 2022 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Challenge Cup Final}} [[Category:Challenge Cup finals|2022]] [[Category:2022 in English rugby league]] [[Category:May 2022 sports events in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:2022 in sport in London]] [[Category:Wigan Warriors matches]]