Castleford Tigers 10-16 Leeds Rhinos
by James Nalton
at University of Bolton Stadium

THE Women’s Challenge Cup final kicked off an afternoon of rugby league at the University of Bolton stadium on Saturday, and this curtain-raiser for the men’s semi-finals which followed was one of the highlights of the day.

It was a repeat of last season’s final, won by Leeds Rhinos, but Castleford Tigers were favourites this time around.

There had been doubts as to whether Cas would be allowed to compete in the final, having fielded an ineligible player in the previous round, but the RFL chose to “exercise discretion and not to disqualify Castleford Tigers for what was considered to be a genuine administrative error by the club rather than a deliberate act.”

It was the right decision given the circumstances, and set up an intense, competitive final between two of Yorkshire’s traditional rugby league giants.

Fans scattered around the home of Bolton Wanderers for the late morning kick off. A vocal group of Castleford followers created an atmosphere by themselves in one block of the south stand, and this increased as fans attending the later games filtered in throughout.

Those Tigers fans saw their side cross in front of them twice in the first half, but each time they were pegged back by their opponents.

Castleford had racked up 196 points in the three games prior to this final, beating Wakefield 100-0 in the semi, and it looked like they would pile on the points here when Rhiannon Marshall powered over the line early on.

The loose-forward dummied before breaking the line, brushing aside three would-be tacklers before crossing in the corner. But the Rhinos were a different animal to those Castleford had faced so far in this competition, and the defending champions weren’t going to give up their title easily.

Their heads didn’t drop and they were back in the game shortly after. Fran Goldthorpe leapt highest to collect Courtney Hill’s kick to the corner, with the latter’s conversion nudging Leeds ahead.

Caitlin Beevers, who scored in last year’s final, increased the Rhinos lead, skirting around the edge of the Castleford defence following a scrum, before Tamsin Renouf barged over for Cas before half-time to see the sides go in level.

Strong goal-line defending was a feature of Leeds’s display, and their own tries often came on the back of this. 

Hill scored the only try of the second half, sprinting away from chasing defenders after collecting a pass from Dannielle Anderson who had breached the Castleford line. But the groundwork came from good defence, which was ultimately what thwarted the favourites.

“As soon as I saw Dannielle Anderson with ball in hand, I knew she would find a way to bust the tackle and free that arm,” said Hill of the game-winning try. 

“She offloaded the ball perfectly. It was her try, all I had to do was finish it off.”

Australian Hill was named player of the match, and said games like this are great for the progress of the women’s game.

“I’m loving watching the game grow over here and hopefully that transition is through to professionalism,” she added. 

“Especially as we in England are going to host the World Cup [in 2021], it can only do wonderful things for the women’s game and I’m proud to be part of it.”

Castleford coach Lindsay Anfield was disappointed with her team’s performance, but also praised the event.

“This was fantastic for women’s rugby league,” she said. 

“It introduces the game to more people, and the rest of the rugby league community can see what women’s rugby league is all about. It showcases it to a wider community.”

Fans of Warrington and Hull, who arrived for the subsequent men’s game, added their support during the final moments of this tight game, and saw Leeds lift the trophy for the second year in a row.