2021 RFL 1895 Cup

Last updated
2021 RFL 1895 Cup
Duration4 rounds
Number of teams16
Winners Featherstone Rovers
Runners-up York City Knights
Ray French Award Craig Hall

The 2021 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2021 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the second playing [lower-alpha 1] of the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The competition is for the professional clubs who play in the Championship and League 1 (the second and third tiers of rugby league in the United Kingdom) and was played between March and July 2021.

Contents

The final was played as a curtain raiser to the 2021 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on 17 July 2021.

The cup was won by Featherstone Rovers who beat York City Knights 41–34. Featherstone's Craig Hall won the Ray French Award for player of the match.

Format

With the Rugby Football League (RFL) anticipating that the 2021 season would be affected to some degree by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was taken in December 2020 for the early rounds of the Challenge Cup to also act as the early rounds of the 1895 Cup. [1] This was made possible by amateur teams, who would normally compete in the Challenge Cup, being excluded from that tournament in 2021, such that only teams eligible for the 1895 Cup were competing in rounds 1 and 2 of the Challenge Cup. The four teams progressing into the third round of the Challenge Cup, in which teams from Super League entered, also became the semi-finalists of the 1895 Cup. [1] [2]

Teams

Three League 1 sides were able to enter the competition; Barrow Raiders, Keighley Cougars and West Wales Raiders were chosen from those teams who were able to, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, commit to being available for the first round date. [3] They were joined in round 1 by the 13 English clubs from the Championship. French side Toulouse Olympique who are the 14th participants in the Championship did not enter either competition. [1]

First round

The draw for the first and second rounds of the competition was made on 11 February 2021. The first round games were played over the weekend of 20/21 March 2021. [4]

Due to COVID-19 regulation prohibiting live attendances all the first round games were broadcast live either on the RFL's Our League app or on the BBC's Red Button and iPlayer services or on The Sportsman online services. [5] [6] [7]

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueRefereeBroadcast method
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 6–30 YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 19 March 2021, 7:45pm Keepmoat Stadium Tom GrantThe Sportsman
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham 20–6 Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 20 March 2021, 1:45pm Bower Fold Marcus GriffithsOur League
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos 24–10 Cougscolours.svg Keighley Cougars 20 March 2021, 3:00pm The Rock Rob HicksOur League
Haven colours.svg Whitehaven 23–16 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 20 March 2021, 5:15pm Recreation Ground James ChildOur League
Faxcolours.svg Halifax Panthers 6-19 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 20 March 2021, 7:30pm The Shay Ben ThalerOur League
Canberra colours.svg West Wales Raiders 4–58 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 21 March 2021, 12:45pm Stebonheath Park Liam MooreBBC services
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 41–16 Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 21 March 2021, 3:00pm Millennium Stadium Chris Kendall BBC services
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 28–16 Gthundercolours.svg Newcastle Thunder 21 March 2021, 5:15pm Heywood Road Scott MikalauskasOur League
Source: [8]

Second round

The second round games took place a week after the first round over the weekend of 27/28 March 2021. [9] All four games were shown free-to-air either via BBC services or via The Sportsman. [10]

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueRefereeBroadcast method
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 30–22 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 27 March 2021, 12:45pm Millennium Stadium Gareth HewerThe Sportsman
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 23–14 Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham 28 March 2021, 12:30pm Heywood Road Tom GrantBBC Services
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos 2–14 YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 28 March 2021, 2:30pm The Rock Marcus GriffithsBBC Services
Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 34–10 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven 28 March 2021, 5:00pm DCBL Stadium Jack SmithThe Sportsman
Source:

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 28 April 2021. [11]

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueRefereeAttendanceBroadcast method
YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 36–22 Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions 6 June 2021, 2:00pm LNER Community Stadium Tom GrantOurLeague
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 24–18 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 6 June 2021, 4:00pm Millennium Stadium Ben ThalerOurLeague
Source:

Final

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueRefereeAttendanceBroadcast method
YorkRLFCcolours.png York City Knights 34–41 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 17 July 2021, 12:00pm Wembley Stadium, LondonRobert HicksBBC red button
Source: [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ The inaugural competition was in 2019 but the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Championship, L1 and Cups structure confirmed". Serious About Rugby League. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Championship and League 1 clubs target March 21 return date". Love Rugby League. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Keighley to join Barrow and West Wales in Challenge Cup". Keighley News. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Sadler, Martyn (11 February 2021). "West Wales drawn against Widnes in first round of Challenge Cup". TotalRL.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  5. ↑ "Spring streaming bonanza to kick off the 2021 season". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "BBC to broadcast potential Henson Challenge Cup debut". TotalRL. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Sportsman To Kick Off Rugby League Season With Live Challenge Cup Coverage". The Sportsman. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Challenge Cup Round One". Rugby Leaguer & League Express . No. 3, 269. 22 March 2021. pp. 20–23.
  9. ↑ "RFL makes Challenge Cup second round draw". TotalRL.com. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Coverage of Betfred Challenge Cup Second Round confirmed". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Hughes, Steven (28 April 2021). "1895 and Women's Challenge Cup Draws announced". Serious About Rugby League. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "1895 Cup Final: Featherstone Rovers beat York City Knights 41-34 to win at Wembley". BBC Sport. 17 July 2021.
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