This weekend saw the Championship round 1 fixtures commence and a couple of surprise results along the way.
Newly-promoted Oldham shocked promotion-hunting York and Widnes managed an away win at Toulouse for the first time in six years.
Here’s a round-up from round 1 of the Championship from all six fixtures.
Championship round 1 results
Toulouse Olympique 14-18 Widnes Vikings (Stade Ernest Wallon)
A 68th-minute try from Ryan Lannon and a final 10 minutes of excellent defending gave Widnes their first win in France since 2019.
New Warrington loanee Alfie Johnson went straight into the starting line-up and former Wolves player Dec Patton teamed up with Tom Gilmore in the halves.
Toulouse vice-captain Paul Marcon marked his 150th appearance for the club and off-season recruit Rob Butler started at prop.
Tries from Widnes’ Max Roberts and Toulouse’s Reubenn Rennie and a penalty from Jake Shorrocks gave the Olympique an 8-6 lead at half-time.
Following Ashall-Bott’s score giving Toulouse a 14-6 lead, the Vikings got back-to-back tries through Matt Fleming and Lannon got Widnes’ 2025 season off to winning ways.
Sheffield Eagles 14-28 Halifax Panthers (Olympic Legacy Park)
A valiant second-half Halifax performance over Sheffield gave the Panthers their first two points of the season.
Halifax loose forward Jacob Fairbank made his 250th Panthers appearance and Konrad Hurrell made his debut after moving on loan from St Helens during the week.
Alex Foster made his 200th career appearance and lined up in the Eagles centres for their first home game of 2025 and new recruit Morgan Smith went straight into the halves for his debut.
Smith scored Sheffield’s opener as well as a try from Joel Farrell to give the Eagles an 8-0 lead before Tom Inman got one back for the Panthers.
Lewis Peachey’s effort meant Sheffield were 14-6 leaders at half-time.
That was as good as it got for them as Halifax scored 18 unanswered points through an Owen McCarron brace and tries from Brad Graham and Ben Tibbs to give the Panthers a 28-14 win.
Oldham 50-4 York Knights (Boundary Park)
Newly-promoted Oldham stunned promotion-tipped York with an incredible 50-4 victory at Boundary Park.
Oldham head coach Sean Long has assembled a big-name squad for 2025, with Josh Drinkwater joining the Roughyeds as well as loanee signings George Hirst and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e from Wigan and Hull KR respectively.
York named an unchanged 21-man squad from the side that faced Hull KR in the Challenge Cup last week.
It was a tight start to the game with Oldham scoring first through Matty Ashurst before PLT got his try tally started for the season to give them a 14-0 lead.
York scored their only try of the game next with a Joe Brown score on the back of four repeat sets.
That was as good as it got for York as Oldham scored Jumah Sambou scored just before half-time to give them a 26-4 lead.
In the second half, tries from Sambou again, Matty Wildie, Kieran Dixon and another from Ashurst gave the Championship new boys a 50-4 win over the Knights.
Featherstone Rovers 20-4 Doncaster RLFC (Millennium Stadium, Featherstone)
Featherstone started off their Championship campaign with a tough 20-4 win over Doncaster.
Rovers went into their Championship season with their name in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup following a 68-0 win over Ince Rose Bridge.
Doncaster head coach Richard Horne gave starts to new signings Edene Gebbie, Josh Bowden and Jacob Jones.
Featherstone got into a 10-0 lead with tries from Clay Webb and Jayden Hatton as Doncaster failed to capitalise on their chances.
Hatton scored again in the 57th minute to give Rovers a 16-0 lead before Webb also claimed a brace for a 22-0 lead.
Doncaster got a consolation try from Craig Hall in the final three minutes to get rid of the duck egg.
Bradford Bulls 20-6 London Broncos (Odsal Stadium)
Bradford got their 2025 campaign off to the perfect start with a 20-6 win over London.
The Bulls gave competitive debuts to Guy Armitage and Emmanuel Waine as head coach Brian Noble starts his second stint at the club.
London gave debuts to new signing Chris Hellec along with Warrington loanees Jake Thewlis and Zac Bardsley-Rowe.
It took Bradford 18 minutes to get their first try through debutant Armitage before Jensen Monk got one back for the visitors, giving London a 6-4 lead at half-time.
The Bulls scored tries through Ebon Scurr, Sam Hallas and Jorge Taufua in the second half to get their 2025 season off to winning ways.
Barrow Raiders 38-12 Hunslet RLFC (Northern Competitions Stadium)
Barrow started their season with a 38-12 win over promoted side Hunslet on Sunday.
Barrow fullback Luke Cresswell made his 150th career appearance and Ryan Johnston missed the match through HIA protocols.
Hull KR loanees Noah Booth and Zach Fishwick went straight into the Hunslet line-up.
Hunslet scored first through a Noah Booth try before a Brad Walker brace and Ryan King interception gave the Raiders a 14-6 lead.
Andrew Bulman added another score for the home side for an 18-6 lead going into half-time.
Tom Wilkinson and Cresswell added two more tries for Barrow before Kobe Rugless got one back for the visitors for a 30-12 scoreline.
Bulman scored another before a final Walker penalty gave the home side a convincing 38-12 win.
