Castleford Tigers avoided a third round Challenge Cup exit for the second year running but they were made to work very hard for their win.
The Tigers were the only Super League side to lose at this stage in 2025, falling 18-16 to Bradford Bulls in a tight affair at Odsal with full-back Tex Hoy missing a late conversion to tie the game up.
Facing a Doncaster side that are tipped for big things in 2026, Castleford avoided the same fate as they got the win in Ryan Carr’s first competitive game in charge.
It wasn’t the prettiest win but it was a win none the less with the Tigers scoring a try in each half as they won 14-0 to progress to the fourth round.
Like most Super League sides this round, Cas named a strong team with a number of their NRL recruits earning their heritage numbers including Blake Taaffee, Mikaele Ravalawa, Krystian Mapapalangi, Tom Weaver and Brock Greacen.
They’d need all that firepower to get past Doncaster at the Eco-Power Stadium with Taafee’s score early in the second half relieving plenty of pressure following a tense first half.
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Castleford Tigers get the job done against tough Doncaster
The opening exchanges were very tight with the deadlock not broken until the 25th minute and it came via one of their 2025 mid-season overseas recruits as Joe Stimson crashed over after the Tigers capitalised from back-to-back penalties.
Some smart work in defence saw Taafee avoid giving away a goal-line drop-out as Doncaster continued to pile the pressure on, with that pressure then reversed and leading to a Titus Gwaze sin bin after he interfered at the play the ball.
Coming out for the second-half only leading 6-0, both Brock Greacen and Blake Taafee threatened but it was the latter who got the Tigers’ second try which granted them the breathing space they needed.
Castleford then eased that pressure even more as Tom Weaver kicked two to make it 14-0 to the Tigers with just 15 minutes to play .
In a round that will see plenty of blowout scores by Super League sides, as evidence by Friday’s five fixtures being won by a combined score of 348-14, Castleford’s result won’t look all that impressive. However, you could argue that this was a game that they would lose 12 months ago and the fact they held the Dons to nil was even more significant.
They’ll need to take strides in Super League if they’re to improve on last year’s 11th-placed finish but with so much talent in their backs and evident grit across the team, the foundations are in place. Carr now needs time to actually to build upon them, something his predecessor Danny McGuire did not get.
As for Doncaster, they’ve shown that they will certainly be in the Championship play-offs at the end of the season, and very likely within that top four or five sides.
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We’re into the Fourth Round!#COYF pic.twitter.com/M8WhZ5DMX1
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) February 7, 2026
