Mikey Lewis’ bottle, on-field decisions and where the Challenge Cup was won as Hull KR beat Warrington Wolves

Forty years of hurt ended for Hull KR this afternoon in the most dramatic fashion as they pipped Warrington Wolves 8-6 in a thrilling Betfred Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

A try on the stroke of half-time gave Warrington a 6-2 lead and they clung on until two minutes from time when Tom Davies touched down to level the scores and Mikey Lewis kept his nerve, landing the winning conversion.

It was the lowest winning score and points aggregate in a Challenge Cup final since Castleford beat Wigan 7-2 in 1970.

Here’s five key moments when the game was won and lost.

Where the Challenge Cup was won

10 minutes: Holroyd no try after Burgess escapes a yellow card.

In a Super League game, referee Liam Moore might have sin-binned Hull KR winger Joe Burgess for his high tackle on Josh Thewlis. Instead, the winger got away with a ticking off and the Robins kept 13 men on the field. Moments later, Hull KR full-back Jack Broadbent lost the ball in a two-man tackle and Adam Holroyd touched down, but Moore said ‘no try’ and video assistant Jack Smith awarded a penalty for a ball steal by Rodrick Tai.

25: Lewis takes the two

Penalties are out of fashion in rugby league. Teams often chance their hand and opt to try for six points, particularly if they think the opposition are wilting. When an error from Warrington full-back Matt Dufty was compounded by Ben Currie’s high shot on Lewis, Hull KR – sensing how tight the game was – took the opportunity to go two points ahead. That was the difference at the end. It also meant Warrington’s half-time lead was four points rather than six, taking a drop goal out of the equation when they attacked the Robins’ line in the second half.

60-65: Warrington can’t turn Hull KR errors into points

For a spell midway through the second half, Rovers couldn’t get out of their own end as they made a series of errors. A Warrington try then would probably have won them the Cup, but Rovers dug deep defensively and kept them out.

78: It goes up as a try

Warrington were a couple of minutes away from one of Wembley’s most sensational wins, but they couldn’t quite hold on. A last-ditch Robins attack was aided by a penalty for George King’s high tackle on Davies. At the end of that set, Tyrone May kicked behind the Wolves’ line, Aaron Lindop failed to deal with it and the ball ran loose for Davies to get the crucial touch. Moore indicated a try and video assistant Smith confirmed that decision to level the scores.

79: Lewis keeps his nerve

Hull KR signed Rhyse Martin from Leeds Rhinos to solve their goal kicking problems, but he remains on the long-term injury list and their second-best kicker, Arthur Mourgue, was ineligible. Lewis hasn’t always been the most reliable of marksmen and it could have been his Don Fox moment, but the stand-off kept his nerve to land the winning conversion from midway between the posts and touchline.

🏆 @hullkrofficial are the 2025 @Betfred #ChallengeCup winners! pic.twitter.com/6nMWxgeCoC

— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) June 7, 2025