Wakefield Trinity and Leigh Leopards battled it out for a spot in the Challenge Cup semi-finals and here’s our verdict on the game.
Leigh Leopards were the team to progress with Adrian Lam’s side securing a 20-12 win in a brilliantly contested Challenge Cup clash.
The Leopards find themselves in the hat alongside Catalans Dragons and after taking a massive step forward tonight, they’ll be bidding to emulate their success of 2023.
The two sides had played just last week in Super League meaning each team was familiar with the other’s tactics, although there were a number of personnel changes. Leigh welcomed back England prop Robbie Mulhern in a major boost for Adrian Lam whilst Daryl Powell also made two changes to his pack, with Jack Croft and Renouf Atoni replacing Josh Griffin and Caius Faatili.
Whilst last week’s game was a 40-14 blowout win for Wakefield at the home of Leigh, this week saw the Leopards get their own back, in part due to Wakefield errors, as they progressed to the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
Leigh Leopards march onto Challenge Cup semi-finals
🐆 @LeighLeopardsRL are dreaming of Wembley once more!
🏆 #ChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/YmLtBPlKaU
— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) April 4, 2025
Whilst last week’s meeting saw Wakefield race into an early lead, the opening exchanges tonight were far closer with the first 20 minutes playing out like an arm wrestle until the Leopards broke through courtesy of Lachlan Lam.
The playmaker latched onto a kick from Keanan Brand and a video referee review confirmed the score to give Leigh a 6-0 lead after a tight first quarter of the match. Leigh looked to turn the screw but were unable to do so with one of the decisive plays seeing Tom Johnstone leap highest to claim a goal-line drop-out, helping to relieve that pressure.
Gaz O’Brien’s scuffed drop goal attempt on the eve of half-time was among the very few notable moments in what was an unspectacular but hard-fought opening 40 minutes.
Trinity came out of the blocks fast in the second half with Matty Russell pouncing on Mason Lino’s kick before Lino knocked over the conversion to tie the game up at 6-6.
It didn’t stay level for long though as Ollie Pratt broke the line by stepping Umyla Hanley and the centre was supported by his full-back Josh Rourke who received the pass inside to score under the sticks.
Just before the hour, Rourke dropped a high bomb giving Leigh prime position and straight off the scrum Leigh’s powerhouse centre scrambled to beat four defenders and dance over to score and help level things up again.
A Gaz O’Brien penalty gave Leigh the lead before Wakefield then had a horror show at the back. Rourke collected the ball on his own line and decided to swing a pass to Matty Russell which was dropped and jumped on by Bailey Hodgson who crossed to score, with O’Brien’s conversion giving the Leopards and eight-point lead with just eight minutes to play, something they’d hold onto to win 20-12.
Good day for
Robbie Mulhern’s return was a major boost for Leigh who were simply outdone by Mike McMeeken last week. This week, Leigh had their own powerhouse prop and Mulhern’s efforts and the confidence he brought to the rest of the team was instrumental.
Bad day for
Josh Rourke was potentially a candidate for the Man of the Match until his two errors which cost Wakefield two tries. His dropped catch allowed the scrum from which Niu scored before his stray pass gifted Hodgson a score. The young full-back was brilliant otherwise but will be having nightmares about those two errors.
Star man
Another week goes by and another strong Tesi Niu performance. The NRL signing is proving to be an excellent one and his try is certainly one to watch on the replays.
Teams
Wakefield Trinity XIII: Josh Rourke; Matty Russell, Cameron Scott, Oliver Pratt, Tom Johnstone; Mason Lino, Oliver Russell; Mike McMeeken, Liam Hood, Caleb Hamlin-Uele; Jack Croft, Isaiah Vagana, Jay Pitts
Interchanges: Ky Rodwell, Matthieu Cozza, Harvey Smith, Renouf Atoni
Leigh Leopards XIII: David Armstrong; Bailey Hodgson, Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley, Keanan Brand; Gaz O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern; Frankie Halton, Ethan O’Neill, Isaac Liu
Interchanges: Louis Brogan, Jack Hughes, Alec Tuitavake, Matt Davis
👀 For a place in the @Betfred #ChallengeCup semi-finals…
🙌 Available to watch on SuperLeague+ for subscribers or purchase a game-pass for £7.99! pic.twitter.com/DSk4IRZ4sY
— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) April 4, 2025
