Women’s Challenge Cup final: Young Wigan Warriors beat St Helens in power-change – ‘Change is coming to Saints’ | Rugby League News
For four consecutive years between 2021 and 2024, St Helens won the Women’s Challenge Cup. However, two years since, Wigan Warriors have dispatched the Saints to two finals at Wembley.
For last year’s 42-6 win, read this year’s 54-6 blowout. It is clear that there has been a change of guard.
St Helens are an experienced side who have tasted great success, but are now being blown away by a Wigan side full of youth and pace.
In Saturday’s final, 20-year-old Eva Hunter scored four tries, 19-year-old Jenna Foubister was named man of the match and 19-year-old Izzy Rowe again played and kicked well, while 20-year-old Grace Banks also crossed for a try.
For St Helens, outgoing leaders Jodie Cunningham and Emily Rudge are both 34, Zoe Harris is 32, Faye Gaskin is 34 and Amy Hardcastle is 37. Renewal is needed, and the Saints coaching staff acknowledged that after a bitterly disappointing day.
“We are a really loyal team. We train as a team, but the players can see that there will be a change coming,” said St Helens head coach Craig Richards.
“They want the best for the team, they want to do their best, and you have to see it when you train, it’s not just the 17 who take the field.
“These players are working, some players will be at a certain level, and they want to be at the level.
“So there are no hard questions, no silver bullet. Reviewing the team and feeding one or two players to the team, but without running at a young age and putting a lot of pressure on them.
“There is a plan in place, but it must be a slow plan.
“Hopefully it doesn’t take us too long to get back to where we need to be.”
Compared to Wigan’s young offences, St Helens have a squad full of experience but lack the same form.
Bettors: My players changed the women’s game
Wigan manager Denis Betts believes his youth team have changed the game of rugby league in the country, using their style of play and incredible skills.
“They have changed this game. This game in England is different now,” he said.
“I think after last year, I spoke to a lot of people, a lot of people from Wigan, and they were like: ‘I didn’t realize the women’s game looked like that’. And it didn’t, until these girls made it look like that.
Wigan’s Eva Hunter, aged 20, proved to be the star player on the day, her electric pace overwhelming St Helens.
“And that’s down to them. I came in and asked them how they wanted to play and then we broke it down, gave them the ability to do that.
“My job as a coach is to support their need to improve, the way they want to play, and the way they look at the game. They succeed.
“They are the players who enter the field, and they have changed the game.
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Wigan’s Jenna Foubister, 19, tells Sky Sports that ‘this is just the beginning’ after winning the Challenge Cup final against St Helens.
“We sat here last year and we said the same thing. Everyone goes: ‘Wow, that was good’, and I think about it again, I don’t think we played that well today, and they didn’t. I expected them to come out and go: ‘I didn’t do this, I didn’t do that’.
“They are like that, they are always trying to improve themselves.
“We end up in these discussions where it inspires me a lot as a coach, because they want to be better, and I have to prove that good thinking, what we do and how we train, will improve that.”
Foubister: The victory is amazing – everything we dreamed of
Jenna Foubister, Wigan Warriors midfielder, speaking to the BBC:
“It was absolutely amazing, it was everything we wanted as a team. We built on this before the first season and last year and it’s great that it all paid off.
“We went into it knowing it was going to be a very tough game. We know what Saints are like, we know they can come on the day, but I think we played a lot better and we all came in.
“I’m glad we got the win.”
Wigan Warriors’ Anna Davies speaking to the BBC:
“I’m speechless. I thought last year it was a statement but I think today the pressure was on us to make it and be able to use it again.”
“I thought it was going to be a real battle today because they came at us and we were able to deal with that storm in the beginning, it was chaotic, but we calmed down and we were able to use it in the end and we were able to enjoy it and be comfortable with it. I think that’s where we played our best.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to play here and to be able to do it with the girls.”
Sky Sports will also show every Super League game live this season – including two games from each round live exclusively, with the remaining five games each week shown on Sky Sports+
