The Good, The Bad of the Ugly of the Challenge Cup Round 6
The Good
With Super League taking a break for Challenge Cup action, we cast our eyes to the sixth round of the Cup. And it was spirited displays by Huddersfield and Leigh that saw them go through to the quarter-final stage. For the Giants it was two wins in a row in all competitions and a much-deserved victory. They ran the ball harder than Wakefield, they did the basics better and threw themselves into defence. Trinity remain a real rocks and diamonds team – one week they’re excellent, the next they’re woeful. But credit to Huddersfield who showed true grit to win.
Championship Leigh upset Salford at home to stay alive in the Cup, but to be frank it wasn’t a massive surprise. The Red Devils are struggling and the Centurions are on a great winning run. Also when you compare to the two team’s squads, you could argue that Leigh have the better of the two with all their import signings, and actually have the higher wage bill. Still, Leigh live to fight another day. Hull KR and Widnes were both eliminated from the competition but did it with their heads held high. The Robins pushed Wigan all the way, even with a man sent off, while the Vikings gave Leeds a real scare on their home turf. And at The Jungle it was the Ben Barba show, the flying Aussie fullback putting Castleford to the sword.
The Bad
Where to begin? Featherstone’s hosting of Hull FC on Thursday turned out to be a spiteful affair where five players were sin-binned and one was sent off. Referee Scott Mikalauskas completely lost control of the game after Misi Taulapapa hit Jamie Shaul hard and late. Taulapapa wasn’t carded and the game descended into an embarrassment after that. It made for car-crash viewing, something more common that you would see in the amateur ranks.
Also worrying were the crowds over the weekend for the Challenge Cup. Hull KR vs Wigan only drew 3,524. Fev against the Black & Whites was watched by 3,222, Huddersfield vs Wakefield attracted only 2,631 while a paltry 1,865 watched Widnes against Leeds. The magic of the Cup? It doesn’t look that way.
The Ugly
Warrington against Toronto – the clash of the two sets of ‘Wolves’ – was supposed to be a glamour tie. A Super League giant against the new kids on the block who are gunning to be in Super League next year. A sunny day and a nice timeslot on the BBC. What more could you want? But the game was an absolute farce thanks to the disgraceful discipline of Toronto. The Canadian side had a player rightly red-carded for a punch, another yellow-carded for a tip tackle and two more sin-binned for back-chat at the referee.
As well as that there was numerous high shots during the game by the Wolfpack and other unsavory incidents, like the knees that went into Tom Lineham’s back after he scored a try. All up they gave away 15 penalties. Referee Ben Thaler did a solid job in trying to impose some semblance of order. Toronto won no new friends with that dreadful display that eventually ended in a massive 66-10 defeat. It’s a big wake-up call for the ambitious expansion club. Those kind of tactics won’t be tolerated at the elite level.
