{"id":359192,"date":"2026-01-08T15:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/359192\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T15:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:59:13","slug":"how-to-watch-challenge-cup-first-round-including-bbc-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/359192\/","title":{"rendered":"How to watch Challenge Cup First Round including BBC coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Competitive rugby league is back on our screens this weekend, with the Challenge Cup officially kicking off the 2026 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The opening round of the historic cup competition will see community clubs across the country take to the field, with the 21 Championship clubs lying in wait should they progress.<\/p>\n<p>34 teams will take part in 17 regionalised round one fixtures this weekend, with plenty of local derbies among them, but there will also be a select few aired live for fans to watch.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a full guide on how to watch the action this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday 10th January<\/p>\n<p>13:30: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/challenge-cup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Challenge Cup<\/a> first round \u2013 Rochdale Mayfield v Ince Road Bridge \u2013 BBC Sport<\/p>\n<p>The first live game of the 2026 season sees Rochdale Mayfield take on Ince Road Bridge on BBC Sport from 13:30. Both sides managed to progress through the opening round in last year\u2019s competition, with Rochdale Mayfield winning their tie against Telford Raiders 64-16, while Ince Road Bridge downed Longhorns 56-12, so this promises to be a tasty clash at Keswick Street.<\/p>\n<p>The winners of this contest will face <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/championship\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Championship<\/a> side Swinton Lions in round two.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday 11th January<\/p>\n<p>13:30: Challenge Cup first round \u2013 Siddal ARLFC v Waterhead Warriors \u2013 Sportsman YouTube channel<\/p>\n<p>The live action continues on Sunday, with Siddal ARLFC taking on Waterhead Warriors from 13:30 on the Sportsman YouTube channel.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides have experienced professional coaches at the helm, with Leeds Rhinos half-back and reigning Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel Jake Connor serving as Siddal coach, while ex-Huddersfield Giants, London Broncos, Leigh, Wakefield Trinity and Bradford Bulls prop Nathan Mason has recently taken over as head coach of the Warriors \u2013 the club he played for in his youth.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides also got through the first round last year, with Siddal beating Hammersmith Hills Hoists 18-4, while Waterhead edged Leigh Miners Rangers 12-8.<\/p>\n<p>The winners will then progress to a round two clash against Rochdale Hornets.<\/p>\n<p>Challenge Cup first round draw in full<\/p>\n<p>Orrell St James v Haresfinch<\/p>\n<p>Wigan St Judes v Leigh Miners Rangers<\/p>\n<p>Rochdale Mayfield v Ince Rose Bridge<\/p>\n<p>Blackbrook v GB Police<\/p>\n<p>Thatto Heath Crusaders v Seaton Rangers<\/p>\n<p>Siddal v Waterhead<\/p>\n<p>Stanningley v Dewsbury Moor<\/p>\n<p>Kings Cross Park v West Hull<\/p>\n<p>Hunslet ARLFC v York Acorn<\/p>\n<p>Heworth v RAF<\/p>\n<p>Brighouse Rangers v Lock Lane<\/p>\n<p>Woodhouse Warriors v Mirfield Spartans<\/p>\n<p>Bedford Tigers v Medway Dragons<\/p>\n<p>British Army v Wests Warriors<\/p>\n<p>Banbridge Broncos (Northern Ireland) v Aberavon Fighting Irish<\/p>\n<p>Telford Raiders v London Chargers<\/p>\n<p>Royal Navy v Hammersmith Hills Hoists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Competitive rugby league is back on our screens this weekend, with the Challenge Cup officially kicking off the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-359192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}