{"id":613511,"date":"2026-05-31T10:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613511\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T10:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:31:08","slug":"ruthless-wigan-romp-to-dominant-win-over-hull-kr-in-challenge-cup-final-challenge-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613511\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruthless Wigan romp to dominant win over Hull KR in Challenge Cup final | Challenge Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ellery Hanley, Andy Gregory, Jason Robinson, Martin Offiah. The roll call of Wembley heroes for Wigan is almost endless and they now have another name to add to the list as they lifted the Challenge Cup<\/a> once again.<\/p>\n

All eyes were firmly fixed on the Wigan bench when it was confirmed their maverick playmaker, Bevan French, was included six weeks ahead of schedule after a hamstring tear. It was all a distraction; by the time French arrived on the scene the final had been decided, in no small part due to the heroics of the man who replaced him.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Jack Farrimond is a victim of Super League\u2019s bizarre salary cap rules that mean he earns less than \u00a330,000 per year. He has shone for the biggest club in the game on the biggest stage of them all. The final score was one-sided \u2013 the biggest since 2015 \u2013 but it was Farrimond\u2019s performance that laid the platform.<\/p>\n

Farrimond scored both of Wigan\u2019s tries in the first half to put them ahead by six points at the break before his assist for Junior Nsemba\u2019s try shortly after the restart. From thereon it was a rout in favour of the Warriors, who steamrollered their way to a record-extending 22nd Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn games like this you\u2019d take a one point win, so to win in that manner \u2013 I\u2019m very, very proud,\u201d Matt Peet said after winning the seventh trophy of his tenure. \u201cThe lads have worked hard for it. We\u2019ve conceded a couple of soft tries, but I\u2019ll get over it. I\u2019m very proud of the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quick GuideWigan v Hull KR: teams and scorersShow<\/p>\n

Wigan Field; Eckersley, Keighran, Wardle, Hodkinson; Farrimond, Smith; Walters, O\u2019Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell, Partington. Interchange French, Havard, Ellis, Mago.<\/p>\n

Tries Farrimond 2, Nsemba, Keighran 2, French, Thompson. Goals Keighran 6.<\/p>\n

Hull KR Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Amone, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella. Interchange Luckley, Martin, Brown, Leyland.<\/p>\n

Tries Hiku 2. Goal Martin.<\/p>\n

Referee Liam Moore<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

Two tries in four minutes for centre Adam Keighran made it 28-4 and Rovers\u2019 body language at the moment he scored his second spoke volumes. They have won the past four major trophies, including victory against Wigan in last year\u2019s Grand Final<\/a>, but this must have been like looking in a mirror on occasions.<\/p>\n

Hull KR\u2019s rise to the top has been built on defensive resilience and methodical, controlled rugby. Wigan were outstanding without the ball in the first half, which laid the platform for their creative players, Farrimond chief among them, to run riot when the opportunity presented itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of moments in that game that weren\u2019t us,\u201d said the beaten coach, Willie Peters. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to own that performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Walters dumps Bill Leyland on his head to become the first man to be sent off in a Challenge Cup final since 1993. Photograph: Paul Harding\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The signs were there from the early exchanges this would be a difficult afternoon for the holders. They lost forward Dean Hadley to a head knock within the opening three minutes and things only got worse.<\/p>\n

Farrimond\u2019s two marvellous solo tries gave Wigan an early lead, but there appeared to be hope for Rovers when Peta Hiku scored as the half-time hooter sounded. However,they were picked apart in ruthless fashion in the second half, with Wigan scoring five more tries.<\/p>\n

Farrimond\u2019s perfect kick allowed Nsemba the room to touch down before Keighran scored his double, the first of which came from another clever kick, this time from Jai Field. That made it 28-4 and you would have perhaps forgiven Wigan for holding French back.<\/p>\n

But he came on for Farrimond shortly after the hour mark and within three minutes he had cut through on the angle in sensational fashion to score.<\/p>\n

It meant the final 15 minutes was largely inconsequential. Hiku scored his second after battling his way over in the corner, but Wigan responded again through Luke Thompson though they were reduced to 12 men late on when Sam Walters was sent off for landing Bill Leyland on his head \u2013 the first player to be sent off in a Challenge Cup final since 1993.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ellery Hanley, Andy Gregory, Jason Robinson, Martin Offiah. The roll call of Wembley heroes for Wigan is almost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-613511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613511","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=613511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}