2021 RFL 1895 Cup

The 2021 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2021 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the second playing[lower-alpha 1] of the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The competition is for the professional clubs who play in the Championship and League 1 (the second and third tiers of rugby league in the United Kingdom) and was played between March and July 2021.

2021 RFL 1895 Cup
Duration4 rounds
Number of teams16
WinnersFeatherstone Rovers
Runners-upYork City Knights
Ray French Award Craig Hall

The final was played as a curtain raiser to the 2021 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on 17 July 2021.

The cup was won by Featherstone Rovers who beat York City Knights 41–34. Featherstone's Craig Hall won the Ray French Award for player of the match.

Format

With the Rugby Football League (RFL) anticipating that the 2021 season would be affected to some degree by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was taken in December 2020 for the early rounds of the Challenge Cup to also act as the early rounds of the 1895 Cup.[1] This was made possible by amateur teams, who would normally compete in the Challenge Cup, being excluded from that tournament in 2021, such that only teams eligible for the 1895 Cup were competing in rounds 1 and 2 of the Challenge Cup. The four teams progressing into the third round of the Challenge Cup, in which teams from Super League entered, also became the semi-finalists of the 1895 Cup.[1][2]

Teams

Three League 1 sides were able to enter the competition; Barrow Raiders, Keighley Cougars and West Wales Raiders were chosen from those teams who were able to, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, commit to being available for the first round date.[3] They were joined in round 1 by the 13 English clubs from the Championship. French side Toulouse Olympique who are the 14th participants in the Championship did not enter either competition.[1]

First round

The draw for the first and second rounds of the competition was made on 11 February 2021. The first round games were played over the weekend of 20/21 March 2021.[4]

Due to COVID-19 regulation prohibiting live attendances all the first round games were broadcast live either on the RFL's Our League app or on the BBC's Red Button and iPlayer services or on The Sportsman online services.[5][6][7]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Broadcast method
Sheffield Eagles 6–30 York City Knights 19 March 2021, 7:45pm Keepmoat Stadium Tom Grant The Sportsman
Oldham 20–6 Barrow Raiders 20 March 2021, 1:45pm Bower Fold Marcus Griffiths Our League
London Broncos 24–10 Keighley Cougars 20 March 2021, 3:00pm The Rock Rob Hicks Our League
Whitehaven 23–16 Dewsbury Rams 20 March 2021, 5:15pm Recreation Ground James Child Our League
Halifax Panthers 6-19 Batley Bulldogs 20 March 2021, 7:30pm The Shay Ben Thaler Our League
West Wales Raiders 4–58 Widnes Vikings 21 March 2021, 12:45pm Stebonheath Park Liam Moore BBC services
Featherstone Rovers 41–16 Bradford Bulls 21 March 2021, 3:00pm Millennium Stadium Chris Kendall BBC services
Swinton Lions 28–16 Newcastle Thunder 21 March 2021, 5:15pm Heywood Road Scott Mikalauskas Our League
Source:[8]

Second round

The second round games took place a week after the first round over the weekend of 27/28 March 2021.[9] All four games were shown free-to-air either via BBC services or via The Sportsman.[10]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Broadcast method
Featherstone Rovers 30–22 Batley Bulldogs 27 March 2021, 12:45pm Millennium Stadium Gareth Hewer The Sportsman
Swinton Lions 23–14 Oldham 28 March 2021, 12:30pm Heywood Road Tom Grant BBC Services
London Broncos 2–14 York City Knights 28 March 2021, 2:30pm The Rock Marcus Griffiths BBC Services
Widnes Vikings 34–10 Whitehaven 28 March 2021, 5:00pm DCBL Stadium Jack Smith The Sportsman
Source:

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 28 April 2021.[11]

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance Broadcast method
York City Knights 36–22 Swinton Lions 6 June 2021, 2:00pm LNER Community Stadium Tom Grant OurLeague
Featherstone Rovers 24–18 Widnes Vikings 6 June 2021, 4:00pm Millennium Stadium Ben Thaler OurLeague
Source:

Final
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance Broadcast method
York City Knights 34–41 Featherstone Rovers 17 July 2021, 12:00pm Wembley Stadium, London Robert Hicks BBC red button
Source:[12]

Notes
  1. The inaugural competition was in 2019 but the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

References
  1. "Championship, L1 and Cups structure confirmed". Serious About Rugby League. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. "Championship and League 1 clubs target March 21 return date". Love Rugby League. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. "Keighley to join Barrow and West Wales in Challenge Cup". Keighley News. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  4. Sadler, Martyn (11 February 2021). "West Wales drawn against Widnes in first round of Challenge Cup". TotalRL.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  5. "Spring streaming bonanza to kick off the 2021 season". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  6. "BBC to broadcast potential Henson Challenge Cup debut". TotalRL. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  7. "The Sportsman To Kick Off Rugby League Season With Live Challenge Cup Coverage". The Sportsman. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. "Challenge Cup Round One". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3, 269. 22 March 2021. pp. 20–23.
  9. "RFL makes Challenge Cup second round draw". TotalRL.com. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. "Coverage of Betfred Challenge Cup Second Round confirmed". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  11. Hughes, Steven (28 April 2021). "1895 and Women's Challenge Cup Draws announced". Serious About Rugby League. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  12. "1895 Cup Final: Featherstone Rovers beat York City Knights 41-34 to win at Wembley". BBC Sport. 17 July 2021.
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