Women's Mid Season International: France v England

England has the stronger squad with a reasonably tough domestic league. England brought in five debutants to play alongside experienced internationals so a good mix and a chance to look to the future. France needed to test themselves to see where they are currently against one of the best sides. 

France 0-42 England. Toulouse, France. England got off to a strong start and led comfortably 20-0 at the break. France were game and tried hard but lacked the class of their opponent. The Northern Hemisphere needs more than one nation at England's level but I can't see how that will happen. 

That said, it's important that such matches take place. Perhaps more would be useful but for a sport lacking finances. I'm not sure if this game covered expenses or not. Rugby league needs investment but that's not easy when the profile of the code isn't high. 

Below are the highlights. If you want a larger picture, click on the YouTube logo or the [ ] to the right of the logo after clicking on the start arrow.

Women's State of Origin History: 2018-24

The men's version has been a success so why not replicate it now that the women's game has arrived and is on the up? The first five years were single match affairs, then up by one for a year then three games in 2024. 

New South Wales took the first two, Queensland the next two then back to NSW again. The 2023 edition was one match each with Qld having a slight advantage on points scored. In 2024, NSW comfortably won the first, the second was very tight and the third was comfortably won by Queensland.

One thing I find strange is that a representative series is played before the regular club season kicks off. As it is, players are chosen based more on the previous season's form rather than on current form. It's the same for both sides but still, it is like a curtain raiser before the main event. Regardless, NSW had more of the initial success but the tide is turning to Qld. 

For the highlights:

Game 1: Click here.

Game 2: Click here.

Game 3: Click here. 

Women's Challenge Cup : 2024 (and some history)

The women's version of the Challenge Cup commenced in 2012 but the game back then was in its infancy and some - shall we say - obscure teams participated. In 2017 things seemed to take a step up and that is where I started the chart. Six points for the winner and three for the loser. 

Bradford won the first trophy but fell away after that. Castleford made two finals in 2018 and 2019 but it too has faded since. York was the losing finalist in 2021 but that was its only finals appearance. Otherwise, it's all about Leeds and St Helens. 

Leeds won in 2018 and 2019 with Saints subsequently winning the last four up to 2024. Leeds have been runner up on the last three occasions. 

For 2024, in the initial stage, there were four groups comprising sixteen teams. Castleford then pulled out, leaving one group with three sides. This led to the best eight entering the play offs as shown below.

Quarter finals: All the four matches were very one sided, something that will surely improve as the depth in player numbers improves. 

Semi finals: Scorelines were closer as the top sides went head to head. The two best sides were on the opposite side of the draw. Leeds won 34-20 and Saints 32-2 in what was a disappointing result for what is a strong York squad.

Final: Could Saints do it four times in a row. They sure could and did. They shut out Leeds who had no answer to give to a very determined opponent. Highlights of the game are below. Click on the red arrow and then - if you wish - you can expand the picture by clicking [ ] on the bottom extreme right or the YouTube name immediately to the left of that. 

Men's Challenge Cup : 2024

This was the 123rd Challenge Cup tournament. The chart on the right covers from 1961 to 2024, awarding six points for each winner and three for the losing finalist. It shows which teams in the modern day have been the most successful. Wigan is the most successful but St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos have also done pretty well. 

How the cup works is as the rounds progress, more teams are added. The better the ranking, the later a team joins the action. The quarter finals are the seventh round and that is where the information below commences for the 2024 edition.

Quarter finals: Last year's finalists were drawn to play each other, the Leigh Leopards defeated Hull KR in that fixture. The tables were turned in 2024, with a 26-14 triumph to KR. The Castleford Tigers were not expected to trouble the Wigan Warriors and that is how it transpired. 

On the other side of the draw, The French based Catalan Dragons were favoured to take this out but were outplayed comprehensively, going down 6-34 to the Huddersfield Giants. St Helens would have fancied their chances against the Warrington Wolves but they too fell well short, 8-31 in this instance.

Semi finals: Wigan took on Hull KR and won with a convincing 38-6 scoreline. Warrington were not to be outdone, 46-10 victors over Huddersfield. 

Final: A crowd of 65,000 made the trip down to Wembley Stadium in London to see if Warrington could win its first cup since 2019. Wigan hoped to repeat its 2022 success. As it turned out, the more fancied Warriors were too good for the Wolves, the latter toiled hard but struggled to fire on attack. 

Wigan won the trophy eight times in a row from 1988, a feat that will surely never be repeated but twice in three years isn't a bad effort either. To watch the highlights, the video is below. Click on the red arrow and then - if you wish - you can expand the picture by clicking [ ] on the bottom extreme right or the YouTube name immediately to the left of that.