Sunday, 20 October 2024

UK Championship Finals : 2024

UK's division two had six sides competing in the finals series, the hope being to win the grand final and promotion to the elite Super League. 

First round: The top two sides had a bye while third to sixth battled it out. The York Knights overcame the Widnes Vikings 27-10. Ironically York was once named Jorvik by the Vikings. On this raid, the Vikings were repulsed. In the other match, the Bradford Bulls defeated the Featherstone Rovers 25-12.

Semi final: Wakefield Trinity welcomed the York Knights and had a fight on their hands in their match, the hot favourites only up 7-6 at the break. They prevailed in the end 22-13 but it was a close encounter. 

Toulouse hosted the Bradford Bulls and the visitors were ahead 12-8 at the half way mark. Toulouse fought back and led 21-14 but a converted try minutes before the end meant an exciting end to the game. A 21-20 victory had the top two sides meeting in the grand final but neither were that convincing in getting there.

Final: It was live streamed and the quality of the presentation was excellent. Wakefield were far too good for the visiting French based side, leading 22-0 at half time and 36-0 when the hooter sounded after 80 minutes. Toulouse couldn't get into gear, their rare attacking forays were not threatening while Trinity was sharp on attack. 

dduring the game, Max Jowitt scored the most points by any player in a season when reaching the 500 mark. 26 tries and 198 goals in all. That's some feat. 

To see the full game, simply click here. You will have to slide the red dot along the line at the bottom of the video to avoid the brief wait at the beginning.

Summary: To qualify for the Super League, the IMG International Management Group is tasked with deciding if sides qualify to enter the elite competition and which sides would make way for them. Clubs are awarded points on many criteria so winning the grand final doesn't necessarily mean promotion.

That will be decided this week. Clubs already have been given grading scores but that hasn't fully clarified what will happen. My take is that both finalists have enough points to be promoted with London already known to be relegated. 

That would mean Wakefield would be definitely going up. The question as I see it is will Toulouse, despite losing the final, also gain acceptance and that depends on other existing SL clubs being outpointed. I'll report back once the situation is clear. 

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