Holders St Helens to play Leeds Rhinos in Women’s Challenge Cup final

The stage is set for a Women’s Challenge Cup final cracker when holders and favourites St Helens take on two-times winners Leeds Rhinos at Elland Road in early May.

Saints blitzed Featherstone Rovers 82-0 and the Loiners scraped home 28-26 against York City Knights - both semi-finals being staged at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington, on Sunday.

St Helens, who have not conceded a single point on their way to the final, were unstoppable on the day, but Leeds are likely to give them a tougher game.

Looking ahead to the final, head coach Derek Hardman said: “Leeds are a great club. A really good team and one we battle with every year – they’ll be a great challenge for us.

“We’ll recover, we’ll look at the video, and work hard. There’s always room for improvement.”

It was a memorable evening for Saints’ full back Rebecca Rotherham who was crowned player of the match, and she reflected on a great performance afterwards.

She said: “The gaps opened and you have to take your chances. It wasn’t an easy game playing Featherstone, they’re a big physical team and they’ll put their bodies on the line – we had to match their fight.”

Rotherham added: “We want to play at these big stadiums, we want to be part of these big occasions. They are great days out, we got a taste of it last year and we want more.

“Leeds are a good team, with a really dangerous half-back pairing – we won’t underestimate them.”