The 2023 Women's Challenge Cup (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2023 Betfred Women's Challenge Cup) was the 11th staging of the Rugby Football League's cup competition for women's rugby league clubs.

Format The competition used the same format as in 2022 with four groups of four competing in a single round robin with group winners and runners-up advancing to the knockout rounds. The group stage draw took place on 12 January.

+ Groups Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4Featherstone Rovers Salford Red Devils Cardiff Demons Wigan WarriorsHuddersfield Giants Bradford Bulls Oulton Raidettes Leeds RhinosWarrington Wolves Castleford Tigers London Broncos St HelensBarrow Raiders Leigh Leopards Hull Kingston Rovers York Valkyrie

Group stage The fixture list for the group stage was published on 16 February 2023. + Challenge Cup group fixtures week 1GroupHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueReferee1 Salford Red Devils 8–22 Featherstone Rovers 23 April, 12:00 AJ Bell Stadium J. Pemberton Cardiff Demons 20–38 Wigan Warriors 23 April, 14:00 Cardiff University Sports Fields R. Apsee2 Leeds Rhinos 72–0 Bradford Bulls 23 April, 13:00 Weetwood Sports Park F. Lincoln Oulton Raidettes 4–54 Huddersfield Giants 23 April, 14:00 Oulton Sports Pavilion M. Mckelvey3 London Broncos 0–76 St Helens 22 April, 14:00 The Rock, Roehampton H. Winnard Castleford Tigers 0–72 Warrington Wolves 23 April, 14:00 Mend-a-Hose Jungle A. Rhodes4 Barrow Raiders 4–44 York Valkyrie 23 April, 14:00 Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness J. Hughes Hull Kingston Rovers 16–38 Leigh Leopards 23 April; 14:00 Craven Park, Hull D. Frederick Source:

+ Challenge Cup group fixtures week 2GroupHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueReferee1 Featherstone Rovers 10–12 Wigan Warriors 7 May; 12:00 Post Office Road C. Hughes Salford Red Devils 8–12 Cardiff Demons 7 May; 13:00 Moor Lane S. Houghton2 Bradford Bulls 12–32 Huddersfield Giants 7 May; 14:00 Horsfall Stadium M. Clayton Oulton Raidettes Leeds Rhinos colspan=3 3 Castleford Tigers 0–106 St Helens 7 May; 14:00 Mend-a-Hose Jungle D. Geddes Warrington Wolves 64–10 London Broncos 7 May; 14:00 Victoria Park O. Ireland4 York Valkyrie 122–0 Hull Kingston Rovers 7 May; 12:00 York Community Stadium B. Worsley Leigh Leopards 30–22 Barrow Raiders 7 May; 14:00 Twist Lane L. Flavell Source:

+ Challenge Cup group fixtures week 3GroupHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueReferee1 Cardiff Demons 36–18 Featherstone Rovers 21 May; 14:00 Cardiff University Sports Fields R. Apsee Wigan Warriors 60–0 Salford Red Devils 21 May; 14:00 Robin Park S. Houghton2 Huddersfield Giants 0–54 Leeds Rhinos 21 May; 14:00 Laund Hill J. Covell-Wood Bradford Bulls 38–6 Oulton Raidettes 21 May; 17:15 Odsal Stadium A. Rhodes3 London Broncos 40–4 Castleford Tigers 21 May; 14:00 The Rock, Roehampton St Helens 38–4 Warrington Wolves 21 May; 14:00 Totally Wicked Stadium L. Flavell4 Hull Kingston Rovers 11–20 Barrow Raiders 21 May; 14:00 Craven Park, Hull Leigh Leopards 0–54 York Valkyrie 21 May; 14:00 Twist Lane Source:

Standings

Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was made live on BBC Radio Five, on 26 May. Ties took place over the weekend of 17–18 June. + Challenge Cup quarter-final fixturesHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Leeds Rhinos 54–0 Leigh Leopards 17 June, 13:00 Headingley Stadium Wigan Warriors 46–10 Huddersfield Giants 18 June, 11:30 Robin Park Arena St Helens 36–0 Warrington Wolves 18 June, 12:30 Totally Wicked Stadium York Valkyrie 54–0 Cardiff Demons 18 June, 14:00 York Community Stadium Source:

Semi-finals

Ties took place over the weekend of 22–23 July, each being part of a double header with one of the men's semi-finals; St Helens v York was played with the Leigh v St Helens men's game and Wigan v Leeds was played with the Hull KR v Wigan men's game. Both of the women's matches were broadcast live on the BBC Sport website.

+ Challenge Cup semi-final fixturesTeam AScoreTeam BMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance St Helens 17–16 York Valkyrie 22 July, 11:45 Halliwell Jones Stadium A. Belafonte 12,113 Wigan Warriors 4–16 Leeds Rhinos 23 July, 14:15 Headingley E. Burrow 10,926 Source:

Final

On 12 August 2022, the RFL announced that the Women's Challenge Cup Final would make its Wembley debut, and be played as a double header with the men's final. The final was played on 12 August 2023.

+ Challenge Cup FinalTeam 1ScoreTeam 2Match InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Leeds Rhinos 8–22 St Helens 12 August 2023, 12:00 Wembley Stadium J. Vella Source:

Broadcast matches Round Match Date Broadcast method Final Leeds Rhinos v St Helens 12 August 2023 Broadcast live on BBC Two

See also 2023 Challenge Cup

Notes

References