2024 RFL 1895 Cup

2024 RFL 1895 Cup

Duration	Group stage + 3 knock-out rounds
Number of teams	21
Highest attendance	5,340, Bradford Bulls v Wakefield Trinity, 12 May 2024
Lowest attendance	180, Midlands Hurricanes v Doncaster, 28 January 2024

The 2024 RFL 1895 Cup (also known as the 2024 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup) was the fifth staging of the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league competition for English and Welsh clubs outside the Super League.

The competition was open to all clubs in the Championship and League 1 although French team, Toulouse Olympique have always declined to enter. League 1 club, Cornwall, also decided not to enter at the request of the other clubs to reduce the burden on the other clubs in having to travel to Cornwall.

For 2024 the format of the competition was significantly amended. In 2021 and 2022 the cup ran concurrently with the early rounds of the Challenge Cup with the teams reaching the knock-out stages being determined by progression in the Challenge Cup. To provide more games, especially for the League 1 teams, the competition for 2024 included a group stage; seven groups of three teams each, with the seven group winners and the second-placed team with the best record progressed to the quarter-finals. The groups were regionalised to reduce the financial costs further and League 1 clubs played at home in fixtures against Championship teams. Newcastle Thunder were included in the competition even though at that date the club's participation in the league for 2024 had yet to be confirmed.

The final was played at Wembley Stadium on 8 June 2024 alongside the finals of the Challenge Cup and the Women's Challenge Cup.

Group stage

1895 Cup groups

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5	Group 6	Group 7
Barrow Raiders	Bradford Bulls	Newcastle Thunder	Halifax Panthers	Batley Bulldogs	North Wales Crusaders	Doncaster
Whitehaven	Dewsbury Rams	Wakefield Trinity	Oldham	Featherstone Rovers	Swinton Lions	Midlands Hurricanes
Workington Town	Keighley Cougars	York Knights	Rochdale Hornets	Hunslet	Widnes Vikings	Sheffield Eagles

Results

1895 Cup, group stage week one

Gp	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
3	Newcastle Thunder	010–114	York Knights	27 January, 15:00	Kingston Park	B. Milligan
7	Midlands Hurricanes	04–40	Doncaster	28 January, 14:00	Alexander Stadium	L. Bland	180
6	North Wales Crusaders	12–40	Swinton Lions	28 January, 14:30	Eirias Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	520
1	Workington Town	08–30	Barrow Raiders	28 January, 15:00	Derwent Park	A. Sweet	901
2	Keighley Cougars	35–60	Dewsbury Rams	28 January, 15:00	Cougar Park	K. Moore	839
4	Oldham	24–20	Halifax Panthers	28 January, 15:00	Boundary Park	M. Smaill	1,521
5	Hunslet	12–62	Featherstone Rovers	28 January, 15:00	South Leeds Stadium	R. Cox	875
Source:

1895 Cup, group stage week two

Gp	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
5	Batley Bulldogs	15–14	Featherstone Rovers	4 February, 14:00	Mount Pleasant	C. Worsley	784
1	Whitehaven	12–18	Barrow Raiders	4 February, 15:00	Recreation Ground	B. Milligan
2	Dewsbury Rams	04–40	Bradford Bulls	4 February, 15:00	Crown Flatt	A. Sweet	1,009
3	York Knights	04–40	Wakefield Trinity	4 February, 15:00	York Community Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	2,817
4	Rochdale Hornets	12–52	Halifax Panthers	4 February, 15:00	Spotland Stadium	R. Cox	1,200
6	Swinton Lions	18–60	Widnes Vikings	4 February, 15:00	Heywood Road	M. Smaill	1,006
7	Doncaster	18–22	Sheffield Eagles	4 February, 15:00	Keepmoat Stadium	K. Moore	784
Source:

1895 Cup, group stage week three

Gp	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
6	North Wales Crusaders	14–30	Widnes Vikings	18 February, 14:30	Eirias Stadium	M. Lynn	1,088
1	Workington Town	22–28	Whitehaven	18 February, 15:00	Derwent Park	R. Cox	1,476
2	Keighley Cougars	18–26	Bradford Bulls	18 February, 15:00	Cougar Park	C. Worsley	3,729
3	Newcastle Thunder	000–110	Wakefield Trinity	18 February, 15:00	Post Office Road, Featherstone	L. O'Brien	1,378
4	Oldham	38–12	Rochdale Hornets	18 February, 15:00	Boundary Park	K. Moore	1,684
5	Hunslet	00–36	Batley Bulldogs	18 February, 15:00	South Leeds Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	700
7	Midlands Hurricanes	16–30	Sheffield Eagles	18 February, 15:00	Alexander Stadium	M. Smaill	345
Source:

Standings

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Barrow Raiders	2	2	0	0	48	20	+28	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Whitehaven	2	1	0	1	40	40	0	2
3	Workington Town	2	0	0	2	30	58	−28	0

Source:

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bradford Bulls	2	2	0	0	66	22	+44	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Keighley Cougars	2	1	0	1	53	32	+21	2
3	Dewsbury Rams	2	0	0	2	10	75	−65	0

Source:

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wakefield Trinity	2	2	0	0	150	4	+146	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	York Knights	2	1	0	1	118	50	+68	2	Advance as best 2nd-place team
3	Newcastle Thunder	2	0	0	2	10	224	−214	0

Source:

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Oldham	2	2	0	0	62	32	+30	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Halifax Panthers	2	1	0	1	72	36	+36	2
3	Rochdale Hornets	2	0	0	2	24	90	−66	0

Source:

Group 5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Batley Bulldogs	2	2	0	0	51	14	+37	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Featherstone Rovers	2	1	0	1	76	27	+49	2
3	Hunslet	2	0	0	2	12	98	−86	0

Source:

Group 6

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Swinton Lions	2	2	0	0	58	18	+40	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Widnes Vikings	2	1	0	1	36	32	+4	2
3	North Wales Crusaders	2	0	0	2	26	70	−44	0

Source:

Group 7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sheffield Eagles	2	2	0	0	52	34	+18	4	Advance to knock-out stages
2	Doncaster	2	1	0	1	58	26	+32	2
3	Midlands Hurricanes	2	0	0	2	20	70	−50	0

Source:

Quarter-finals

The draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were made on 18 February. The seven group winners were joined in the draw by York Knights as the best second-placed team. The quarter-finals were played on 3 March.

1895 Cup, Quarter-finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Wakefield Trinity	30–12	Barrow Raiders	2 March, 15:00	Belle Vue	L. Rush	1,809
Bradford Bulls	21–12	Swinton Lions	3 March, 15:00	Odsal Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	1,018
Sheffield Eagles	26–10	Batley Bulldogs	3 March, 15:00	Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium	M. Griffiths	732
York Knights	46–12	Oldham	3 March, 15:00	York Community Stadium	B. Thaler	1,048
Source:

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 12 May.

1895 Cup, Semi-finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Bradford Bulls	14–40	Wakefield Trinity	12 May	Odsal Stadium	L. Rush	5,340
York Knights	18–28	Sheffield Eagles	12 May	York Community Stadium	S. Mikalauskas	1,309
Source:

Final

The final was played on 8 June.

8 June 2024 17:45 BST

Wakefield Trinity	50–6	Sheffield Eagles
Tries: Walmsley, Gale, Doyle, Pratt (2), Griffin (2), McGillvary (2) Goals: Jowitt (7/9)	Report	Tries: Thackeray Goals: Aston

Wembley Stadium, London Referee: T. Grant Touch judges: M. Craven, 2: W. Turley Ray French Award: Luke Gale (Wakefield Trinity)

Team details

Wakefield Trinity		Position	Sheffield Eagles
Name	Number		Number	Name
Max Jowitt	1	Fullback	14	Jack Hansen
Jermaine McGillvary	2	Wing	2	Ben Jones-Bishop
Iain Thornley	4	Centre	3	Kris Welham
Oliver Pratt	3	Centre	4	James Glover
Lachlan Walmsley	5	Wing	5	Matty Dawson-Jones
Luke Gale	6	Stand off	6	Cory Aston
Mason Lino	7	Scrum half	7	Anthony Thackeray
Josh Bowden	8	Prop forward	8	Eddie Battye
Liam Hood	9	Hooker	9	Vila Halafihi
Renouf Atoni	10	Prop forward	10	Tyler Dickinson
Matty Ashurst	11	Second row	11	Connor Bower
Josh Griffin	12	Second row	12	Joel Farrell
Jay Pitts	13	Loose forward	13	Titus Gwaze
Liam Kay	14	Interchange	17	Mitch Clark
Caleb Uele	15	Interchange	18	Aaron Murphy
Ky Rodwell	18	Interchange	22	Kyle Wood
Thomas Doyle	21	Interchange	27	Jesse Sene-Lefao
Luke Bain	1	Concussion substitute	18	Evan Hodgson
Daryl Powell		Coach		Mark Aston