Top were taking on second in the final Rivals round game in front of a full house at the Totally Wicked Stadium as the Champions St Helens took on one of the major challengers to their crowd, the arch enemy, Wigan Warriors.

Whoever picked up the two points today would be two points clear at the top of the league ahead of Easter Monday´s clashes but Wigan would have to do it without Zak Hardaker who was dropped, for disciplinary reasons, by coach Peet while Saints were without the injured Will Hopoate.

Kristian Woolf knew that a win this afternoon would be a big boost for St Helens but if Wigan could pick up the points in the oppositions lair, then they would be flying high.

A city was on tenterhooks as fifth placed Hull FC made the short journey to Craven Park to face a Hull KR side who are currently in eighth spot but who have secured themselves a Challenge Cup semi-final spot in three weeks’ time.

KR were looking for a fourth consecutive win and with home advantage the bookies had them as narrow favourites to take down the Black & Whites, secure bragging rights and lift themselves level on points with their arch enemy.

On paper it couldn´t have been closer, a Good Friday feast for the Rugby League watching nation.

With the Leeds Rhinos languishing in second bottom spot and the Huddersfield Giants having a fantastic start to the season, there was only one possible winner as the two West Yorkshire sides came together for the Rivals round at the start of the Easter weekend.

With Wigan and St Helens meeting tomorrow the Giants had a chance of enduing round eight in second position but the Rhinos knew that should Toulouse spring a surprise and put one over the Catalans Dragons in the first ever Super League French derby, then Jamie Jones-Buchanan´s side could go into the weekend at the bottom of the pile with a game against Castleford to look forward to on Monday afternoon.

The bookies were, however, a little nervous and only gave the Rhinos a two-point start on the handicap coupon, they were expecting it to be closer than many Leeds fans dared hope.

Super League kicked off on 29 March 1996 with a French team in the comp when short-lived Paris St Germain hosted Sheffield Eagles in the new competition's first game of the summer era.

Now, 26 years and two weeks later, the league saw it's first all-French derby when Toulouse Olympique visited Perpignan's Stade Gilbert Brutus to take on Catalan Dragons in the Easter "rivals round".

Think you know Rugby League? Believe that you can predict the winners of every game in the Super League Rivals Round? Fancy your chances of winning a signed Super League shirt? Then read on.

Super League have launched a predictors site for the Rivals round which takes place as the coming Round 8 of fixtures on Thursday and Friday and you have a chance to use your skill and knowledge to be in with a chance of winning the prize.

With Hull KR, St Helens and the Huddersfield Giants already confirmed for the 2022 Challenge Cup Semi-Final double-header at Elland Road, all that remained was for Wakefield Trinity and Wigan Warriors to do battle for the final spot in Sunday afternoon´s game at Belle Vue.

Trinity were missing a handful of stars including superstar winger Tom Johnstone, Jacob Miller and David Fifita but Wigan were close to full strength for this crucial cup tie.

The bookies favoured the nineteen-time cup winners from Wigan as they game Wakefield an eight-point start on the handicap coupon, but most pundits were struggling to choose between the two sides, especially after a recent great run of games from Trinity which has seen them into the top half of the table and eliminating Warrington in the previous round of the cup.

The draw for the semi-finals of the 2022 Betfred Challenge Cup was made at half time during the Wakefield versus Wigan game to decide how the teams would line up for the Elland Road double-header on the 7^th May.

One of todays sides would be joining Hull KR, St Helens and the Huddersfield Giants in the semi-final draw, the other three hoping that they would avoid the seemingly unbeatable St Helens in the draw.

The balls were draw by Andrew Henderson and Kevin Brown.

Both games will be shown live on the BBC with the first at 15:30 and the second kicking off at 17:00.

Huddersfield Giants welcomed Hull FC to the John Smith’s Stadium, with a place in the Betfred Challenge Cup semi-finals at stake.

Both teams had won four and lost two of their preceding six games, with today’s winners joining Hull KR and St Helens at Leeds United’s Elland Road ground on 7 May,  alongside the winners of Sunday’s tie between Wakefield Trinity and Wigan Warriors.

When Saints were drawn away at the Catalans Dragons in the quarter finals of the 2022 Challenge Cup, most people saw the repeat of last season’s Grand Final as likely being the producer of the eventual winner of the competition.

The Dragons had May, Julien and Romano all starting as changes from the side which lost in to the Saints in round one, while for Saints only difference was the swapping of Sironen for Mata´utia in the starting thirteen with Norman being brought in on the bench.

Saints, of course won last year´s season culminating Old Trafford meeting for the games ultimate prize, and the two sides also met for the opening match of the season which Saints won more comfortably by 28-8, but this was a meeting in the south of France and in front of a notoriously hostile and partisan home crowd.

Castleford Tigers, who recorded a confident victory away at the Leeds Rhinos in their round six game, headed to Hull KR for a quarter final against a Robins side who had a close call against the Leigh Centurions before making progress themselves.

The sides currently reside in eighth and tenth places in the Super League table with the bookies slightly favouring the home side as they gave the Tigers a two-point start on the handicap coupon, but with the odds so close there really was little to choose between the sides coached by Tony Smith and Lee Radford.

In the last couple of matchups, the Tigers knocked the Robins out of the cup last season but the red and whites won the round three game in 2022 Super League.

 

Well established club Widnes - founded in 1875 - were the visitors at Kingston Park, still a relatively new venue rugby league as the home of Newcastle Thunder, on the Monday night championship game televised by Premier Sports The teams drew on their previous meeting and always looked likely too produce a tight game again.

Widnes were the team with the early pressure on the back of a penalty and set restart conceded by the Thunder.

Round Seven of the Betfred Championship 2022 threw up a few surprises as the sides continued to jostle for places in the early season table.

Leigh faced Dewsbury on Friday night in the Premier Sports game while five clashes took place on Sunday ahead of the Monday night televised game between Newcastle and Widnes.

Sunday saw Workington at home to York, Barrow face Batley  and Featherstone at home to Sheffield while Halifax entertained the third Cumbrian side Whitehaven and Bradford travelled down the length of the M1 to play the London Broncos.

An intriguing mid-table Sunday afternoon encounter saw a ninth placed Wakefield Trinity host a Salford Red Devils side occupying sixth spot in the table with a chance to leapfrog the three sides ahead of them and complete round seven in the top half of the table.

Salford were nilled by the Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup last weekend while Trinity recorded a second consecutive win over the Warrington Wolves to make progress in that competition and as a result the bookies made the home side the favourites giving the Red Devils a six-point start on the coupon.

It was a day of history at the Eirias Stadium in Colwyn Bay as the North Wales Crusaders welcomed Cornwall RLFC for their first ever fixture after their formation from the ashes of Hemel Stags/Ottawa Aces in 2021.

Under the coaching of the vastly experienced Neil Kelly, the games newest side made the six-hour journey from their base in Penryn to the North Wales Coast for the inaugural fixture having had a bye in the opening round of the League One competition.

The Crusaders got a big win away at Rochdale last week and were strong favourites to spoil the Cornwall party and collect the Celtic Shield.

If there was one certainty in round seven of Super League 2022 it was that the Leeds Rhinos would lose to St Helens, the only real issue being how many points the Rhinos would ship in and whether they would be able to get over the whitewash themselves.

The home side were without the injured Aidan Sezer so Liam Sutcliffe was in the halves alongside Blake Austin while Saints were without Alex Walmsley but there was celebration as James Roby made his 500th career appearance.

In our pre-match Twitter poll, no-one was predicting a Leeds win, most people predicting that Saints would win by 1 to 24 points, and the bookies were giving the Rhinos a fourteen-point start on the coupon.

Both of Thursday night’s sides successfully negotiated their sixth round Challenge Cup games last weekend and came into tonight’s fixture full of confidence as the Wigan Warriors took on the Black & Whites of Hull FC in Round 7 of Super League.

Wigan had Brad Singleton back in the front row, Harry Smith into the half backs, and Bevan French on the bench for his first appearance in eleven months.

FC made a few of changes from the side which beat Sheffield in the cup with Luke Gale, Darnell McIntosh and Josh Bowden all back in the seventeen.

The bookies went with league position giving fifth placed Hull an eight-point start on the handicap coupon over third placed Wigan.

A win for the home side would put them clear at the top before tomorrow’s games, but a win for the visitors would see them above Wigan.

England Wheelchair will face the acid test against France, the reigning world champions, in their Mid-Season International in Manchester this summer.

The Test Match, on Sunday June 19 (KO 3.

45pm) at the Manchester Basketball Centre, will follow the double header for England Men and Women at the Halliwell Jones Stadium the previous day – with all three games shown live on Sky Sports.

For all three England teams, it will be a crucial part of their preparations for the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair Rugby League World Cups on home soil this autumn – with all three Finals in Manchester on the weekend of November 18-19, kicking off with the Wheelchair Final at Manchester Central on Friday November 18.

Magic Weekend returns to St James’ Park, Newcastle, on 9 & 10 July.

Enjoy a sporting event like no other with a full round of Betfred Super League fixtures taking place from one stadium.

Fans from across the sport will gather in Newcastle to celebrate the start of summer with a festival of Rugby League.

On top of the 6 HUGE clashes including two unrelenting derbies, enjoy exhibition matches, interactive games, and a DJ to bringing the party to life.

Barrow Raiders have proven to be the dark horses of the Championship after their promotion at the end of last season and they will have been relishing their cup draw to take on the might of the Huddersfield Giants ever since the balls came out of the hat a couple of weeks ago.

The Giants were without Will Pryce and Tui Lolohea and therefore gave a rare outing to Leroy Cudjoe in the halves and with Barrow having nothing to lose it was a nervous journey to Cumbria for the Super League side as they looked to avoid the humiliation of a cup shock.

Barrow were given a twenty-six point start on the coupon but they really had nothing to lose in the glorious Cumbrian sunshine as they made their bid for the last eight, and a home game against Hull FC.

Warrington started this home Cup tie as clear favourites to beat Wakefield at home and book a date to welcome Wigan to the Halliwell Jones Stadium in the quarter final.

The bookies had them at 10-3 on for the win, while Trinity were 5-2 - despite beating their hosts in the league last weekend.