It was the first day of the Challenge Cup quarter finals today, and the day kicked off with a rematch of last year’s final, Hull KR vs Leigh Leopards, with the Robins prevailing after a nervy first half.

Leigh went into half-time as the dominant side, leading 8-4 at the break. The scoring was opened by a rampant 80-metre effort by Hull KR’s Joe Burgess, but the Rovers lead was short lived as the Leopards hit back mere minutes later through a Kai O’Donnell try, with Matt Moylan adding the conversion and a later penalty.

Roles were reversed however in the second half as KR edged their way back in front through a second Joe Burgess try, followed soon after by a rampaging Kelepi Tanginoa effort to give the Robins an eight point lead.

After Tyrone May had a try chalked off for offside (the third disallowed Robins try of the day) Leigh hit back through Umyla Hanley, setting up a nervy final ten minutes, with Rovers holding out, with club captain Elliot Minchella rounding out the day with a try right on the hooter to send the Robins to their third semi-final in as many years.

Down in the South of France, the magic of the cup provided an upset, as the Huddersfield Giants brushed past the Catalans Dragons, running out comfortable 34-6 winners.

Unfortunately due to the lack of available coverage, I am unable to provide as much detail on this game, but the Giants raced into an unlikely 16-0 half-time lead and evidently never looked back, with tries from Jake Connor, Adam Milner, Adam Swift, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Esan Marsters, and Kevin Naiqama, Jake Connor also added four conversions and a penalty kick to his points tally. The Dragons sole try of the day was scored by Matt Ikuvalu, and was converted by Arthur Mourgue.

Both teams will discover their semi-final opponents tomorrow, during the half-time break in the game between St Helens and Warrington, which will be shown live on BBC Two, and iPlayer tomorrow afternoon, kicking off at 4:30pm.

Written by Nathan Major-Kershaw (Site editor & Hull KR fan)