Game-changing Wigan face final rematch with Saints

We go again.

Wigan Warriors and St Helens face each other once more, vying for glory at Wembley's hallowed ground in the Women's Challenge Cup final.

The Cherry and Whites, for their part, won the competition for the first time last season on the way to a historic treble.

But can St Helens claw back some pride in another derby for the ages?

BBC Sport takes a look at what we can expect as the greatest game returns to the capital on Saturday.

St Helens' domination came to an end at the hands of bitter rivals Wigan in last season's final at Wembley as Denis Betts' side wrote their name on the trophy for the first time.

But Betts was not done there as his Wigan side edged out Saints to seal the League Leaders' Shield and then subsequently won in last season's Women's Super League Grand Final against them, too.

In three seasons, Betts has transformed their fortunes and wrapped up a domestic clean sweep - something he thinks caught their rivals by surprise.

"The first season was just really finding our feet, understanding what we were trying to do as a group, making some changes within the group, promoting through our academy system and finding the girls that were the next generation really to put a number of years into this club," Betts told BBC Radio Manchester.

"I think last year everybody saw us coming after the first year.

"Towards the end of the year they saw the changes we were making and how we were looking at trying to play and how the girls wanted to be perceived but I don't think anybody saw us coming [that] quickly and I think that was a shock."

Betts also believes his trailblazing Wigan side have "changed the game" following Saints' domination in the competition between 2021 and 2024.

"I've had a fantastic group of girls that have been able to get into the final and last year performed so well that everybody started talking about the women's game," he added.

"I think we changed the real vision of what women's rugby looks like and everybody watched it through the BBC last year, they saw that team and they went 'wow, this is a little bit different' - and I think that's a credit to the girls and what they've put in and how hard they've worked to make people see that."

The end of an era is coming for St Helens and the farewell tour begins on Saturday.

In the lead-up to the trip to the capital, England's most-capped women's international rugby league players Jodie Cunningham and Emily Rudge announced they are to retire at the end of the season.

Cunningham is the current St Helens and England skipper and has 34 international caps, one more than Saints vice-captain Rudge, who also led her country from 2018 to 2023.

Both have been with Saints since the formation of the women's side eight years ago, and have 197 appearances for the club between them.

"I think [some people] never really know when it's your last game, you don't know when it's your last final and you don't know when it's the last time you lift a trophy," Cunningham, the 2021 Woman of Steel award winner, told BBC Sport.

"We'd already made the decision a while back, that this would be our last year, and I think just getting to the final, we wanted to be authentic this week, enjoy it for what it is and knowing that it's our last, which is a really fortunate position to be in."

Cunningham has led St Helens to a league title, two League Leaders' Shields, and four consecutive Women's Challenge Cups between 2021 and 2024 but in her pursuit of one more victory at Wembley, she says it will be no solo effort should they beat Wigan.

"There's absolutely no question that this is all just about the team," she added.

"So while we'll have our own emotional journey we're going through, everything is about focusing on the team and making sure we put a good performance out there - and if that happens, then it'll be a nice ending."

One players who has seen things from both sides is Wigan's Lucie Sams.

Having come through Warriors' academy, she joined Saints for 2023 and won the Challenge Cup that season before returning to Wigan at the tail end of 2025.

Not only that, she also played rugby union for Sale Sharks and represented England at Under-18 and Under-20 level.

"When I played at Wembley the first time I kept dropping the ball in the warm-up because the stadium was so big and I was looking around and it felt almost intimidating," Sams told BBC Radio Manchester.

"Experiencing that already and now being able to go into it a little bit older and a little bit more mature gives me a better foot forward to warm up well and then perform well while I'm playing."

As for actually facing Saints, Sams is approaching the final with a small degree of trepidation.

"It's my first game against Saints, so I think it's going to be interesting," she said.

"I think contact-wise, the physicality, I'm excited for that because I know Saints are quite a physical team and I'm quite a physical player personally, especially in the middle.

"I'm nervous because obviously they know how I play, they know what type of person I am. Like when I was younger I was probably a little bit more reactive than I am now. So now I've calmed down a little bit."