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Women’s Challenge Cup final: Sights, sounds and stories from landmark day as St Helens make Wembley history | Rugby League News | Sky Sports

August 14, 2023

St Helens captain Jodie Cunningham shared her moment with best friend and former skipper Emily Rudge

After St Helens Women made Challenge Cup history at Wembley, we take a closer look at some of the sights, sounds, and stories from a landmark day of rugby league action…

A sign of things to come: Welcome to Wembley women’s rugby league

Women’s sport in general, and especially in the UK is having its moment and continues on a rapid rise in popularity.

England won the Euros and are challenging in the World Cup, the Red Roses won the Six Nations at Twickenham, the Vitality Roses made the Netball World Cup for the first time and now rugby league is joining the party.

Women’s and men’s Challenge Cup finals: As they happened!
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The popularity of the sport rose during the Rugby League World Cup last year and now the domestic game is catching on too with more televised Super League matches, competition for players, and a final at the iconic Wembley Stadium to boot.

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The women’s game has long played second to the men’s but on August 12, the women finally got their moment in the spotlight, 8,338 fans watching on, beating the previous record of 5,888 at Elland Road last year.

St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos had sealed their spot in a historic battle and it was the Saints who came out on top, hundreds of supporters who had travelled down to London cheering them on.

It was the latest instalment of ‘If you can see it, you can be it’ as more female sports stars were thrust into the spotlight for young aspiring rugby league players to look up to.

Bearing the fruits of your labour: Jodie Cunningham and Emily Rudge

Every sport has it’s stars that have lasted for many a year, but none in rugby league have stories quite like St Helens and England captain Jodie Cunningham and her best friend and former St Helens and England captain Emily Rudge.

Rudge handed both captaincies to Cunningham earlier this year but both remain strong leaders in the Saints camp, having been involved in the sport from its infancy.