Challenge Cup draw: Holders Wigan Warriors could face Sheffield Eagles in third round
Defending champions Wigan Warriors are likely to start their defense of the Men’s Challenge Cup title away to Sheffield Eagles in the third round.
Wigan defeated Warrington Wolves in the final at Wembley Stadium last season for the second trophy in their history-making quadruple season.
The 2025 season is the first season after the reform, and all 12 Chinese Super League clubs Join from the third round stage.
Top clubs, who had previously not played until the sixth round, will have to play away games against lower-seeded teams that won their second-round games.
The Eagles, who won the 1999 Challenge Cup, must defeat the winner of West Bowling’s clash with the Cutsyke Raiders in the second round to earn a draw with the Super League giants.
Elsewhere, if London Broncos can beat Goole Vikings in the second round, newly promoted Wakefield face a trip to the team they replaced in the top flight.
Hull KR were last season’s beaten grand finalists and will face either League 1 Keighley Cougars or champions York Knights.
The third round of matches is scheduled to take place on the weekend of February 8-9, a week before the start of the 2025 Super League season.
The fourth round will take place in March, with the 16 clubs competing in the quarter-finals in April and the semi-finals on the weekend of May 10-11, with the final at Wembley on June 7 Stadium held.
