The

2007 Carnegie Challenge Cup The 2007 Carnegie Challenge Cup began in February 2007. The Challenge Cup is the most prestigious knock-out competition in the world of rugby league, featuring teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia. In 2 ...

Final was played by the holders St. Helens and

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ou ...

at the new

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 25 August 2007. The Dragons were the first French club ever to take part in the competition's final. After a competitive game, St Helens won the competition with a 30 - 8 victory.

Return to Wembley

Wembley Stadium is the traditional home of most major sports finals in England, including Rugby League's

Challenge Cup Final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley and St. Helens at Headingley, Leeds. In the seasons during the Second World War the final was played over two legs, with the aggregate s ...

. The

original Wembley Stadium The original Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor. Wembley hosted the FA Cup fi ...

has a hosted the Challenge Cup Final almost every year since the 1929 Challenge Cup Final where

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

beat

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their homet ...

13 – 2. The only exception to Wembley hosting the final was during the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

where a variety of stadiums were used to host the final and during 1932 where

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

hosted the final. However in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, the Challenge Cup Final moved out of Wembley in preparation for the start of the building of the new stadium in 2003. During this time

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the borou ...

, and the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national ru ...

were used to host the final. In 2007 the final returned to Wembley along with most major English sporting finals.

Route to the final

St Helens

St Helens began their Challenge Cup campaign with a fourth round 78–14 thrashing of

National League One National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

side

Batley Bulldogs Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part ...

before going on to thrash another National League One side

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby club ...

70 points to 10 in the fifth round. The quarter finals saw a comfortable victory over

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

side

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warringto ...

before another comfortable victory over title rivals

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

put them in the final.

Catalans Dragons

Catalans Dragons began their Challenge Cup campaign with a thrashing of

2007 National League Two 2007 National League Two was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom, the third tier of the sport in the country. The winner of this league was promoted to National League 1. There is no relegation from t ...

side

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small ...

70 points to 12. A fifth round victory over

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle, Cumbria, C ...

saw the Dragons progress to the quarter finals where a narrow away win over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

, 26 points to 23, put them in the semi-finals. A comfortable win against

of 37 points to 24 placed the Dragons in their first ever

Match details

The man-of-the-match award was shared by

Leon Pryce Leon Pryce (born 9 October 1981) is a professional rugby League coach who most recently coached Workington Town in League 1 and an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Grea ...

and

Paul Wellens Paul Simon Wellens (born 27 February 1980) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of St Helens in the Betfred Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain and England intern ...

. Teams: St Helens:

Ade Gardner Adrian Antonio Gardner (born 24 June 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer, who spent the vast majority of his career with St Helens in the Super League. He was an England and Great Britain representative er. Early ...

Matt Gidley Matthew "Matt" Gidley (born 1 July 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and administrator. Gidley played for the Newcastle Knights in the ARL Premiership and the NRL, and St Helens in the Super League, and for N ...

Willie Talau Viliamu "Willie" Talau (born 25 January 1976) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative , he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the Canterb ...

Francis Meli Francis Meli (born 27 April 1979) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative centre or winger, he played in the National Rugby League for New ...

;

, Sean Long,

Nick Fozzard Nick Fozzard (born 22 July 1977) is an English former professional rugby league footballer. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Yorkshire, and at club level for the Leeds Rhinos, Huddersfield Giants, Warrington Wolves, St H ...

Keiron Cunningham Keiron Cunningham (born 28 October 1976) is a professional rugby league coach and former player. A Great Britain and Wales international representative , he played his entire professional career at St Helens, making nearly 500 appearances for ...

Jason Cayless Jason Paul Cayless (born 15 January 1980) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Parramatta Eels, Sydney Roosters and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and S ...

Lee Gilmour Lee Andrew Gilmour (born 12 March 1978) is an English assistant coach at Wakefield Trinity in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. He played in the Super League for the Wigan Warriors ( Heritage № 911) (with who ...

, Mike Bennett,

Jon Wilkin Jon David Wilkin (born 1 November 1983), also known by the nicknames of "Wilko" or "Jean Jean", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and for St Helens in the Super League, the Toronto Wolfpack in the ...

Subs:

James Roby James William Mark Roby (born 22 November 1985) is an English professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for St Helens in the Super League, and for Great Britain and England at international level. He has played his ent ...

, James Graham,

Paul Clough Paul Clough (born 27 September 1987), also known by the nickname of "Cloughy", is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or forward for Widnes Vikings in the RFL Championship and the England Knights at international le ...

Maurie Fa'asavalu Maurie Fa'asavalu (born 12 January 1980) is a former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He has played representative level rugby union (RU) for Samoa, and at club level for Taula Apia Rugby ...

Coach: Daniel Anderson Catalans:

Clint Greenshields Clint Greenshields (born 11 January 1982) is a former France international rugby league footballer who played as a for the St George Illawarra Dragons and the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL, and for the Catalans Dragons in the Super Leag ...

Justin Murphy Justin Murphy may refer to *Justin Murphy (comics), creator of comics and graphic novels *Justin Murphy (rugby league), Australian rugby league footballer *Justin Murphy (Australian rules footballer) Justin Murphy (born 24 April 1976) is a for ...

John Wilson John Wilson may refer to: Academics * John Wilson (mathematician) (1741–1793), English mathematician and judge * John Wilson (historian) (1799–1870), author of ''Our Israelitish Origin'' (1840), a founding text of British Israelism * John Wil ...

Sébastien Raguin Sébastien Raguin (born 14 February 1980) is a French former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League; he played as a or . He is the current first team coach for Toulouse Olympique in the RFL L ...

Younes Khattabi Younes Khattabi (born 28 March 1984) is a Moroccan rugby league footballer who plays as a or for US Entraigues XIII in the Elite Two Championship. He previously played for SO Avignon and the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He is notable ...

Adam Mogg Adam Mogg (born 31 July 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin representative , he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for Australian clubs the Canberra Rai ...

Stacey Jones Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He played as a , but he has also briefly played at during his disting ...

(c) An uppercase (C) (parenthetical C) may refer to: * Copyright symbol (©) * * , indicating NSA-controlled cryptographic/classified items See also * Circle-c (disambiguation) * Copyright symbol (disambiguation) * C (disambiguation) C is the ...

Jérôme Guisset Jérôme Guisset (born 29 October 1978) is a French former professional rugby league footballer. He most recently played for the Catalans Dragons as or , but he retired at the end of the 2010 season, and is now the assistant coach at the club. ...

Luke Quigley Luke Quigley (born 20 July 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League (NRL) and the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. Background Quigley went ...

, Alex Chan,

Jason Croker Jason Croker (born 10 March 1973) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative utility player, he previously played club football in the NRL for ...

Cyrille Gossard Cyril Gossard (born 7 February 1982) is a rugby league footballer who most recently played for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He plays as a . Background Gossard was born in France France (), officially the French Republi ...

Grégory Mounis Grégory Mounis (born 18 January 1985 in Perpignan, France) is a French former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for Catalans Dragons in the Super League competition. Equally comfortable at or at , ...

Subs:

Rémi Casty Rémi Casty (born 5 February 1985) is a former French international professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for Toulouse Olympique in the Super League. He played for the Sydney Roosters in 2014 before returning to Cat ...

David Ferriol David Ferriol (born 24 April 1979) is a French former professional rugby league footballer. He previously played for the Catalans Dragons club in the Super League. Background Ferriol was born in Carcassonne, France. Career A powerful, ball-car ...

Vincent Duport Vincent Duport (born 15 December 1987) is a French professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He was previously playing for Toulouse Olympique in the Co-operative Championship. Primarily a centre ...

Kane Bentley Kane Bentley (born 16 April 1987) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the St Gaudens Bears in the Elite One Championship. He has played for both France and Scotland at international level. He previously played for Tou ...

Coach:

Mick Potter Michael Potter (born 24 September 1963) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the interim head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League, and a former professional rugby league football ...

Notable attendees

The following attended the final: *

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcas ...

* Joe Lydon *

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 winn ...

Sir Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired Rowing (sport), rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Cha ...

References

External links

2007 Challenge Cup Final at rlphotos.com
{{2007 in rugby league Challenge Cup finals

Challenge Cup final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley and St. Helens at Headingley, Leeds. In the seasons during the Second World War the final was played over two legs, with the aggregate s ...

2007 in French rugby league St Helens R.F.C. matches 2007 sports events in London August 2007 sports events in the United Kingdom