Bevan French scored on his return from a hamstring injury as Wigan Warriors earned their 22nd Challenge Cup title by thrashing Hull KR at a sweltering Wembley Stadium.
French had been absent since March with a hamstring injury and was expected to be out for four months but marked an early return to action from the bench with a try 15 minutes from time, which put the gloss on Wigan’s victory.
Earlier, Jack Farrimond’s sensational solo try got Wigan off the mark and he repeated the feat to extend their lead before Peta Hiku responded for Hull KR.
Wigan took control after the break, scoring 30 points, when Junior Nsemba dotted down and Adam Keighran scored a quickfire pair of tries.
Hiku went in at the corner to pull KR into double figures, but Luke Thompson raced in as Wigan capped off their win in style.
Wigan finished the match with 12 players, however, as Sam Walters put in a dangerous tackle on Bill Leyland with two minutes remaining.
The meeting, a repeat of last season’s Super League Grand Final, means Wigan pick up their first trophy since their quadruple-winning 2025 campaign, having been shut out by KR’s treble last term.
KR, for their part, were unable to offer a comeback as talismanic stand off Mikey Lewis suffered what appeared to be a foot injury in the first half.
Wigan’s victory marks a historic double – with the women’s team also beating fierce rivals St Helens in the Women’s Challenge Cup final earlier on Saturday – the first time a side has won both trophies on the same day since the finals were grouped together at Wembley in 2023.
