RFL lock in full 1895 cup quarter-final & semi-final draw details for this weekend
The draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the 1895 Cup will now both take place this Sunday – February 18 – live on the BBC Sport website & BBC Radio Cumbria following the final group game between Workington Town and Whitehaven.
Last week, in a press release, the RFL announced that the competition’s quarter-final draw would be held live on BBC Radio Cumbria following that game, with the full details of a double draw – for both the quarter-finals & semi-finals – now locked in.
In today’s updated press release, the RFL say that the draws – live from the Fibrus Community Stadium – will begin at circa 4.45pm.
Cumberland Council leader Mark Fryer – who played for Whitehaven in the 1980s – will join BBC Radio Cumbria’s commentary team in making the draws.
RFL lock in full 1895 cup quarter-final & semi-final draw details for this weekend
The seven group winners will all progress automatically into the quarter-finals alongside the best-performing 2nd-placed team.
To state the obvious, the eight clubs involved in the quarter-finals are just two wins from a day out at Wembley, where the competition’s final will be played on June 8 alongside the men’s & women’s Challenge Cup finals.
Having both been beaten by Barrow Raiders in Group 1, Workington and Whitehaven are battling it out for 2nd spot, and their chances of progression look incredibly slender.
Aside from Barrow, Swinton Lions are the only other side guaranteed top spot having won both of their games in Group 6.
As things stand, Bradford Bulls, Wakefield Trinity, Oldham, Batley Bulldogs and Sheffield Eagles look the favourites to join them as group winners.
And despite being beaten by Wakefield in their second group game, York look heavy favourites to take that final spot in the last-eight of the competition thanks to an opening group game which saw them thump Newcastle Thunder 114-10.
Super League clubs aren’t involved in the competition, which is solely for teams competing in the Championship & League 1.
Those who make it through will play out their quarter-final ties over the weekend of March 2 & 3, with the semi-finals on the weekend of May 11 & 12.
Last year, Batley and Halifax Panthers were the two sides to make it into the competition’s final, facing off under the famous Wembley arch on Challenge Cup final day.
Courtesy of a 12-10 win, the Panthers were crowned the fourth different winners of the 1895 Cup since its formation back in 2019, with a new club winning it every year it’s been played out since then.
1895 Cup: How the quarter-final & semi-final draws this Sunday will work
As you’d expect, there will be no seeding or anything of that nature in the knockout stages.
Four quarter-final ties will be drawn, and we could see any of the eight involved pitted against another.
With the semi-final draw taking place immediately afterwards, it’s – again stating the obvious – going to take the format of an ‘Either/Or’ draw, as we saw earlier in the year when the draws for Rounds 3 & 4 of the Challenge Cup were both made together.
So, for example, if two quarter-final ties pulled out were Wakefield Trinity v Oldham and Bradford Bulls v York, we could then see a semi-final draw of Wakefield Trinity OR Oldham v Bradford Bulls OR York.
The RFL carry out some draws this way to make planning easier for the clubs involved due to the short turnarounds between rounds in certain competitions.
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