Everything you need to know about the Challenge Cup sixth-round draw

The draw for the sixth round of the Challenge Cup takes place tonight (Monday), as Super League clubs finally enter the competition.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of it…

When and where are the draws?

The draw will be conducted at 6.45pm tonight at Elland Road in Leeds, which will host the semi-finals of the competition as well as the final of the women’s equivalent as part of a triple header.

It will be broadcast live on BBC Look North, plus the BBC Sport website.

Who is in the sixth round?

Eleven Super League clubs – all minus Toulouse Olympique, who have opted not to enter the competition – will join the four winners from the fifth round so far plus either Bradford Bulls and Leigh Centurions, who play their tie later in the evening.

Championship sides Sheffield Eagles, Barrow Raiders, Featherstone Rovers and Whitehaven all made it through over the weekend and could draw one of the big boys, including holders St Helens.

The ball numbers are as follows:
1 Barrow Raiders
2 Castleford Tigers
3 Catalans Dragons
4 Featherstone Rovers
5 Huddersfield Giants
6 Hull FC
7 Hull Kingston Rovers
8 Leeds Rhinos
9 St Helens
10 Salford Red Devils
11 Sheffield Eagles
12 Wakefield Trinity
13 Warrington Wolves
14 Whitehaven
15 Wigan Warriors
16 Bradford Bulls or Leigh Centurions

Who will conduct the draw?

BBC presenter Tanya Arnold will be joined for the draw by Hull, Castleford and Great Britain legend Lee Crooks, a winner of the Challenge Cup in 1982.

Alongside Crooks will be Ben Taylor, a player for Royal Navy who helped the forces side reach the fourth round of this season’s competition, and who is best known as ‘Yorkshire Prose’ for his distinctive style of poetry on social media.

When will matches be played?

Sixth-round fixtures will be played in less than a fortnight, on the weekend of 25-27 March.

What’s next?

It’s a straight knockout competition from here, with the quarter-finals to be held on the weekend of 9-10 April.

The Elland Road semi-finals follow on Saturday 7 May, before the final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 28 May.