The draw for the fifth round of the Challenge Cup takes place tonight (Monday).
Here is everything you need to know ahead of it…
When and where are the draws?
The Challenge Cup fifth-round draw will be held tonight at Leigh Sports Village, following the conclusion of the final fourth-round tie between Leigh Centurions and Widnes Vikings (approx 9.30pm).
It will be shown live on Premier Sports as part of the subscription channel’s live coverage of the match.
Who is in the fifth round?
The ten winners from the fourth round will go into the hat, with no new teams entering at this stage.
There will be nine Championship sides in the draw alongside the last remaining League One outfit, North Wales Crusaders.
Click here for a full round-up of the fourth-round action over the weekend.
The ball numbers are as follows:
1 Barrow Raiders
2 Batley Bulldogs
3 Bradford Bulls
4 Featherstone Rovers
5 North Wales Crusaders
6 Sheffield Eagles
7 Whitehaven
8 Workington Town
9 York City Knights
10 Leigh Centurions or Widnes Vikings
Who will conduct the draw?
The draw will be made by the Premier Sports presenting team, which consists of presenter Emma Louise Jones plus Kyle Amor, part of St Helens’ cup-winning side last season, and former England halfback Kevin Brown.
When will matches be played?
The fifth-round ties will take place in less than a fortnight, across the weekend of 12 and 13 March.
What else is at stake?
It is not just a place in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup at stake for the winners in the fifth round.
The five sides to progress will also enter the 1895 Cup, which is now in its third season having been won by Sheffield Eagles in 2019 and Featherstone Rovers in 2021.
Three of the five will go straight through to the semi-finals, with two facing each other in a play-off on April 10 for the final semi-final spot. Any of the sides who reach the Challenge Cup quarter-finals will automatically qualify for the 1895 Cup semis.
The 1895 Cup semi-finals will be played on the same weekend as the Challenge Cup semis on May 7-8 – unless one of the sides reaches both semi-finals, in which case the 1895 Cup tie will be delayed – with the final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 28 alongside the Challenge Cup final.
When do Super League teams enter?
The 11 participating Super League teams – minus Toulouse Olympique, who have opted not to take part – will join the Challenge Cup in the sixth round, which is played on 26 and 27 March.
