IT’s that time of the year again, when you get the chance to test your and your family’s Rugby League knowledge with the traditional League Express Christmas Quiz, to find out which of you is the true Rugby League anorak.
So here are 100 brain-teasers that will separate the Rugby League boffins in your house from the rest.
Split into ten groups of ten, there will be enough of a challenge for you to keep the brain ticking over during the excesses of Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
And if you haven’t got all the solutions, we’ll post the answers to the quiz on our website, totalrl.com, on New Year’s Day and in the next issue of League Express, which will be published on Monday 1st January.
INTERNATIONALS
1 Who won the three International Golden Boot awards for 2023 (men, women and wheelchair)?
2 By what identical scoreline did England’s men and women both beat France in April’s double-header?
3 Which three players scored three tries for England men in 2023?
4 Which England player retired internationally after the final Test against Tonga?
5 What is the name of the war dance performed by Tonga before matches?
6 In which city did New Zealand’s record 30-0 win over Australia in the Pacific Cup final take place?
7 Which Super League player scored a try in the Pacific Bowl final between Fiji and Papua New Guinea?
8 How many points did England women concede in 2023?
9 New Zealand’s 12-6 victory over Australia was the Jillaroos’ first defeat since which year?
10 What is the name of the trophy awarded to the winners of each England-France wheelchair international, which changed hands twice in November?
SUPER LEAGUE
1 How many tries did top scorer Abbas Miski register in Super League?
2 Who assisted the most Super League tries?
3 Who recorded the biggest margin of victory in a Super League game, and by what score?
4 Who won Super League’s Young Player of the Year award?
5 After Leigh reached the top six, how many different clubs have now played in the Super League play-offs since 1998?
6 In which month did Wakefield win their first game of the season?
7 Which Super League team played two clubs five times competitively?
8 Which team neither won nor lost more than three Super League games in succession?
9 Which retiring player featured in every one of his club’s Super League games?
10 Which team experienced the greatest rise in their final regular-season position from 2022 to 2023 (not including Leigh), and which experienced the greatest fall?
SUPER LEAGUE SQUAD NUMBERS
1 Who will inherit a squad number in 2024 that has only been used by two previous players at the club in question?
2 Which club didn’t allocate squad number 20 in 2023?
3 What connects Castleford’s 22 to Leigh’s 19 to Wakefield’s 20 to Wigan’s 7?
4 Which player had the highest squad number in Super League in 2023 and which club did he play for?
5 Given that Hull KR have retired their squad number 6, which number did they allocate to their international stand-off half Mikey Lewis in 2023?
6 Which player was allocated squad number 18 for his club but didn’t play a game all season?
7 Which player was allocated squad number 26 for his club and played 31 games.
8 Two players who played for two different Super League clubs during the season each had combined squad numbers that added up to 50. Can you name them?
9 What squad number did Sam Tomkins wear at the Catalans Dragons?
10 How many players wearing squad number 2 finished in the list of the top ten try scorers in Super League? Can you name them?
CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Name the Championship’s second-top try-scorer?
2 Which former Super League forward made nine Championship appearances before retiring?
3 Who were beaten by Bradford in the first stage of the play-offs?
4 Who did Mike Eccles succeed as London Broncos coach?
5 Which team achieved doubles against Sheffield and York?
6 Who topped the Championship goal-kicking table with 105?
7 Name the halfback Newcastle signed from a divisional rival in February?
8 Which ex-NCL player scored seven tries for Swinton?
9 Who scored three tries and kicked 36 goals for Halifax?
10 To how many coaches has new Batley boss Mark Moxon been an assistant at the club?
LEAGUE ONE
1 Which club withdrew from League One before a ball had been kicked?
2 Which two clubs withdrew from League One at the end of the 2023 season?
3 Which club moved from the Portway Stadium to the Alexander Stadium?
4 Which club was awarded a 48-0 win after London Skolars failed to fulfil one fixture?
5 Who won the League One Player of the Year award?
6 Dewsbury Rams lost just two games in 2023. Which two clubs beat them?
7 Cornwall won a club-record number of games. How many did they win?
8 How many different stadiums did North Wales play home games at?
9 Which club did the League One Young Player of the Year come from?
10 At which stadium was the League One play-off final played?
CUP COMPETITIONS
1 Who won the Lance Todd Trophy in 2023?
2 Which team won the 1895 Cup, who did they beat and by what score?
3 Who scored the first try in this year’s Challenge Cup Final?
4 Who scored a field-goal in golden-point time to win a Challenge Cup semi-final?
5 Which player was sinbinned in the Challenge Cup Final?
6 Which club appeared at Wembley for the first time in its history in 2023?
7 Who won the Ray French Trophy as man of the match in the 1895 Cup Final?
8 Who refereed the 2023 Challenge Cup Final?
9 Who scored the final try in this year’s 1895 Cup Final?
10 Leigh won the Challenge Cup in 2023 but how many years was it since their last Challenge Cup Final victory?
WOMEN’S RUGBY LEAGUE
1 Who finished as top try scorer in the Women’s Super League?
2 Who opened the scoring for St Helens at Wembley?
3 Who did Huddersfield beat to claim their first ever Super League win?
4 Who scored a hat-trick of tries in that game?
5 Who was promoted automatically from Group Two?
6 Which two sides contested the Group Two Promotion Final?
7 Who was named as the Woman of Steel?
8 Who was announced as Wigan’s new head coach in October?
9 Who won the Super League South Grand Final?
10 Who announced her international retirement shortly before the England v Wales game in November?
COMMUNITY GAME
1 Which NCL club hosted Newcastle Thunder in the fourth round of last season’s Challenge Cup?
2 Name the reigning Yorkshire Men’s League champions?
3 Which Cumbrian club who have moved into the NCL for 2024?
4 Who are the Southern Conference League champions?
5 Which Yorkshire club withdrew from the NCL Division One partway through last season?
6 Which European country did England Community Lions Women tour in October?
7 Name the Hunslet ARLFC fullback who won the NCL Player of the Year award?
8 Who won the North West Men’s League?
9 Where do South Wales Jets usually play their home games?
10 Who won the 2023 BARLA National Cup?
NRL
1 Who were the two NRL coaches to get sacked in 2023?
2 Which Dolphins star finished the season having scored the most points?
3 Who broke the record for the most tackles in a game with 81 in Round 22?
4 Which club averaged the highest attendance during the season with 33,792?
5 Which club had three captains during the course of the season?
6 Who won the Dally M Medal?
7 Dolphins were a new franchise in 2023, but who was the last team to become an NRL side before them?
8 Who finished bottom of the NRL ladder?
9 Which side had three brothers play for them during the course of the year?
10 Which NRL referee retired after officiating 442 games?
MISCELLANEOUS
1 St Helens won the World Club Challenge for the third time in 2023. In which previous years did they also win the competition?
2 Who were St Helens’ two try-scorers against Penrith?
3 In which minute did Lewis Dodd drop the match-winning field-goal?
4 Which club won the Wheelchair Super League?
5 Which club won the Wheelchair Challenge Cup?
6 What was the outcome of the inaugural Wheelchair European Club Championship?
7 Who was named the inaugural Wheels of Steel?
8 Which club won the Reserves competition?
9 Which club won the Academy competition?
10 Which club won the Physical Disability Rugby League competition?
