England captain Tomkins backs former club Wigan to win Challenge Cup
The rugby league Challenge Cup has a new showpiece location for its final. Come Saturday, thousands will pack into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the competition crowns either Wigan Warriors or Huddersfield Giants as its 121st winner.
The winner will a trophy which has always left an extraordinary memory for players lucky enough to lift it.
England captain Sam Tomkins has been lucky enough to win this competition twice, both with Wigan.
“It’s something different to the Super League [domestic competition],” Tomkins told CityAM
“I was brought up in Wigan where the Challenge Cup and the history Wigan have in the Challenge Cup is taught to you from a very young age.
“It’s a different pressure being a knockout competition but it’s amazing if you can go all the way.”
The Giants and Warriors have been evenly matched in the league too, sitting fourth and third respectively, and are no doubt set to play out a brilliant final in Tottenham.
Spurs’ ground is playing host this year due to Wembley being unavailable.
Wigan overcame favourites St Helens in an enthralling semi-final which saw them sneak it at the end while the Giants comfortably saw off Hull KR to book their place in the final.
“Wigan have got the most exciting in the league by far in Jai Field,” Tomkins added. “He has set the season on fire this year and it has been the best start to the season I’ve ever seen from an individual. I’ve been playing and watching for a long, long time so I don’t say that without meaning it.
“As for Huddersfield, they haven’t got a great history in winning trophies but this year they’ve started really well and they’ll be going into this confidently.
“If they can play to their potential then they can spook Wigan.
“I think it’s going to be tight. Huddersfield need to get off to a really quick start if they’re going to put some pressure on Wigan. But I do feel that the Warriors will be too strong so I think they’ll win by 12.”
Tomkins left Wigan in 2018 and joined Perpignan-based side Catalan Dragons in France.
A rising force in the code, Dragons topped the league last year before losing in the final. They also won this competition a year before Tomkins arrived.
“A massive factor for coming over to Catalan was to give my family the opportunity to enjoy a different culture and a different way of life,” Tomkins said. “There’s not many jobs where you can get paid to do your favourite job in the south of France. I understand exactly how lucky I am.”
This year is expected to be one of the biggest in the recent history of English rugby league.
The country will host the men’s, women’s and wheelchair world cup’s later this year and Tomkins is conscious that his side cannot be the only ones who don’t finish with silverware.
“We’re going to prepare as best we possibly can. We’ve got a game in a few weeks against the Combined All Stars [made up of overseas Super League players],” Tomkins said.
“We’ve got three teams with a great chance of winning it. To do the treble at a World Cup would be amazing.”