Warrington Wolves, St Helens, Hull FC and Castleford Tigers booked their spots in the Semi-Finals of the Betfred Challenge Cup this past weekend with the help of a host of England squad members.
Daryl Clark played a crucial role in Warrington’s 6-16 victory over Catalans Dragons on Friday evening crossing for two tries. Clark was on hand to finish a break from deep for the Wolves before he claimed a short-range effort on the back of a clever Chris Hill offload later in the first half.
Whilst impressing in attack, Clark was once again Warrington’s top tackler making 44 tackles against the Dragons. Fellow England squad member Toby King was the Wolves highest metre-maker tallying 170 running metres. King also made more carries than any other Warrington player and was closely followed by fellow Englishmen Mike Cooper and Joe Philbin in the carries and metres ranks. Ben Currie made his 200th career appearance in the victory; six of these have come whilst representing England.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">âœŒï¸ A double for <a href="https://twitter.com/Darylclark9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DarylClark9</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/TheChallengeCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheChallengeCup</a>...<br><br>🺠<a href="https://twitter.com/WarringtonRLFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WarringtonRLFC</a> <br><br>ðŸ´ó §ó ¢ó ¥ó ®ó §ó ¿ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EnglandRL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EnglandRL</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZpnoGEPRS7">pic.twitter.com/ZpnoGEPRS7</a></p>— England Rugby League (@England_RL) <a href="https://twitter.com/England_RL/status/1391664467352621057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mark Percival was on the scoresheet at St Helens edged out Huddersfield Giants 23-18 in Friday’s second Betfred Challenge Cup Quarter Final. Percival’s try came at a pivotal point in the game finally putting Kristian Woolf’s side ahead in the fixture.
James Roby, Alex Walmsley and Jonny Lomax also featured for St Helens, but Tommy Makinson left the field early with what appeared to be a foot injury. Huddersfield and England winger Jermaine McGillvary made 119 metres against a strong Saints outfit.
Paul McShane stepped up once again for Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Challenge Cup as a clever short-side play put Michael Shenton over midway through the second half to give Daryl Powell’s side the lead. McShane also completed 42 tackles in defence.
England squad members Kallum Watkins and Dan Sarginson featured for Salford Red Devils in their 19-18 defeat to Castleford, with both backs running for over 165 metres and being the Red Devils top two carriers of the ball.
Hull FC beat Wigan Warriors in Saturday’s opening Betfred Challenge Cup Quarter Final 20-10.
Despite falling to defeat, a returning Dom Manfredi crossed for Wigan after a number of months on the sidelines.
Watch England face the Combined Nations All Stars on Friday 25 June at the Halliwell Jones Stadium by purchasing your tickets here.
