Filed under: Rugby League
Wigan and Leeds will contest the 2011 Carnegie Challenge Cup final after two thrilling semi-finals at weekend.Sam Tomkins starred in the Warriors' victory over St Helens while Kevin Sinfield showed nerves of steel to inspire Leeds to success against Castleford.
The two clubs will now prepare to meet at Wembley on August 27, the first time they have met in the final since 1995.
Wigan Warriors 18 St Helens 12
The basics: Sam Tomkins again played a starring role but it was Wigan's superb defence that laid the platform for their win over rivals St Helens.
The Warriors' rearguard repelled Saints consistently through the first half hour, and then struck on the counter-attack as Josh Charnley's long-range break led to George Carmont's opening try.
That made it 6-2 to Wigan at the break, and Michael Maguire's side pushed further ahead when Charnley scored a brilliant try soon after the break.
When Tomkins stretched out to make it 18-2 it looked to be game over going into the final quarter.
But Francis Meli twice put Jamie Foster over in the space of six minutes to set up a grandstand finale, only for the Warriors to stand firm again.
What it means: Wigan return to Wembley for the first time in 13 years, and will now look to make amends for their shock defeat to Sheffield on their last visit in 1998. Saints, again hit by injuries, must regroup in an attempt to mount a Grand Final challenge.
They said it: "I'm very proud of the players. At half-time, I commended them for their hard work. They just fought for each other to make sure they didn't get across the line. The amount of hard work that these players have put in, particularly in my time here, is tremendous. They never shirk any hard work, and it's great to see Wigan back where they belong, at Wembley." - Wigan coach Michael Maguire.
"We went into the game with a few blokes carrying bumps and bruises and a couple of senior players carried severe injuries into the game. We had a fair bit of possession and it would have been good to get across the line at least once in the first half but Wigan's defence didn't allow that to happen and we got a bit excited and tended to go side to side when we needed to be a bit more direct. I thought we were easily the best side up to them scoring and yet went in down at half-time." - Saints coach Royce Simmons.
Castleford Tigers 8 Leeds Rhinos 10 (after golden point extra-time)
The basics: Kevin Sinfield's boot sent Leeds to Wembley after a gripping semi-final in Doncaster.
Sinfield kept his nerve to slot a cool golden point penalty after Ryan McGoldrick was penalised for a high tackle on Danny McGuire.
The Rhinos had led 2-0 after a stalemate of a first half, with Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Carl Ablett having tries disallowed for forward passes.
But the Tigers hit the front with a brilliant individual try to Rangi Chase - after a week of speculation over whether he would play - and Kirk Dixon's penalty made it 8-2 heading into the closing stages.
But then Kallum Watkins scooped up a loose pass to touch down, and Sinfield kicked a superb conversion from the touchline to send the game into extra-time.
What it means: Leeds will be hoping to avoid a fifth straight Challenge Cup final defeat after losing their last four attempts in 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2010. The Tigers must quickly regroup and hang onto their play-off place if they are to send coach Terry Matterson off on a high note.
They said it: "We deserved to be there. It hurts. I think it will be my last opportunity and that hurts as well. To have it taken away like that is pretty cruel. The number of times we were hit high and they weren't penalised, and the one at the end was across his shoulder. We're up against it enough. Big teams seem to get the roll of the dice. Maybe one day I'll be with a big team and I'll know how it feels." - Castleford coach Terry Matterson.
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