Image source, Getty Images

Prior to the semi-final, Leeds had won their past 12 meetings with Wigan, but Denis Betts' side demolished them on the way to today's final.

Wigan have never won the Women's Challenge Cup, but despite that record, Wigan came into the tie in good shape.

Betts said that there is no secret to why his side have stormed their way into 2025 but the key was forging their own path rather than mimicking the efforts of their quadruple-winning men's team.

"What we've tried to do as a team is that we're not trying to look like a men's team," Betts told BBC Sport.

"We're not trying to look like anything other than who we are as a group of young, inspirational women who want to play rugby, the ball and want it to be exciting and enjoy it.

"I think you can see that in the way that we play."

This is new territory for Wigan Warriors as they appear in their first Women's Challenge Cup final and to get here they enjoyed a notable win away to Leeds in the semi-finals, denying the Rhinos a third-straight Wembley appearance.

Group stages: Barrow Raiders (H, 84-0); London Broncos (A, 44-0)

Quarter-final: Cardiff Demons (H, 96-0)

Semi-final: Leeds Rhinos (A, 44-14)

St Helens are in the final for a fifth straight season, overcoming last year's Super League champions York Valkyrie in the semi-finals to book their place at Wembley and with just one try conceded along the way.

Group Stages: Warrington Wolves (H, 102-0); Cardiff Demons (A, 54-0)

Quarter-final: London Broncos (H, 78-0)

Semi-final: York Valkyrie (H, 10-6)

St Helens winger Leah Burke, who is currently out with an ACL injury, speaking to BBC Sport:

"You come to Wembley and it's different every single year. You look up and it's still so overwhelming.

"They've got the experience but also it's a new team, they've not played Wigan this year yet.

"Five in a row is incredible for any team, any trophy. For today's Saints team, that is the drive and the aim of the day."

Wigan legend Denis Betts took charge of the club's women's side in 2024 and swiftly set about turning around their fortunes.

In last season's Challenge Cup, they were beaten at the semi-final stage by eventual finalists Leeds Rhinos, and Betts has seen the progression in his side ever since.

That loss shaped his side and despite the result, he believes that where the side is now was born out of their experiences in 2024.

"It took a few games and months to get going but we saw a little bit of it in the semi-final [in 2024] when we were beaten by Leeds at St Helens," he added.

"We saw glimpses of it and throughout this season we've slowly got better and culminated in a really strong win at York against Leeds [in 2025].

"We've given ourselves a chance in the top four but we've never really taken that and put a performance in that would give us a real foothold in that elite group, so to speak.

"So we went away and dusted ourselves down. The squad has changed a little bit but not massively, we've still got the core element of what that group is and they've worked really hard."

Image source, Getty Images

Poised with feet in the blocks, stood on the cusp of the shot-put circle, or staring down the long runway to the sandpit, Dani McGifford - by her own ission - never quite handled the nerves of the elite heptathlon.

Talented enough to train with world stars such as Katarina Johnson-Thompson on the domestic scene, but unable to truly transfer those abilities to results.

Athletics' loss has been rugby league's gain.

The 30-year-old again has a sporting focus, representing St Helens, the town she grew up in, playing the sport she grew up loving, for the side she grew up watching from the terraces.

"I watched the 2021 World Cup [deferred to 2022] and that is kind of what inspired me most to take it up," McGifford told BBC Sport.

"I'd spoken to [Saints coach] Craig Richards and he was wanting to get me involved and I almost didn't believe I could do it but having watched the World Cup, something sparked in me and I thought I'd give it a go. Here we are."

You can read more on McGifford's path to rugby league here.

With apologies to ers of other clubs, there is no greater or more famous rivalry in rugby league than St Helens and Wigan Warriors.

Whenever the cherry and whites and the red vee clash, there are high stakes. But today, there is a new added twist.

St Helens have been the dominant force in the Women's Challenge Cup, winning eight out of 12 editions, including the past four and both the past two which have been staged at Wembley.

Winning is a habit and they will not want to relinquish their trophy and especially not against the old rivals.

Wigan and rugby league glory go hand-in-hand. There is very little the club has not won.

But the Women's Challenge Cup is a new frontier to be conquered and what better way to do it, than by beating Saints under the Wembley arch.

Wembley winners!

Image source, Rex Features

And again!

Image source, Getty Images

Will Jodie Cunningham and St Helens be lifting that Women's Challenge Cup trophy at Wembley for a third year in a row?