The first match of the 2025 rugby league season in Wales happens this Sunday at Aberavon Green Stars RFC when Aberavon Fighting Irish take on Blackbrook Royals in the first round of the men’s Challenge Cup (kick-off 1.45pm).
Aberavon, the 2024 WRL open-age champions, qualified for this competition after beating South Wales Jets 21-18 in a dramatic JES Rugby League Conference Grand Final last August.
It’s just the second time that Aberavon have been in the Challenge Cup. Their only other match came in 2003 when current WRL CEO Richard Hibbard was part of their line-up when they lost out to Ince Rose Bridge.
Coincidentally, Aberavon could host Ince Rose Bridge in the second round this year, if both sides make it through this weekend, the second round draw having been made at the same time as the first.
Blackbrook are based in St Helens, Lancashire and play in the North-West Men’s League where they reached the semi-finals in 2024 . It’s the first time they’ve competed in the Challenge Cup for ten years.
Aberavon head coach Dean Scully will name a 25-man squad on Saturday with the actual side being announced at midday on Sunday.
Scully says: “We’re all really looking forward to this week’s game, there has been a bit of a buzz forming around the town, especially between the players. It’s not every year you get to play in the Challenge Cup and it’s been a long time since the Fighting Irish took part.
“It will be a proud moment for me personally as this will mean I will have both played and now coached in this prestigious Cup.
“The players are both excited and nervous about Sunday as it will be the first time we have played as a group since last year’s Conference Grand Final. We go in as the underdogs and know the enormity of a one-off game against a team I have heard lots about but it will be a good benchmark for how far the level of the Welsh Conference has improved over the last three years. We will need to compete with Blackbrook to have any chance of one day fulfilling a club ambition of playing in a national competition.
“We have a relatively young squad and are missing a few key players due to injury and rugby union commitments but I know we will come with a committed and passionate group of players that will not stop until the final whistle.
“Blackbrook will travel down on a cold January morning and if we hit the ground running who knows what can happen from there, maybe even a huge scalp.
“I’m hoping that all of the other conference clubs come out in support on Sunday and back the boys.”
Entry to the match is £5 for adults, U16s free.
