St Helens youngster Eboni Partington looks ahead to her first Challenge Cup Final

The Challenge Cup triple-header at Elland Road on 7th May- The Women’s Challenge Cup Final between the Leeds Rhinos and last year’s champions St Helen’s kicks off the event at 12pm. This is the 10th staging of the women’s Challenge cup competition.

The Rhinos missed out on a final place last season after losing to St Helen’s in the semi-final 20-12, so they will be seeking revenge and hoping to come away with the silverware.

Both teams have had a successful Challenge cup campaign with Leeds securing one of the biggest victories of the competition with a 92-0 victory over Leigh Miners Rangers.

St Helens enter the game without conceding any points throughout the competition, a run that Leeds will be hoping to spoil.

The game promises to be a high scoring game as the teams have scored 560 points between them.

Across both teams, there is a wealth of talent, experience and youth showcasing the best of what the women’s game has to offer. You can look to the likes of Courtney Winfield-Hill, Georgia Roche, Paige Travis and Amy Hardcastle for top performances on the biggest stage, but with plenty of youth in the sides, they’ll be plenty of women hoping to shine in their first final experience.

One of those women playing in their first final is St Helens centre, 19-year-old Eboni Partington.

Photo credit Mks Photography.

Prost spoke to Eboni ahead of the game about her experience so far within the squad.

She began her rugby league career at the age of 17 following a successful spell playing Rugby Union. She saw a Facebook post to join the U19’s development squad, and she hasn’t looked back since. After a few months with the development squad, she was brought in to train with the women’s team and made her debut in 2020.

The chance to train and play with the women she can learn from are some of the best in the women’s game

“I was inspired by watching players like Jodie Cunningham and Amy Hardcastle. Then when I was able to train by them was a good insight for me to learn from the best.”

Partington says that the vibe in the team at the moment feels very good, everyone is excited about the occasion but working very hard and is extremely focused on the job at hand.

Looking ahead to her final debut she is looking forward to embracing the spectacle of the game.

“Personally I’m excited to be a part of the team on such a special occasion. I remember watching last year, supporting the girls and I thought the atmosphere was so exciting. I remember thinking I wish I was playing. Now, I finally have my chance to play and I feel I just need to focus on what I need to do as well as embrace it and not get too nervous.”

The women’s game is progressing more and more every year, and each team has their own following of young girls wanting to be the next generation of Super League players hoping to play in a Challenge Cup final. Last year Eboni was one of the girls and she has a message for the young girls watching.