Semi-Final: Wigan v Hull FC

:00:39. > :00:45.Hello and welcome to Doncaster for the first of this weekend's

:00:46. > :00:51.Ladbrokes Challenge Cup semifinals. Hull FC against Wigan Warriors. Both

:00:52. > :00:55.clubs with plenty of history in this great competition, and if tonight is

:00:56. > :01:07.anything like the final of 1985 we are in for a treat. This is rugby

:01:08. > :01:19.league at its very best. He has 80 11 situation. He is in. -- a two on

:01:20. > :01:29.one situation. Sidestep. That was a superb try. He has got the strength,

:01:30. > :01:39.he's got the speed. That was a tremendously well worked try. He can

:01:40. > :01:47.make it himself if he goes. He is disgruntled about that tackle! He

:01:48. > :02:00.has got the ball, he has got away! And he is in. Is he in? Yes, he is!

:02:01. > :02:11.Is this going to be a grandstand finish? That is a tremendous try.

:02:12. > :02:20.There is the hooter. What a game, this has been an incredible match,

:02:21. > :02:29.28-24. Here we go, here we go, here we go!

:02:30. > :02:36.Well, if tonight's game is anything like that we are in for a cracker,

:02:37. > :02:40.hopefully the songs will be a bit better, though. Hull finished the

:02:41. > :02:44.regular Super League season top of the pile, they have won the

:02:45. > :02:48.Challenge Cup three times but never at Wembley so they will look to get

:02:49. > :02:52.there this year and put it right. Wigan have lifted the trophy a

:02:53. > :02:57.record 19 times which is why they are slight favourites tonight

:02:58. > :03:04.despite losing their last two games. Whatever happens, though, it's going

:03:05. > :03:07.to be tight. Well, the drizzle is starting to fall here at the

:03:08. > :03:12.Keepmoat Stadium but hopefully it won't dampen the atmosphere. Both

:03:13. > :03:19.sets of fans already here and in good voice and we expect there to be

:03:20. > :03:27.slightly more fans of Hull FC van Wigan this evening. -- than Wigan.

:03:28. > :03:31.With me three men with plenty of Challenge Cup experience, Hull KR

:03:32. > :03:39.director of rugby Jamie Peacock, Saint Helens' Joe Wilkin, and Brian

:03:40. > :03:43.Noble. I'm not going anywhere. We want you to stay with us all the

:03:44. > :03:49.way. That was your Joe, I will give you full credit. Are you looking

:03:50. > :03:53.forward to this? Yes, can't wait, full stretch Hull side against Wigan

:03:54. > :03:57.side coming off the back of two defeats but they are very athletic

:03:58. > :04:02.and they should be a classic. You can hear the noise already, the Hull

:04:03. > :04:09.fans warming up, they are not the favourites for this, Wigan are. When

:04:10. > :04:13.you look at form and the table, this could surprise people? You would

:04:14. > :04:17.take Hull any day of the week, when you look at the experience in their

:04:18. > :04:24.ranks, and it is hard for this baby Wigan team that I've been looking

:04:25. > :04:28.out, all of those fresh faces, 11th youngsters in their ranks, it is

:04:29. > :04:32.surprisingly our favourites and I think Hull, you should take that

:04:33. > :04:36.with a pinch of salt. Teams change over the course of the season and

:04:37. > :04:40.you will have a different results at different times but he'll have you

:04:41. > :04:45.found hardest to play against? They are both challenging and they bring

:04:46. > :04:48.something different which is why tonight is interesting, Hull bring

:04:49. > :04:54.their power and experience, they have highlighted the experience, in

:04:55. > :04:59.that area and they have recruited well. Wigan bring strength and

:05:00. > :05:04.tenacity, different styles and different sides. Will it make a

:05:05. > :05:07.difference, it may feel like a home game for Hull? They have great

:05:08. > :05:15.support tonight and that could play a part and this will be a fantastic

:05:16. > :05:18.game in prospect. Take a look at the Super League table, Hull finished

:05:19. > :05:24.top before we split into the super eight and middle age. Did Wigan ease

:05:25. > :05:28.off? They lost their last two, knowing they would be in the top

:05:29. > :05:32.four or is that not fair? They were playing Saints in the Derby and that

:05:33. > :05:36.is almost as important as the semifinal. They would have liked to

:05:37. > :05:41.finish top and be coming into this off the back of a win but losing a

:05:42. > :05:45.derby gives you extra motivation to nail the semifinal. Hull FC top of

:05:46. > :05:47.the table after 23 games, one of the main reasons for that, Gareth Ellis,

:05:48. > :06:18.who is in the form of his life. Gareth, it's been quite a season,

:06:19. > :06:22.does it feel like this season is Hull's time, when perhaps there were

:06:23. > :06:26.previously cranks? What we are achieving this year and what we have

:06:27. > :06:30.done so far, where I thought we would be three or four years ago,

:06:31. > :06:33.even before a ball was kicked there was the sense that with the

:06:34. > :06:37.recruitment that we put in place and the players that have been here a

:06:38. > :06:43.while, there are improvements and stepping up to the plate, there was

:06:44. > :06:45.always potential for something special and we have certainly given

:06:46. > :06:55.ourselves an opportunity to do that this year. Gareth Ellis, back row.

:06:56. > :07:00.You have a lot of fun, just watching you train, it is like a big bunch of

:07:01. > :07:04.mates playing rugby. Rugby league is a very working-class sport played by

:07:05. > :07:08.working-class people and that is a good thing, even at 305I'm still

:07:09. > :07:19.sort of working alongside 18 and 19-year-olds. -- even at 35, I'm

:07:20. > :07:23.still. You have to go home to your kids and be sensible. It is a great

:07:24. > :07:27.environment to be working in. You are the old man staying home when

:07:28. > :07:31.the youngsters are going out for a drink. I can't handle it any more,

:07:32. > :07:35.it is certainly different, you appreciate the game much more. I

:07:36. > :07:39.know that the end is not far away so to be able to play with a smile on

:07:40. > :07:45.my face is important. When you have time to think, with your feet up and

:07:46. > :07:50.your slippers and pipe, do you think, this could be my last big

:07:51. > :07:53.opportunity to win something? Without a doubt, these opportunities

:07:54. > :07:58.don't come very often. For all I have played I have not actually won

:07:59. > :08:01.much, so we are now fighting for every piece of silverware and this

:08:02. > :08:05.is certainly an opportunity I would not like to miss. Have you allowed

:08:06. > :08:09.yourself to contemplate an afternoon at Wembley or even walking up the

:08:10. > :08:14.steps to pick up the trophy? I think about it all the time to be honest!

:08:15. > :08:20.I have imagined it in my head and it's something that I really want to

:08:21. > :08:23.do. I lost two Challenge Cup 's, want to Hull and want to Wigan with

:08:24. > :08:28.Hull, so it is something I would like to be able to do. Like I said,

:08:29. > :08:36.these opportunities don't come often and this could be the one.

:08:37. > :08:42.George Riley putting the questions to Gareth Ellis and Ellis will be

:08:43. > :08:45.wearing the player microphones so we are grateful to him for doing that

:08:46. > :08:49.and we will hear some interesting noises over the course of the 80

:08:50. > :08:53.minutes, I would have bought. You were both nodding along to the

:08:54. > :08:57.interview, particularly Jamie in relation to the older you get the

:08:58. > :09:02.more you try to take enjoyment out of it? That's right, you can see the

:09:03. > :09:06.twinkle in his eyes, he is an outstanding person and a player, but

:09:07. > :09:09.your desire to win and succeed when you get to the final couple of years

:09:10. > :09:14.of your career is massive because you realise what a fantastic job you

:09:15. > :09:18.have had and this could be it, the door is closing and you want to make

:09:19. > :09:23.the most of it and get to finals and win. Make no mistake, he is the

:09:24. > :09:28.fulcrum of the team, the life and soul, I have seen them play several

:09:29. > :09:33.times and he is an outstanding leader, they are different when he

:09:34. > :09:39.plays. He is one of the best players they have had for a long time. Do

:09:40. > :09:44.you take extra responsibility as an older player? Yes, you have been out

:09:45. > :09:48.there in the wars and he knows how to play well, and he is one of those

:09:49. > :09:51.players, there are not many about that inspire everyone around them

:09:52. > :09:55.and make everyone play better because of the standards he expects.

:09:56. > :10:02.Take us through the Hull team including Gareth Ellis. Well, it's a

:10:03. > :10:06.really exciting back three, the leading Super League try scorer at

:10:07. > :10:19.the back with Steven Michaels and the giant Talanoa.

:10:20. > :10:25.Tuimavave has been given the stand-off jumper. Alongside the king

:10:26. > :10:31.of picking Marc Sneyd. And it's an all British firebrand front row.

:10:32. > :10:41.Hull born and bred Scott Taylor, recently returning from Wigan. All

:10:42. > :10:47.international back row, world-class back row, Sika Manu, the captain of

:10:48. > :10:53.Samoa. Gareth Ellis is a long-time international. Speed and power

:10:54. > :10:54.coming off the bench or the Hull team with Jordan Thompson and Chris

:10:55. > :11:08.Green. -- for the whole Local boy, Danny Washbrook, the

:11:09. > :11:12.utility player. They are going through quite a vigorous part of the

:11:13. > :11:17.warm up behind me which is amusing because Jon Wilkin is having to keep

:11:18. > :11:22.up with them and try not to get clattered. Thanks for that, I was

:11:23. > :11:26.nearly taken out several times. Hull highlighted that they needed

:11:27. > :11:31.experience, and a couple of years ago they made the decision to sign

:11:32. > :11:35.Gareth Ellis. So much experience, world-class back rower and he forms

:11:36. > :11:40.an integral part of the team and their culture and their desire to

:11:41. > :11:44.win. We also have big men alongside, Frank Pritchard, a powerful man

:11:45. > :11:49.coming off the bench, that is experienced that they have brought

:11:50. > :11:53.in, 600 games of experience. Especially important is Danny

:11:54. > :12:02.Houghton, feeding in balls here. Can we grab a quick word? A big season

:12:03. > :12:06.for Hull so far? It is a lot of hard work what these boys are doing in

:12:07. > :12:11.the middle. Hopefully that will get us over the line. All the best, have

:12:12. > :12:16.a great night. Let's focus a bit more on Danny Houghton. How he

:12:17. > :12:21.marshals them around the field. He is an outstanding player, he

:12:22. > :12:25.captains the side and he is in and around the middle, so dynamic, he

:12:26. > :12:29.has added to his game this year. Because of the size of the pack he

:12:30. > :12:37.has always been able to do this but he is doing it more. He sees a hole

:12:38. > :12:45.and it becomes a big hole. They will scrape around the ruck. He has added

:12:46. > :12:53.kicking to his game, that is great vision. Playing great football, he

:12:54. > :12:57.puts Fonua through this hole. Desperate defence. That is again

:12:58. > :13:03.great football from Danny Houghton. He is the fulcrum, the heartbeat of

:13:04. > :13:08.the team. And he is prepared to back up and support his players as well.

:13:09. > :13:12.Any decent number nine will do that, running the middle track. You have

:13:13. > :13:16.to anticipate the brakes. Scott Taylor has been a monster all year,

:13:17. > :13:20.making these breaks. That was a superb finish. They have been

:13:21. > :13:26.exceptional this year and he has been a great tackle, and we saw with

:13:27. > :13:34.his dummy and his backing up, he has an all-round game at the moment.

:13:35. > :13:37.Hull have added attack to their game, their defensive game has been

:13:38. > :13:42.a bit longer although you suffered against it as Hull KR. They have

:13:43. > :13:47.been a good side for these past two seasons. It's going to be really

:13:48. > :13:52.important because it is greasy tonight, you need to have a good

:13:53. > :13:57.kick chase. They stopped him dead. This is the most important. It

:13:58. > :14:01.changes the momentum of the game by driving a player into touch. They

:14:02. > :14:09.complete the tackle and flip the game on its head. They just have to

:14:10. > :14:13.communicate, they have it on a string, they know who they have the

:14:14. > :14:18.potential to pass to out the back and Kirk Yeaman makes a great play,

:14:19. > :14:22.he understands the play and he gets one-on-one, he knows the defender is

:14:23. > :14:27.his, and that can only happen with the kind of communication they have

:14:28. > :14:31.here. It is not fluke, that is ours and ours on the training ground.

:14:32. > :14:36.That was their focus last season and they have brought that habit into

:14:37. > :14:40.this year, look at the way they are committed together, nobody pushing

:14:41. > :14:45.up, that is great commitment. They are outnumbered but look at their

:14:46. > :14:49.attitude. We spoke about leadership and that comes through the integral

:14:50. > :14:53.characters in your team, always doing the right thing, and they have

:14:54. > :15:00.a number of guys, Minichiello is an unsung hero. Always doing the right

:15:01. > :15:04.things defensively. Communication is key, talking to the players beside

:15:05. > :15:09.you. They have that right across the line and they talk really well. On

:15:10. > :15:15.the communication, how many voices do you need in a lot of those plays?

:15:16. > :15:21.Is it just about talking to the men either side? Ideally you want

:15:22. > :15:26.everyone to be talking, but a couple next to each other, that becomes

:15:27. > :15:32.habit, you know that if this guy is there, that guy is here, you can

:15:33. > :15:35.defend this now. The Smalltalk is fascinating, Smalltalk is our good

:15:36. > :15:38.defenders, and without knowing they have a lot of small talk is in the

:15:39. > :15:50.game and it makes for great defensive side. -- small talkers. A

:15:51. > :15:56.lot of bookmakers are predicting a Wigan- Warrington final, you must be

:15:57. > :16:03.enjoying that chat! Forshaw, yes, we have no input to any of that. The

:16:04. > :16:07.only thing we can influence is the game and we have gone about it

:16:08. > :16:12.really well this week. We want to see it coming to fruition. We want

:16:13. > :16:16.to put in a good performance today because we are playing a decent

:16:17. > :16:21.Wigan side. You are coming into the semifinal on the back of two losses,

:16:22. > :16:26.are you concerned about your form? We weren't at our best last week

:16:27. > :16:33.against Leeds but the defence was quite good. It was just a few

:16:34. > :16:36.individual errors. We know we have a good chance. Injured against

:16:37. > :16:41.Salford, how close was heated missing out? He passed all of the

:16:42. > :16:47.fitness tests yesterday, and with the magnitude of the game, a little

:16:48. > :16:50.bit extra, the last thing we want is leaving the field early. He is good

:16:51. > :16:55.to go and so is everyone else and we are looking forward to this, it is

:16:56. > :16:59.that time of year when you get over your injuries slightly quicker than

:17:00. > :17:03.normal, that's for sure. You made a big thing about being underdogs, is

:17:04. > :17:07.that a bit of Mourinho mind games? I wish it was but I have seven players

:17:08. > :17:12.missing, I only have 18 players in the squad, so if that is not a sign

:17:13. > :17:16.we are under the pump I don't know what is. We will be fighting like

:17:17. > :17:21.hell to make sure we get this win and hopefully get the prize at the

:17:22. > :17:26.end. A big City club, underachievers some people say, what has changed

:17:27. > :17:31.this season? I do think anyone thing has changed, we did not have a heap

:17:32. > :17:37.of areas where we were deficient, we went about improving and I think we

:17:38. > :17:44.have done that and today it has been successful. This could have been the

:17:45. > :17:48.final? It would have been great, it would, but Hull are a fantastic club

:17:49. > :17:52.and their supporters are great and we will be looking to challenge them

:17:53. > :17:58.tonight. Shaun Wane mentions he has lots of players missing but here are

:17:59. > :18:02.the ones that he does have. They certainly have enough in attack with

:18:03. > :18:07.Sam Tomkins at the back, and youngster Lewis Tierney and Dominic

:18:08. > :18:15.Manfredi built like a back row. NRL bound Dan Sarginson partners local

:18:16. > :18:18.boy Oliver Gildart. Last year's starting internationals for England,

:18:19. > :18:25.Williams and Smith with a huge job on their hands tonight. Local boys,

:18:26. > :18:32.the giant Ryan Sutton and local Sam Powell partnering the Welshman

:18:33. > :18:36.Flower. Being bland Captain Sean O'Loughlin and England international

:18:37. > :18:41.John Bateman. -- the England captain. A giant bench with Lee

:18:42. > :18:46.Mossop and six foot five Joe Bretherton sitting down at the

:18:47. > :18:54.start. Coming off the bench there is even more size with Dominic Crosby

:18:55. > :18:59.and Taulima Tautai Samoa. Robbie Hunter Paul will take us through the

:19:00. > :19:04.game plan. Thank you very much. The great thing about Wigan in the

:19:05. > :19:09.Challenge Cup is that it goes hand-in-hand with success, these

:19:10. > :19:12.guys bring a culture of winning. There is no one better to express

:19:13. > :19:17.that than this man here. Sean O'Loughlin. You will see them set up

:19:18. > :19:20.in the middle of the park and they will split the field in two,

:19:21. > :19:24.O'Loughlin will take the left-hand side and he will carry that ball

:19:25. > :19:30.strongly, and you have to deal with him. One of my favourite players in

:19:31. > :19:34.the Super League right now, Bateman. He is not the biggest forward in

:19:35. > :19:38.rugby league but he has dense muscle and he's extremely explosive and he

:19:39. > :19:45.is definitely one-to-one chat. Obviously when they split the field

:19:46. > :19:47.into, you're looking at that man, Sam Tomkins, he has his knee

:19:48. > :19:51.strapped at the moment but keep an eye on him because when he goes with

:19:52. > :19:56.the ball that is generally where he will go, and the man that is tasked

:19:57. > :20:02.with living it together is this man. I will see if I can get a word with

:20:03. > :20:06.him. Matty Smith. Let's see if we can just get in to have a word. I

:20:07. > :20:11.don't want to get in between him and that tackle! Can I have a quick

:20:12. > :20:18.word? How other preparations this weekend? This is the semifinal, the

:20:19. > :20:24.winner goes to Wembley and the boys are pumped and ready to go. Best of

:20:25. > :20:29.luck. Thanks for talking to us. Let's focus on the players that are

:20:30. > :20:34.missing, there are a variety of reasons, but two that are missing,

:20:35. > :20:39.Jon Wilkin, do they only have themselves to blame? Disciplinary

:20:40. > :20:43.problems, so they should not be playing. Banned for two games for

:20:44. > :20:49.touching the rest when he shouldn't have. You are not allowed to touch

:20:50. > :20:53.the officials. It is innocuous but the minute he does it he knows there

:20:54. > :20:59.will be a judicial problem. And this one was eight physical thing in the

:21:00. > :21:08.heat of the Derby, these things happen. -- a physical thing. And

:21:09. > :21:13.they punch on my mate Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook. He does not

:21:14. > :21:19.even flinch! Is he the pick of the players? I think so. Charnley is a

:21:20. > :21:24.very safe pair of hands and Wigan will need that, they will need to

:21:25. > :21:29.complete high today if they are to win. Let's see how influential he

:21:30. > :21:37.will be. He is hugely influential and he has to be the man to make a

:21:38. > :21:41.line break. He has the speed. I can't reinforce enough for the

:21:42. > :21:45.viewers how strong he is in the hits, when his legs are pumping he

:21:46. > :21:50.is like a front row in his mentality, he takes people on and he

:21:51. > :21:56.is gone. Very, very strong, and he is hard to stop. He is a superb

:21:57. > :22:01.player. As we see here, there two sides to being a half-backs, running

:22:02. > :22:05.and introducing other people. If his weakness was anywhere it is his

:22:06. > :22:10.passing game. You highlight his running threat and you think you can

:22:11. > :22:14.deal with the passing game but this shows his development. His

:22:15. > :22:17.development as a player and his kicking has developed which we don't

:22:18. > :22:22.see here, it makes him more of a running threat. He played for

:22:23. > :22:26.England last year and he did not look out of place against the Kiwis.

:22:27. > :22:29.I always prefer half-backs who will take the ball to the wine and take

:22:30. > :22:33.on the big men in the middle. One of my favourite players to watch. What

:22:34. > :22:37.do you make of Wigan coming into this and why have they stumbled

:22:38. > :22:43.against Leeds and Saints who inflicted defeats on them? The Derby

:22:44. > :22:48.can go either way. But it was a heavy defeat. Yes, but they have

:22:49. > :22:53.eight players out and it's easy to ignore that but you can't, Farrell

:22:54. > :22:59.is out and Tomkins is out who is an experienced player. They have a lot

:23:00. > :23:03.of their own product out there. They dominate with the systems they play

:23:04. > :23:08.and they have the responsibility of experience. When we spoke about Hull

:23:09. > :23:11.and their experience, do we think about Wigan as having experienced

:23:12. > :23:21.because of their name but when you delve a bit deeper they do have a

:23:22. > :23:24.lot of young players. They have a developed an experienced culture

:23:25. > :23:28.which produces competitive athletes, there is no doubt, Wigan are

:23:29. > :23:31.fantastic. The reason they have been less effective in the last couple of

:23:32. > :23:35.weeks is that they met sides who wanted to be physical against them

:23:36. > :23:39.and they made a lot more errors than usual. Let's talk about one of their

:23:40. > :23:44.home-grown players, Sam Tomkins did the double with Wigan in 2013 in the

:23:45. > :23:48.Grand Final of the Challenge Cup and then he went down under to the NRL

:23:49. > :23:50.where he suffered a serious injury and he's now back to fitness and he

:23:51. > :24:03.has been talking to Dave will This is a good run from Sam Tomkins.

:24:04. > :24:12.Wigan's number one. Sam Tomkins, mercurial genius! Sam Tomkins! He

:24:13. > :24:19.has done it. We want that trophy back. First of all, how nice is it

:24:20. > :24:24.to be home again? I'm really enjoying being back at Wigan. Two

:24:25. > :24:27.years away was long enough and I've come back to a great club and people

:24:28. > :24:33.dream of having their debut for Wigan Warriors and I've been lucky

:24:34. > :24:37.enough to have two. How much of a struggle has the injury being? It

:24:38. > :24:45.has been frustrating, when I signed to come back I never thought it

:24:46. > :24:50.would take so long to come back. I'm -- I snapped a ligament in my knee

:24:51. > :24:54.against Parramatta. I was not given the best medical advice when I was

:24:55. > :24:57.there and as soon as I got back, I was taken to the scans and it was

:24:58. > :25:04.apparent I needed to have an operation. Taking time out to have a

:25:05. > :25:09.seven-month operation in the off-season. The birth of your little

:25:10. > :25:14.boy, Rex, has taken your mind off it. Yes, that was a life changer. He

:25:15. > :25:18.came along at the end of December when I was on crutches and I was

:25:19. > :25:22.trying to carry this newborn baby while I was on crutches in the

:25:23. > :25:25.hospital, and it was a hectic time but it was brilliant. It is the best

:25:26. > :25:31.thing that has ever happened to me by far. As he had a ball in his hand

:25:32. > :25:36.yet? Yes, in the garden the other day, he is trying to walk a bit now.

:25:37. > :25:41.He hasn't picked it up yet, just kicking it, so he might be a

:25:42. > :25:46.footballer. Tomkins shakes off the attempted tackle. They deserve their

:25:47. > :25:52.place in the semifinal. What about this Wigan team? The one you left

:25:53. > :25:57.was a more concrete team but they have not won anything since you have

:25:58. > :26:05.been away? To have two years without any silverware is not great, winning

:26:06. > :26:11.the double in 2013. As a squad we are hungry and very young as well.

:26:12. > :26:15.We have people like George Williams, Oliver Gildart, Tierney, Sutton,

:26:16. > :26:19.they are young kids. They are really pushing. The boys have been involved

:26:20. > :26:22.in two Grand Finals and come away with nothing in the past two years.

:26:23. > :26:29.They have been starved of silverware. We need it back.

:26:30. > :26:40.Jamie Peacock is maybe not the Sam Tomkins that went, and came back, do

:26:41. > :26:43.you think he will take time to recover even when he is fit?

:26:44. > :26:48.Certainly, a difficult knee injury can take three or four months before

:26:49. > :26:55.you can be fully back, but there are other issues. Sam is at his best

:26:56. > :27:00.when he is prepared to get his body in situations where he will come off

:27:01. > :27:03.second best physically. The defence in the leagues have adapted to his

:27:04. > :27:08.game and he needs to add a few more skills to his bow. As a young fella

:27:09. > :27:11.he was competitive and when he went to the NRL he had that element of

:27:12. > :27:17.risk in his game and recklessness if you like, to take on the line and do

:27:18. > :27:21.things no one else did and he was always a threat. Has that been

:27:22. > :27:26.tarnished by the way he is playing now? Maybe you lose that element of

:27:27. > :27:31.risk when you get older but also when you have had a serious injury

:27:32. > :27:35.it will be in the back of your mind? His athletic ability got him a long

:27:36. > :27:40.way, when you have been dependent upon that you have to develop other

:27:41. > :27:44.sides because ageing athletes will lose that ability and he has had a

:27:45. > :27:49.bad injury and it will take him some time. He is self-aware and smart

:27:50. > :27:54.enough to be able to do that. To say, I need to get better in certain

:27:55. > :27:58.areas if I want to keep my career as stellar as it has been. Talking

:27:59. > :28:01.about the game as a whole, before we go to the commentary team, you

:28:02. > :28:05.whispered that this would be a bruising encounter but for me most

:28:06. > :28:11.of them are! This will be on the next level. Wigan have four props on

:28:12. > :28:15.the bench and I think this will be physically carnage for the first 20

:28:16. > :28:21.minutes and I can't wait! I absolutely agree. Wigan, St Helens

:28:22. > :28:25.gave it to Wigan in the Derby in the middle, so I think Shaun Wane will

:28:26. > :28:30.have them pumped up to the max, and that is why the bench looks like

:28:31. > :28:36.that. But this is a massive team. It is built to be a stronger. Physical

:28:37. > :28:41.carnage and a stronger the game, that is on the way over the next 80

:28:42. > :28:46.minutes, the first Challenge Cup semifinal of the weekend here on the

:28:47. > :28:51.BBC, Wigan against Hull. Ryan Noble is on his way to join the commentary

:28:52. > :28:57.team, John Kear and Dave Woods. COMMENTATOR: Two of the game's

:28:58. > :29:00.heavyweights physically and metaphorically and there is a great

:29:01. > :29:05.noise inside the Keepmoat Stadium as well. Plenty of history shared by

:29:06. > :29:13.these two but it's all about the here and now. Keeping your nerve on

:29:14. > :29:18.the second biggest stage. In order to reach the most glamorous occasion

:29:19. > :29:26.of them all, the Challenge Cup final, just over a month away. Hull

:29:27. > :29:30.fans are here in huge numbers, Wigan fans less so. I think the travel

:29:31. > :29:35.across here has proved mightily difficult for a lot of them. Those

:29:36. > :29:41.who are here will be making 20 of noise will stop or at least they

:29:42. > :29:48.hope so. -- will be making plenty of noise. Sam Tomkins making his first

:29:49. > :29:50.Challenge Cup semifinal for a couple of years and Sean O'Loughlin is

:29:51. > :30:00.looking for yet another Challenge Cup vinyl appearance -- final

:30:01. > :30:06.appearance. And what about this mixture of local talent, imported

:30:07. > :30:12.pedigree, really have packed a punch this year in Super League. They and

:30:13. > :30:20.Wigan and Warrington tomorrow, still potential treble winners this year.

:30:21. > :30:30.This is the way they are lining up. Wigan first of all, the new signing

:30:31. > :31:01.and the winger Josh Charnley, both suspended. Tout

:31:02. > :31:05.That is a terrific pack of forwards. Plenty to come off the pitch as well

:31:06. > :31:15.nonetheless of which Frank Pritchard, who is up for nothing, is

:31:16. > :31:25.known as Cranky Frank. Lee Radford, born and bred, a proud

:31:26. > :31:30.coach in his home club. Thaler, the referee today taking

:31:31. > :31:39.charge. They peer through the South

:31:40. > :31:41.Yorkshire skies and with a little imagination you can just about see a

:31:42. > :31:45.glimpse of the Wembley sunshine. This will be a torrid 80 minutes to

:31:46. > :31:49.negotiate before these two sides can book their place in a Ladbrokes

:31:50. > :31:56.Challenge Cup final. What do we expect here? We expect

:31:57. > :32:00.Hull FC, outstanding physically w the guys in the middle taking them

:32:01. > :32:09.forward. They have clever half-backs behind them. I expect a heck of a

:32:10. > :32:21.contest from the Warriors as well. They will be equally as determined.

:32:22. > :32:24.That man who has kicked the ball has had an outstanding season with

:32:25. > :32:29.kicking the ball. This team will not be afraid of being in this Wigan

:32:30. > :32:31.team where they are now and keeping them here. This cherry and white

:32:32. > :32:42.team will have a huge crack. We expect face-to-face brutality.

:32:43. > :32:46.We have seen some confident touches by Hull in that opening set. What

:32:47. > :32:54.about Wigan here? They move deep inside their own half. We saw a

:32:55. > :33:01.great kick as well from Sneyd. This is tackled for and they have got out

:33:02. > :33:07.of their own 20 metres the Warriors. Hull doing their work defensively.

:33:08. > :33:11.Trying to extra kat his side from deep territory, with the Welsh

:33:12. > :33:18.National, back to Matty Smith, who is behind the 40-metre line.

:33:19. > :33:25.Here comes Michaels to return. A lot of this game, Dave, and for our

:33:26. > :33:38.viewers watching it will be about the back three and the full-back...

:33:39. > :33:41.Just on that angle. A terrific break from Tuimavave. This is a great

:33:42. > :33:48.start by Hull. They are looking confident at the early stages.

:33:49. > :33:56.Towards Fonua. In dummy half. It is taken here by Manu. Ellis trying to

:33:57. > :34:01.urge himself through that Wigan defence.

:34:02. > :34:10.Houghton goes right. Here comes Fonua. The Hull

:34:11. > :34:16.supporters are in terrific voice at the moment, as well they might B

:34:17. > :34:23.Sneyd will hang one up. The long arms of his will collect it safely

:34:24. > :34:28.and Wigan have it back again. What a magnificent catch from Sarginson.

:34:29. > :34:33.Carried on by this Hull FC side. This is 110 miles per hour.

:34:34. > :34:46.Just like Lee Road ford, a very proud and son... : Wigan born and

:34:47. > :34:50.bred. Wigan get a penalty. The rules of

:34:51. > :34:56.rugby league still apply to this game. You will not want to give away

:34:57. > :35:09.too many penalties when you are in the ascendancy physically.

:35:10. > :35:13.It with us a real let up for the Wigan Warriors.

:35:14. > :35:34.Two of the best packs in the game at the moment.

:35:35. > :35:37.I love it when the referee shouts, "Movement." The last thing you want

:35:38. > :35:44.to do when you have been belted that hard is move.

:35:45. > :35:57.John Bateman came in. He's a fine young athlete as well. Out it comes

:35:58. > :36:03.towards Willie Isa. A couple of tackles to go. Thompson

:36:04. > :36:10.with a lovely kick here. Shaul has to do some work. A

:36:11. > :36:15.terrific kick from Joel Tomkins. It has put Hull under pressure. All

:36:16. > :36:20.started with that penalty which gifted some field position. They

:36:21. > :36:27.asked questions during the set. A greasy surface thanked just allowed

:36:28. > :36:32.them to shepherd Shaul, for a repeat set. Clever play from the Warriors.

:36:33. > :36:37.A great kick from Tomkins. So here comes the drop and all

:36:38. > :36:44.things being equal, Wigan should have possession back again. It is a

:36:45. > :36:48.little fiddly from Tiernan-Locke's point of view. -- Tierney's point of

:36:49. > :36:58.view. Sutton... Sutton is very much up

:36:59. > :37:02.front today. I think the coach sees a victory in and around the middle

:37:03. > :37:06.there. He has four big front rowers on the bench. Everybody can go for

:37:07. > :37:11.broke in every stint they've got. He needs to manage his interchange very

:37:12. > :37:17.well. It is Smith who puts it back to Tiernan-Locke. And Wilson keeps

:37:18. > :37:27.ahold of it. This kick is over couped. Too many pre-match Weetabixs

:37:28. > :37:33.there. A little bit rushed because of the

:37:34. > :37:37.quality of his catch. Because Tomkins is great in field position

:37:38. > :37:43.and pressure, that has just let Hull off the hook, exactly as the penalty

:37:44. > :37:48.did earlier to the Wigan Warriors. You can feel the pressure. Each kick

:37:49. > :37:53.matters so much. They both have Wembley tradition. One wanted, one

:37:54. > :37:58.not wanted. Wigan 19 times Challenge Cup winners, which is a record.

:37:59. > :38:03.And Hull have had their moments in the sunshine. Three times winners.

:38:04. > :38:08.The last of those under the man on my right-hand side, that was in

:38:09. > :38:15.2005. In Cardiff. Hull fans are throwing things at the telly. Never

:38:16. > :38:20.at Wembley. Will this be the year they rewrite that in history? We

:38:21. > :38:26.shall see. Sneyd... That measured left foot into the corner and again

:38:27. > :38:31.that is just a very inteljept kick. This is going to be so important,

:38:32. > :38:38.the end of sets for both teams. We have seen great exacts with --

:38:39. > :38:43.examples with Tomkins. Pops the ball into the corner and just challenges

:38:44. > :38:49.Wigan. If you are going to score, fellas, you have 90 metres to do it.

:38:50. > :38:53.Something for our fewers is the Hull team are littered with Southsea

:38:54. > :39:01.islanders, Samoans and they burn a lot of energy quickly when they make

:39:02. > :39:08.breaks. That will allow them to keep their powerful prowess.

:39:09. > :39:13.Powell standing in that forwards position at the back of that pack.

:39:14. > :39:18.Tomkins... Not too much going on to his right-hand side, so he takes it

:39:19. > :39:31.in himself. It is wrestled, under control by those two Hull defenders.

:39:32. > :39:37.Bateman - some internal disciplinary reasons. That ball is lost and the

:39:38. > :39:43.referee says, knocked on. So, Hull get a victory here, a small victory.

:39:44. > :39:46.Well, they are staring each other down, aren't they. They are saying

:39:47. > :39:51.you bring it out from your own line. Are you going to make the error?

:39:52. > :39:57.Sarginson came one the error and that has given Hull a good field

:39:58. > :40:00.position. The first time Hull is starting a set inside the Wigan

:40:01. > :40:06.half. He was as tough as old boots, Lee

:40:07. > :40:11.Radford. Both coaches fit that profile when they were playing.

:40:12. > :40:16.You wouldn't want to cross either of them, really.

:40:17. > :40:22.Watts is held up. Cannot get the ball away. He and Taylor have had

:40:23. > :40:34.outstanding seasons in the front row for Hull this year. His initials, MF

:40:35. > :40:42.are on his front teeth, solid gold on his front teeth.

:40:43. > :40:52.The Hull players are under pressure. I think it is ten metres of poor

:40:53. > :40:55.tackles there. Tremendous defence. Houghton striding over Jonathan

:40:56. > :40:59.Tiernan-Locke to pick the ball and Sneyd offers it back in the middle

:41:00. > :41:04.again. A little flick away. Has kept it alive. So Jamie Shaul whose fleet

:41:05. > :41:08.of foot given half a chance and tantalise that Wigan defence. Solid

:41:09. > :41:15.work by Flower. Here comes the sixth tackle. They are unaring it.

:41:16. > :41:21.You would be happy with that, Brian, just turning the ball eight metres

:41:22. > :41:25.from the opposition line. You had a look at them putting the ball

:41:26. > :41:28.through the hands. I think Wigan will take a lot of confidence about

:41:29. > :41:36.how they pressured the Hull attack there as well.

:41:37. > :41:41.A couple of attackers here gone by Wigan. They look to bring it clear

:41:42. > :41:50.again. It is Gareth Ellis who has the

:41:51. > :41:56.player Michael, tonight. It is interesting to hear what he has to

:41:57. > :42:00.say during the game at full time here today and no doubt an extended

:42:01. > :42:05.version tomorrow during our coverage of the second semi-final. Warrington

:42:06. > :42:11.against Wakefield. A good kick. Only ten metres from their own line.

:42:12. > :42:15.An excellent kick from Matty Smith. Drills it to the corner. And

:42:16. > :42:18.interestingly, both teams walk to the scrum there, filling the, the

:42:19. > :42:24.lungs will be burning at this point in time. This is when the emotion,

:42:25. > :42:32.the adrenaline which has carried you through the first ten minutes starts

:42:33. > :42:36.to drain away a little bit. The first rendition of Old Faithful

:42:37. > :42:40.we have heard tonight. A great following, isn't there, from Hull

:42:41. > :42:46.FC. This competition in particular, they are in line for the treble.

:42:47. > :42:51.As we said earlier, as are Wigan and Warrington, as it stands. If you ask

:42:52. > :42:57.most Hull fans, if you could only win one, I think every man, woman

:42:58. > :43:03.and child would say, a Wembley victory, please. That is a penalty.

:43:04. > :43:12.A cute cookie this Houghton. He's been able to exploit his attacking

:43:13. > :43:16.prowess. Any time anyone half in position he picks out. Slow to

:43:17. > :43:21.retreat. Somebody not straight, so, thank you, Sir, we'll have a

:43:22. > :43:26.penalty. We have to applaud Fonua for the urgency on the floor to play

:43:27. > :43:29.that ball quickly. Here is Ellis, sticking his head where it hurts and

:43:30. > :43:34.trying to push another yard or two forward.

:43:35. > :43:38.Houghton, in at dummy half again. It is Watts who gets it away. It is

:43:39. > :43:44.Minichiello on that left-hand side. Got a fair step on him as well,

:43:45. > :43:50.hasn't he, Minichiello, enthe mood grabs him. A tough customer to deal

:43:51. > :43:55.with. Wait, wait.

:43:56. > :44:02.30 yards away. Sneyd. Taylor... Straightening things up.

:44:03. > :44:12.An honest endeavour. Matched equally by the defence of Wigan. Sneyd again

:44:13. > :44:16.now. It is into the line to Tuimavave. A tackle coming up. 12

:44:17. > :44:21.and half minutes played. Lifted high.

:44:22. > :44:26.Up go the jumps and the leaps. It comes down to Shaul. Shaul will put

:44:27. > :44:34.the kick towards that goal area. Bateman has it. Can he get there?

:44:35. > :44:39.No, he can't. Great effort. The drop out underneath the sticks.

:44:40. > :44:42.Tremendous player, Houghton. The position he plays him and the

:44:43. > :44:47.energy, and he makes that kick there, it is a decent kick, but it

:44:48. > :44:53.is Houghton's effort there, in the chase, that pens Bateman in the

:44:54. > :44:59.in-goal area. That effort has turned Hull FC another six tackles. Bateman

:45:00. > :45:04.stuck his fist into his face. He had to go there. Been, he went. Shaul

:45:05. > :45:13.should have made the tackle, didn't make the tackle. I'll help you out.

:45:14. > :45:18.I'll make it for you. When that tackle happened, they looked at each

:45:19. > :45:21.other, the coaches, with the expression of two coaches who have

:45:22. > :45:26.seen something very good on a rugby field.

:45:27. > :45:38.Here winding himself up comes Scott Taylor.

:45:39. > :45:43.Another thing, I think Tiernan-Locke is the preferred kick option.

:45:44. > :45:47.Danny Houghton in again. A tireless role that any dummy half

:45:48. > :45:51.has to play. You have to be there, or most I will be there.

:45:52. > :45:58.Wigan will get a much welcome head and feet at the scrum here. I think

:45:59. > :46:03.that is a fair call. I think he got away with one, maybe five minutes

:46:04. > :46:10.ago he got away with one. Timing, just not right. Tuimavave clearly

:46:11. > :46:17.passes the ball forward. An interesting choice there. How

:46:18. > :46:21.much of a quandary would Radford have been in that standoff position.

:46:22. > :46:25.Leon Pryce doesn't seem to be favoured at the moment, but loads of

:46:26. > :46:30.experience and the young player has fitted in.

:46:31. > :46:33.How much of a quand dri is that? Every coach for every team

:46:34. > :46:37.selection, you want to make sure you get it right and you mull things

:46:38. > :46:43.over in your mind before you make that choice. They are very confident

:46:44. > :46:51.in Tuimavave. They feel he's the stand-off half for the future.

:46:52. > :46:58.That is Isa, who is put down as they move it right and Sarginson.

:46:59. > :47:03.He's on his way at the end of the season, goes to the NRL.

:47:04. > :47:07.A penalty here for Wigan. It will take them with a kick inside their

:47:08. > :47:14.opponent's half. I think that was a lazy penalty.

:47:15. > :47:18.Again for our viewers, back end of the set, you think they will kick,

:47:19. > :47:21.his arm slips off the ball. To be fair, I think he's trying to wrap

:47:22. > :47:25.the ball up. Maybe a bit of a tough call. It is as well, there is an

:47:26. > :47:29.element of 15 minutes gone now. There is just that element of

:47:30. > :47:34.fatigue that's creeping into some of these big fellas. Sort of their sort

:47:35. > :47:49.of techniques. There's Smith. Tiernan-Locke...

:47:50. > :48:00.-- O' Loughlin. Spinning forward.

:48:01. > :48:06.Powell... Wilson. Left footstep. Taken in by Gareth Ellis. All the

:48:07. > :48:10.guys emphasised how goodwill will was running, but not when you have

:48:11. > :48:14.Gareth Ellis opposite you. Don't run at him.

:48:15. > :48:21.Flower goes down ten metres. Powell picks up. Here comes Wilson again,

:48:22. > :48:27.who is up to the line and reaches. Has he got that down? The try is

:48:28. > :48:32.given. Well, full marks to George Williams. Stopped by Ellis, the play

:48:33. > :48:38.before and then the very next play, he finds a way through to score the

:48:39. > :48:43.opening try of the semi-final. A brilliant try from George Williams.

:48:44. > :48:48.Tip to the commentary team, if I run when I want to run, I'll get over

:48:49. > :48:53.the line. Is he going to pass? Is he going to run? That is the threat.

:48:54. > :48:56.Ellis doesn't get there and grab him by the legs because of his hip

:48:57. > :49:01.strength. Well played, George Williams. Threatens to pass every

:49:02. > :49:09.good half-back, be an ability and run with the ball. He's done both

:49:10. > :49:13.there. How does he play? It is a massive credit. The last time he

:49:14. > :49:19.played the ball he got wall lopped. Did that win him one i ot the? No.

:49:20. > :49:24.Next time, the ball in two hands, the doubt of the pass and over he

:49:25. > :49:27.goes. -- iota.

:49:28. > :49:29.No. Next time the ball in two hands and the doubt of the pass and over

:49:30. > :49:38.he goes. Matty Smith with a chance to add to

:49:39. > :49:45.the two here. One of the many in this Wigan side who played in

:49:46. > :49:51.Wembley finals. He won a trophy in 2013, didn't he, Matty Smith?

:49:52. > :49:58.Against Hull. Well, this could prove crucial. The goal kicking. He's got

:49:59. > :50:02.a fantastic kick rate and Smith needs to nail these. It is one of

:50:03. > :50:09.those betweens here. Just that awkward angle.

:50:10. > :50:16.Matty Smith would back himself to kick this most times.

:50:17. > :50:22.Aiming at the far post. Curls it in. It is superbly struck and Wigan lead

:50:23. > :50:26.here by six points to nil. I am impressed with what the Wigan

:50:27. > :50:30.Warriors have done. Carrying the ball to the line. The quick run

:50:31. > :50:38.didn't allow the Hull defensive line to come in. All of a sudden they had

:50:39. > :50:42.the cards in George William's hands. He played them sensibly.

:50:43. > :50:49.He had Fonua guessing he might be passing. He had to hang out on

:50:50. > :50:55.Ellis. As you say, John, really smart play from the half.

:50:56. > :51:01.From dummy half goes Powell. Penalty again.

:51:02. > :51:04.Well, there's been a fair old storm that Wigan have weathered.

:51:05. > :51:08.And it looks like they have come through the other side and they are

:51:09. > :51:10.just getting a few penalties now and building that pressure. Obviously

:51:11. > :51:20.they have turned the score board. Isa. Isa slamming it in. 40 yards to

:51:21. > :51:26.go for Wigan. 40 yards to defend for Hull. Five tackles remaining. Here

:51:27. > :51:34.comes Flower. He's dropped it. Dropped it cold, the referee says.

:51:35. > :51:36.This is an advantage play. He'll play on from here. Six tackles

:51:37. > :51:46.start from here. A big tackle. Wigan have it back.

:51:47. > :51:52.Bateman on that right-hand side. Well... It is greasy out there and

:51:53. > :51:57.they are whacking into each other with some intensity. Jamie Shaul got

:51:58. > :52:01.splattered by Ben Flower in the middle. He dropped the ball. In

:52:02. > :52:07.advantage to Wigan, so they come back after the free play.

:52:08. > :52:15.There's Flower there. Lost the ball. It was backwards. It was the knockon

:52:16. > :52:20.and this one, wall lop, it is Flower trying to make up, atone for his

:52:21. > :52:24.error. My word, he did. He's won possession back for his team.

:52:25. > :52:30.It is very greasy out there, just for our viewers. It looks quite nice

:52:31. > :52:36.for a game of football, but the ground is extremely greasy. This is

:52:37. > :52:40.Matty Smith. And red in defence by Yeaman. He

:52:41. > :52:46.came flying out. Might have lost a bit of pace. In his mellowing years,

:52:47. > :52:51.shall we say? He has not lost his ability to read those defensive

:52:52. > :52:59.moments. Two tackles gone here. Wigan encroaching. It is a risky

:53:00. > :53:04.pass. Tomkins will collect. Wigan in possession and moving it. Bateman...

:53:05. > :53:09.Takes the tackle. He's a strong man is Bateman. 20 away. Sarginson.

:53:10. > :53:19.Searching down that right-hand side. Manu... Pushing them off and away

:53:20. > :53:26.they go. Last tack until the set.

:53:27. > :53:32.Smith. The chasers are after it. But taken on the ground. Taken on the

:53:33. > :53:36.ground by Liam Watts. That was a terrific diving catch. There are

:53:37. > :53:40.some black jumpers out there blowing. Their energy system is low

:53:41. > :53:45.because of the system they have jumped into. They are comfortable.

:53:46. > :53:50.We have Hull rattled here. Hull just looking to survive this

:53:51. > :53:56.set and get themselves downfield, I am sure.

:53:57. > :54:08.Manu... Taken on again, a stride or two by Green.

:54:09. > :54:14.On the field from the interchange bench. A sixth tackle coming up.

:54:15. > :54:20.Sneyd looks for distance, but it is straight down the throat of Joel

:54:21. > :54:25.Tomkins. Now Tierney. Let's hear from the

:54:26. > :54:29.touchline. Robbie, what are you thinking? I have just got to admire

:54:30. > :54:34.everything about Wigan at this point in time. They went straight into

:54:35. > :54:38.attack. They got to the back end, they got a kick away and Hull FC,

:54:39. > :54:42.turned the ball over to Hull FC. They went straight into defence.

:54:43. > :54:47.They players are barred up. Right in the middle. Right out of the blocks

:54:48. > :54:52.really, really quickly. Coma what is fantastic is they force Hull FC with

:54:53. > :54:56.all the strike power they have from the 30 metre line. It is impressive

:54:57. > :55:02.everything that Wigan is doing at the moment. What Robbie was saying t

:55:03. > :55:05.fact that Ryan Sutton was trying to run with his shirt pulled over his

:55:06. > :55:11.eyes. He couldn't see what he was doing there. It is the BFG. He

:55:12. > :55:13.doesn't know where he's going. He's going in the right direction,

:55:14. > :55:19.anyway. Go that way. Uses sound bites.

:55:20. > :55:23.And then he dropped it after all that.

:55:24. > :55:35.I am not sure he's looking at that again with any humour.

:55:36. > :55:42.18 minutes of the first half remaining. 6-0 Wigan lead. Hull in

:55:43. > :55:49.possession. You can see the territory of possession so far.

:55:50. > :55:53.Wigan have been dominating that. It is even Stephens, really. Hull

:55:54. > :55:58.will need 50% of possession, I believe, to win this game. Ellis to

:55:59. > :56:02.Sneyd. Here come the run of Minichiello, who steps away from a

:56:03. > :56:09.couple of defenders. He takes some stopping, but he is stopped.

:56:10. > :56:15.Sneyd again. Puts the left foot double kick

:56:16. > :56:18.through. Taken very, very well. That was tremendous and a kick on the

:56:19. > :56:22.third tackle as well. Oh, Sarginson has dropped it.

:56:23. > :56:26.Well, he is shouting at his team-mates, he might want to look

:56:27. > :56:33.around because Hull are attacking. Sure.

:56:34. > :56:37.A push by Manu. What a gift this is for Hull FC in terms of possession

:56:38. > :56:46.and position. Taylor... ... Stoutly driving it

:56:47. > :56:51.forward. Danny Houghton, stands and waits and now collects and goes to

:56:52. > :56:55.his right. The door remains firmly shut.

:56:56. > :57:07.Houghton... Skipping it left. Sneyd again.

:57:08. > :57:08.It is another Hull penalty. They are occupying time on this

:57:09. > :57:18.Wigan line. This is a real test for the

:57:19. > :57:25.Warriors. A repeat set defending your own line.

:57:26. > :57:27.It is normally a penalty try tlarks is what we are told. Can Hull

:57:28. > :57:34.deliver on that? Shaul is not sure which way he's

:57:35. > :57:37.going. He decides to take his man on.

:57:38. > :57:41.Wigan's defence looks well organised at the moment against this Hull

:57:42. > :57:45.threatening with their big people and, I can not help thinking that

:57:46. > :57:50.Sneyd may be the answer here with one of his kicks.

:57:51. > :57:55.Danny Houghton is going to have to be patient here.

:57:56. > :58:06.What is he doing? Chris Green has got up... I think he's... He's taken

:58:07. > :58:09.a knock to the head here, I think. Let me sort this out, guys.

:58:10. > :58:24.I don't think he knows what is it. This is the hit. It is this one

:58:25. > :58:29.there. As he's going down he's fallen into

:58:30. > :58:31.the arm of Flower. I think that was accidental. No intent at all in

:58:32. > :58:36.that. Did he think that the referee had

:58:37. > :58:40.given a penalty then? Or was he nonplussed? I think he was

:58:41. > :58:46.nonplussed. He has given a penalty. There is a way to win a penalty. It

:58:47. > :58:50.took the replay to get it. Assume you have been given a penalty and

:58:51. > :58:54.the referee might give it to you. Oh, that is a penalty, Sir. What

:58:55. > :58:57.for? Look at the screen. Take it, two points.

:58:58. > :59:01.They are going for goal. On the head as he is going down.

:59:02. > :59:04.They have reviewed it. It is an interesting decision, isn't

:59:05. > :59:13.it, by Hull FC Here's the penalty and there is

:59:14. > :59:18.contact with the head. There is. So that is the penalty. It is

:59:19. > :59:24.interesting taking the two - it is a give me two points and it will get

:59:25. > :59:29.the score board ticking at long last for Hull FC. That indicates that the

:59:30. > :59:38.black and whites think it will be a very, very, very close game.

:59:39. > :59:45.I was tempted to say that they should get it rolling and get two

:59:46. > :59:51.here. Right, boys, we need to get our system going because Wigan are

:59:52. > :59:58.looking more comfortable than we do. Not quite as exaggerated as it

:59:59. > :00:04.sometimes is. The roar of the Hull fans which they have adopted this

:00:05. > :00:11.year as he keeps banging them over. Hull finally have their share of the

:00:12. > :00:15.party with two points. Interesting because there was a sustained period

:00:16. > :00:23.of pressure from Hull FC. There might be a glimmer in the Wigan

:00:24. > :00:29.ranks thinking, these guys can't break us down. That kick bounces a

:00:30. > :00:36.little awkwardly. He takes it in comfortably enough. The way back is

:00:37. > :00:47.led by Scott Taylor. Here comes Chris Green. Taylor will want this,

:00:48. > :00:51.being a former Wigan player. Getting a Wembley foothold for Hull would be

:00:52. > :00:58.much sweeter, but of course he would say that. He is a Hull lad.

:00:59. > :01:09.Minichiello has done really well to get that ball away. Manu will ride

:01:10. > :01:13.the big chest beat from O'Loughlin. Fonua is still going. They take some

:01:14. > :01:18.stopping, don't they? 40 yards further downfield and Wigan thought

:01:19. > :01:23.they should have gone. Minichiello down the left-hand side and he steps

:01:24. > :01:32.back in again. One tackle in the set to go. Hull are 20 metres away.

:01:33. > :01:39.Sneyd again with a familiar routine. The high kick. Fonua knocks it back

:01:40. > :01:48.and it is still the sixth tackle. Michaels runs it back to the middle.

:01:49. > :01:51.Sneyd thinks about kicking and eventually does, that is a delicate

:01:52. > :01:56.kick and that is really good and Tomkins has to be at his best to

:01:57. > :02:02.knock it away. Well played by Marc Sneyd, that was dead, but it gets to

:02:03. > :02:08.this man, and it is tracked down by Matty Smith and he thinks, I will

:02:09. > :02:18.stick this on my toe. Clean ball and Tomkins bats it out. Does he? I'm

:02:19. > :02:21.pretty sure, that is the word to describe that celebration from the

:02:22. > :02:25.Hull fans. That was a heck of a celebration. Kicking it with such

:02:26. > :02:30.great weight when you are running at great speed, that is a good skill.

:02:31. > :02:37.There is a discussion going on because I think Sam Tomkins is

:02:38. > :02:41.trying to persuade the referee that it was Sneyd's touch that put it

:02:42. > :02:45.behind but they are not going to the video refs. He does have the option

:02:46. > :02:49.but Ben Thaler is convinced that his naked eye was accurate enough. Here

:02:50. > :03:04.comes Taylor. Six or seven minutes, these past six

:03:05. > :03:07.or seven minutes have really been Hull's, haven't they? They have

:03:08. > :03:12.cranked it up and really asked questions. The Cherry and Whites

:03:13. > :03:20.have stood up to it. I agree with that. Shaul comes back, charging in.

:03:21. > :03:26.Brought down by Sarginson. Steps away. Taylor. Ellis comes in on the

:03:27. > :03:34.angle and the step and gets over the top of Tomkins and his arm is long

:03:35. > :03:42.enough to reach of the line, or is it? Because the referee is putting

:03:43. > :03:47.the square in the air. No try. That is short. Let's hear from the video

:03:48. > :03:59.referee. We are at tackle three. We are

:04:00. > :04:04.checking the grounding. First of all we have to make sure he keeps hold

:04:05. > :04:12.of the ball and secondly that he hits the line. The live decision is

:04:13. > :04:16.no try. That looks short. There is green in between that but I can't

:04:17. > :04:21.quite see. Let's look at it from the side, that might be closer. As slow

:04:22. > :04:28.as we can, please. He is still in possession. Still in possession and

:04:29. > :04:39.he still has hold of the ball as it comes down. That looks like it is

:04:40. > :04:43.short. Keep it rolling, please. He moves it forward but I can't prove

:04:44. > :04:50.it is on the line. Keep it going. He brings the ball back now. Yes, one

:04:51. > :05:02.more. It looks short so far. He definitely has possession. That

:05:03. > :05:08.looks short. Can you take that one back and can I have that one slowly?

:05:09. > :05:12.Frame by frame. He initially does not ground the ball, it is short,

:05:13. > :05:20.and he is allowed to move the ball as long as it stays in his hand. It

:05:21. > :05:30.is definitely short there. I can't definitely see this on the line.

:05:31. > :05:34.This is the one I will need. If you can pause that, it is about three

:05:35. > :05:37.frames before where it touches the line. I'm not convinced he has

:05:38. > :05:44.definitely touched it and the live decision is no try. I have do have

:05:45. > :05:56.sufficient evidence to prove it has touched the line. OK. Right, that

:05:57. > :06:00.looks short. That looks short. If that's all we've got, I'm going to

:06:01. > :06:10.go no try. I cannot prove that it has actually touched the line. It

:06:11. > :06:16.will be tackle 4. Well, millimetres. We keep throwing up some difficult

:06:17. > :06:24.video decisions! I thought we were at Wimbledon, then. It came off the

:06:25. > :06:28.boot of one of the defenders. No try but it is still Hull in possession,

:06:29. > :06:33.there was no double movement, so they still have an attacking

:06:34. > :06:39.opportunity. Sneyd with a short pass, forward pass. The referee has

:06:40. > :06:44.already blown. They won't have a free play. A bit of a damp finish.

:06:45. > :06:53.After a lot of excitement. Great break by Ellis. The referee was bang

:06:54. > :06:58.on. That was miles forward. Kirk Yeaman, there. You were talking

:06:59. > :07:03.about the effect of the injury. It has not affected his defensive work,

:07:04. > :07:08.tremendous defence, Gareth Ellis coming at you fulltilt, five metres

:07:09. > :07:13.from the line, you need to be brave and technically effective to make

:07:14. > :07:20.the tackle. Buying on. He nails it. Absolutely nailed it. Sarginson. He

:07:21. > :07:24.was put down 15 from his own line as Wigan begin the tough task of

:07:25. > :07:32.getting as far downfield as they can. Having survived a real spell of

:07:33. > :07:40.pressure. Having only survived by the width of a fingernail. I wonder

:07:41. > :07:47.what Leon Pryce, who is not playing today, is thinking about this. Leon,

:07:48. > :07:51.you felt that it was a try? Yes, a lookalike a try from where I was but

:07:52. > :07:55.eventually it looked as though it did touch the line but if they have

:07:56. > :08:00.their doubts it has gone against us. How do you break down this

:08:01. > :08:05.formidable defence? It is about patience and field position. It is

:08:06. > :08:15.going to be tough. Wigan are a good team. There's a surprise. They

:08:16. > :08:24.needed that penalty, there. They got back the late. Talanoa thought it

:08:25. > :08:29.was going... Off he goes. He takes them all by surprise and gets

:08:30. > :08:36.another penalty for a high tackle. The small things change big games.

:08:37. > :08:41.That was like a double result, like he played his joker. He will be very

:08:42. > :08:50.disappointed with his Wigan side, Shaun Wane. They switched off and

:08:51. > :08:58.turned their back on Porton. -- Haughton. He got a penalty on the

:08:59. > :09:05.back of that. They will be starting 35 or 40 metres away from the Wigan

:09:06. > :09:12.line. That is the territory. It has gone some distance Hull's way. It

:09:13. > :09:15.certainly has. You have two Pat Wigan on the back for their

:09:16. > :09:21.defensive efforts. They have been strong defensively, Wigan. It will

:09:22. > :09:25.be a kick play or one of those enterprising little plays, they will

:09:26. > :09:32.have to be really good to get over the line here, Hull. Haughton goes

:09:33. > :09:38.out from dummy half and here comes Frank Prichard. He loses it forward

:09:39. > :09:45.according to the referee. That is a marginal decision that can sometimes

:09:46. > :09:49.go with you or against you. You know, that is the Wigan player

:09:50. > :09:55.Mossop, and when he touches that, they have to do better than that. It

:09:56. > :09:59.was good contact, though, good shoulder contact, just under the

:10:00. > :10:03.ball. A couple of times they have forced it out with that technique.

:10:04. > :10:05.It is greasy and when you are carrying the ball and you hit

:10:06. > :10:15.underneath you are going to get your rewards. Lovely shoulder contact and

:10:16. > :10:20.it was a knock-on. It came out of his hands and went forward and hit

:10:21. > :10:37.him on the head before coming back. Sarginson.

:10:38. > :10:43.They start five yards inside the Hull half, leading as they do 6-2

:10:44. > :10:50.with eight minutes of the half remaining. It remains tight, but

:10:51. > :10:52.it's worth reminding you that it's a golden point extra time if it is all

:10:53. > :11:05.square after 80 minutes. Tomkins is stepping, tantalising,

:11:06. > :11:14.weaving, Mossop, ducking and dodging. Good hit by the Hull

:11:15. > :11:21.defence again. This is Matty Smith, talking to him on his inside. That

:11:22. > :11:27.is a good tackle by Prichard. Bateman goes out at dummy half.

:11:28. > :11:34.Mossop. That is five and here come the rest. Wigan underneath the Hull

:11:35. > :11:39.sticks. Williams throws a lovely pass and it is finished. That is a

:11:40. > :11:48.forward pass! The pass from Williams deserved better but it was the last

:11:49. > :11:52.pass the Tierney that was forward. Wigan have done them, somebody got

:11:53. > :11:58.it wrong in the Hull defence, they got up in numbers. It was Williams

:11:59. > :12:05.changing pace again. It was this one inside. He has missed it by a mile.

:12:06. > :12:10.They got lucky, there, Hull. What a great last tackle by Williams. We

:12:11. > :12:12.spoke about his running game in the build-up, and the indication was

:12:13. > :12:21.that he has improved his passing game. That smacked around the melon

:12:22. > :12:25.that Gareth Ellis gave him earlier... Minichiello. Shaking off

:12:26. > :12:43.those defenders. Haughton is going across and looking

:12:44. > :12:50.for a way past Thomson. There they come again. There is more space here

:12:51. > :12:54.for Michaels. Shaul on his inside. This is Shaul. A very good tackle.

:12:55. > :13:01.Hull have got momentum and they have to use it. He puts in a kick but I'm

:13:02. > :13:08.not sure what that was and his team-mates didn't know what it was.

:13:09. > :13:12.I will give another rap to Sam Tomkins defensively. He got that

:13:13. > :13:16.tackle around the legs and got back for the kick, that is how much work

:13:17. > :13:27.he was doing and it is those little things that will win you semifinals.

:13:28. > :13:38.Busby is another who is a recent arrival from the interchange bench.

:13:39. > :13:45.Dominic Busby. Busby again. Crosby! Crosby, sorry, I always confuse

:13:46. > :13:53.that. I know someone called Dominic Busby! I do apologise. I was going

:13:54. > :13:57.down the list and I was confused! I thought they had signed another

:13:58. > :14:11.player. Apologies to Dominic Crosby! CHUCKLES

:14:12. > :14:16.Moving it forward. Here is Tuimavave. Doing well again. Four

:14:17. > :14:23.and a half minutes of the half remaining.

:14:24. > :14:31.Manu is told to play the ball where he was. He has beaten a couple of

:14:32. > :14:39.yards forward. Prichard gets the pass away. Here comes the six as

:14:40. > :14:45.Hatton throws it left and Sneyd spirals it high in the air. Tomkins

:14:46. > :14:53.takes it. That was a great catch. He is having a great game. Defensively

:14:54. > :14:58.playing outstandingly well. Good work by the Hull defence. They

:14:59. > :15:04.turned the screw. A bit of naivete by the youngster, there. The tackle

:15:05. > :15:08.was won, get it out of your own half, you don't go around the

:15:09. > :15:14.outside and give them an opportunity to roll you into touch. Stay on the

:15:15. > :15:17.island. It's a greasy floor. We highlighted this in the pre-match

:15:18. > :15:27.build-up about what they are trying to do. Getting you near the

:15:28. > :15:31.sideline, this Hull team. Except for Hull FC, because they have had a

:15:32. > :15:38.fair amount of possession and territory, and a big set for Wigan

:15:39. > :15:44.because if they can keep Hull FC without a try that will be a big

:15:45. > :15:52.feather in their cap. The Wigan party there, sitting just in front

:15:53. > :15:54.of Shaun Wane. Chris Rennard Lynn is the famous for the 2002 rattling ski

:15:55. > :16:11.final. There he is. Here is Thompson. Ten

:16:12. > :16:21.metres away from that Wigan line. It's Sneyd. Going through the hands,

:16:22. > :16:27.Minichiello is testing them again. Held up, very, very close. Dropping

:16:28. > :16:42.its back on the inside. Wigan are working very hard again.

:16:43. > :16:46.This is Haughton. Sneyd pokes it through. It is cleared away.

:16:47. > :16:50.Absolutely fantastic defence once again from the Wigan Warriors. They

:16:51. > :16:55.are being tested but they are working so hard, and the pressure

:16:56. > :16:59.they are putting on Hull FC is tremendous. That's how confident

:17:00. > :17:05.they are in their defensive structure and system and desire,

:17:06. > :17:12.tapping the ball out and saying, you have got another set but you had to

:17:13. > :17:16.break down this tremendous defence. You may have just seen Brian Noble

:17:17. > :17:24.walking behind Lavender for the half-time analysis.

:17:25. > :17:32.I'm sure that Shaun Wane would not have noticed. Matty Smith's

:17:33. > :17:41.drop-kick clearance. Here is Thompson. Good drop out as well.

:17:42. > :17:48.Plenty of distance and a good chase. He has dropped that. Towards the

:17:49. > :17:53.touch judge on the near side, Tony Martin, one of the most experienced

:17:54. > :17:59.touch judges in the game. Just confirming what the referee was

:18:00. > :18:02.already thinking. Stone cold, there. Trying to play the ball, you have to

:18:03. > :18:07.be ever so careful in conditions like this, you might have to just

:18:08. > :18:12.take that extra bit of time to make sure that you bring the ball back

:18:13. > :18:22.into play legally. Jordan Thompson didn't. I am certain he will look

:18:23. > :18:26.after the ball for this set. It is a reflection of the level of fatigue

:18:27. > :18:29.for both sides, they packed the scrum, neither side could stop the

:18:30. > :18:35.clock but neither side have wanted to. They just want to carry on Mike

:18:36. > :18:42.this until half-time. This has been a proper semifinal, it really has.

:18:43. > :18:48.The quality of play has been exceptional, the quality of defence

:18:49. > :18:50.has been absolutely brilliant. It's a true competition. They have

:18:51. > :19:14.brought the best out of each other. Trying to rip a hole in the Hull

:19:15. > :19:20.defence. Smith has got Tomkins out there who has forced a pasta. It

:19:21. > :19:27.goes to ground and this is danger because it is picked up by Hull.

:19:28. > :19:31.There were men in the way. It could go the distance. There is a chance

:19:32. > :19:40.here. There is only 15 seconds left to play. This will be the last play

:19:41. > :19:44.of the half, you would fancy. Thompson third is it forward again.

:19:45. > :19:51.Can he get to his feet to release this ball? The hooter sounds and the

:19:52. > :19:56.referee has a lot and say s play ends now. Williams was the only try

:19:57. > :20:03.scorer but what a try. Smith with the goal. Sneyd with the goal and

:20:04. > :20:07.Ellis having one ruled out. Johnson is on the sidelines with Sean

:20:08. > :20:12.O'Loughlin. The Wigan captain, are you happy with that performance?

:20:13. > :20:15.Ever so tight. A similar performance from both sides. A few errors and

:20:16. > :20:22.turned over the ball in good field positions. Frustrated not to be

:20:23. > :20:27.further ahead? Given the chance for Tierney that was disallowed. Yes, we

:20:28. > :20:31.keep getting the ball in those kinds of positions and we feel as though

:20:32. > :20:36.we will get more chances. Kirk Yeaman is with me, what do you have

:20:37. > :20:40.to do to get back in the game? Slow the ball down a bit. It is moving a

:20:41. > :20:47.bit fast that the minute. We need to give ourselves a chance. Wigan were

:20:48. > :20:52.tough to break down? Both of us have been pretty solid. We will see how

:20:53. > :20:57.it works out in the second half. Thank you. Let's take a look at some

:20:58. > :21:00.of the facts from the match in the first half. Hull have had more

:21:01. > :21:09.possession and territory. Wigan have made a dozen more tackles

:21:10. > :21:17.than their counterparts on the other side. When Kirk Yeaman says, the

:21:18. > :21:22.defence has been pretty solid, is he underplaying what both defences have

:21:23. > :21:26.done in the first half? They have not been outstanding, particularly

:21:27. > :21:30.Wigan, they coughed up a lot of cheap ball and Hull were

:21:31. > :21:37.consistently attacking. They kept turning up for each other. Normally

:21:38. > :21:44.when Hull dominate possession, it could be 24-0 to Hull. But look at

:21:45. > :21:50.the stats, this is the thing about statistical analysis in sport, Hull

:21:51. > :21:53.have dominated every Fassett, every number, they have dominated. They

:21:54. > :21:56.have had a lot of possession and all these things but Wigan have had

:21:57. > :22:04.doggy determination to defend their line. We will talk about the chances

:22:05. > :22:08.no doubt but Wigan has been a standout in this game. And it has

:22:09. > :22:15.been for a number of years. Paralysis by analysis sometimes.

:22:16. > :22:20.Wigan were a bit more controlled, a bit less frantic. They have not

:22:21. > :22:24.quite executed. These guys will tell you, you have do take your

:22:25. > :22:31.opportunities, I'm talking about the early miss. You have to capitalise

:22:32. > :22:33.on those. Wigan and Sam Tomkins particularly have been superb in

:22:34. > :22:39.regrouping and finding themselves way down there. When the weather is

:22:40. > :22:43.like this be easiest way to break down the team is to run the ball. I

:22:44. > :22:48.think Hull if they have been guilty of anything is trying to play around

:22:49. > :22:53.Wigan, playing with the ball a bit too much. It has been a great half.

:22:54. > :22:58.Wigan are still be only ones to cross the white line. The advantage

:22:59. > :23:03.for them is they got field position from the high tackle first of all.

:23:04. > :23:06.It is one of those nights where discipline is important, giving away

:23:07. > :23:11.a penalty now in the Challenge Cup, that is a kick downfield, and what

:23:12. > :23:15.impressed me was George Williams took the ball and Gareth Ellis

:23:16. > :23:21.dominated him. I have been hit with one of those tackles and they hurt,

:23:22. > :23:25.trust me! He comes back at him even though he is a small guy. You can

:23:26. > :23:30.tell he wants the ball because all of the players get around him like

:23:31. > :23:35.they want. He has one thing in his mind, to run. It takes advantage of

:23:36. > :23:41.Hull being passive, they don't get far enough away from the try line.

:23:42. > :23:48.This is where he is dangerous. Absolutely. The first responsibility

:23:49. > :23:55.as a half-backs is to be a threat with the ball because it puts doubt

:23:56. > :24:02.in the mind. Tuimavave doesn't know if he is going to run. Generally

:24:03. > :24:06.when you are defending you don't expect a half-backs to be tackled

:24:07. > :24:12.twice. He had his teeth rattled on the first one as well. If you are

:24:13. > :24:16.the defender opposite, you think, he is coming once or twice but he's

:24:17. > :24:22.definitely not going to come back but that's exactly what he did. It

:24:23. > :24:27.was a really talented piece of play. As you know, it's not my job to

:24:28. > :24:33.praise you, but you actually prove job point at the start about his

:24:34. > :24:36.speed and strength. In my most patronising voice, well done to you

:24:37. > :24:42.all! Let's take a look at a couple of missed opportunities. Starting

:24:43. > :24:45.with Gareth Ellis. This is a great ball by Scott Taylor, outstanding

:24:46. > :24:50.this year because of his physical prowess but look at the ball skills.

:24:51. > :24:58.Plenty of options. You expect him to do this. You expect Gareth to score.

:24:59. > :25:04.He will be upset that it's not a score. It's a great tackle by

:25:05. > :25:08.Tomkins. This is a big play. This should be a try. Sam gets his body

:25:09. > :25:13.in the way. You expect him to reach out and score but it's just short.

:25:14. > :25:18.They are fantastic at defending Merrin line, this is when they loved

:25:19. > :25:22.vulnerable. They got it a bit wrong. You think that Gareth Ellis does not

:25:23. > :25:29.have a grip on the ball and he wants to reach out. Look at his face,

:25:30. > :25:34.devastated. He got up and played the ball, thinking, we will get on with

:25:35. > :25:38.this. I remember another big forward doing a sidestep and getting over

:25:39. > :25:46.from there. Do you remember that? Clearly! Tierney with a no try? What

:25:47. > :25:49.can we say? Forward pass, I don't know what we say. Williams has done

:25:50. > :25:59.brilliantly, getting the ball into his hands. It's a forward pass. We

:26:00. > :26:03.spoke about the threat from Williams as a runner, he has run and run. The

:26:04. > :26:07.sign of a great half-backs is understanding when you have done a

:26:08. > :26:12.job on the defence and the defence are expecting him to run. Fonua has

:26:13. > :26:18.gone and Williams, this young kid has gone, and to deal with that he

:26:19. > :26:21.has been aggressive but Williams, I think it's an amazing sign for a

:26:22. > :26:25.young half-backs, he threw the ball with a perfect pass and it's

:26:26. > :26:32.forward, but the decision is impressive. It is the magnitude of

:26:33. > :26:34.the game, this is not a run-of-the-mill Super League game.

:26:35. > :26:38.It is a semifinal where he has stepped up and scored a try and

:26:39. > :26:43.created one. It should have been one. He makes an important point

:26:44. > :26:48.about taking your opportunities at this level, there won't be many

:26:49. > :26:52.more. Maybe towards the back end if it breaks up and it can do, but I

:26:53. > :26:59.think it will be really tight. We saw Gareth Ellis who will be kicking

:27:00. > :27:03.himself badly, but then the poor execution, Gildart, and Fonua jumps

:27:04. > :27:06.out the line. They have done that, Williams has done that before. He's

:27:07. > :27:14.got the ball into hands. Brilliant play. How much do you praise the

:27:15. > :27:19.Wigan defence and how much do you say that Hull haven't taken their

:27:20. > :27:25.chances? It's a fine line? Hull have had good field position but have not

:27:26. > :27:27.taken advantage. Having said that Wigan have defended well. Hull have

:27:28. > :27:35.come out with some errors and looked ineffective barring the try stop

:27:36. > :27:41.Hull are breaking tackles but as soon as they do there is another red

:27:42. > :27:45.shirt there and that is their desire, you can't relation that in

:27:46. > :27:50.the stats, the grit and desire and determination to win. The Hull

:27:51. > :27:55.kicking game has been great. Marc Sneyd has been fantastic. They need

:27:56. > :27:59.to make sure that some of these plays stick in the Wigan end, when

:28:00. > :28:04.you get position it is so important to get to the end of your sets to

:28:05. > :28:06.tire out the opposition. Really take the gas out of them and then

:28:07. > :28:10.Williams and Kayal aren't as effective when they have the ball,

:28:11. > :28:15.you are letting them off the hook by dropping it. This can be a stressful

:28:16. > :28:23.game for the viewers because you like to tell your players there is

:28:24. > :28:27.no prize, the professional, but be professional, it is a sport, if you

:28:28. > :28:31.can stay at the right end of the field for longer periods and build

:28:32. > :28:34.pressure somebody will crack. This may be ridiculous but do the

:28:35. > :28:38.conditions add to the stress? It feels closed in and it feels dank

:28:39. > :28:43.and there is a bit of rain and you are pushing yourselves to the limit,

:28:44. > :28:49.does that add to it? Certainly the weather does because it makes the

:28:50. > :28:55.ball greasy and you know there is a chance that there can be an error

:28:56. > :29:00.just through force of contact. If it's a dry night Gareth Ellis will

:29:01. > :29:04.score. The end. He can grip that and get it down. The weather is really

:29:05. > :29:08.influential in the modern game. You have to adapt your kicking and your

:29:09. > :29:13.mental approach changes completely when it is wet. It is a bit dank and

:29:14. > :29:15.damp to night but a week today the sporting action could be taking

:29:16. > :30:11.place in slightly different conditions.

:30:12. > :30:20.Rio, 2016. The Olympic Games start 5th August across the BBC.

:30:21. > :30:23.At the start, I thought it was the safari park where Brian has been

:30:24. > :30:27.working in. Right the Challenge Cup continues

:30:28. > :30:30.tomorrow afternoon. The second semi-final - Warrington against

:30:31. > :30:34.Wakefield. It will get under way on BBC One at 2pm.

:30:35. > :30:37.Right, we are going to hear from a couple of legends now. One who

:30:38. > :30:41.played for Hull and one who played for Wigan.

:30:42. > :30:49.Well, he has made one good tackle. A superb tackle. Beautiful

:30:50. > :30:57.interpassing here. And he's over. Scholfield, what a

:30:58. > :31:03.try from one end to another. Can he get the bounce? Oh, he can't.

:31:04. > :31:11.He will go the whole length of the pitch. The bounce of the ball once

:31:12. > :31:17.again prove sog difficult and he scores at the other end.

:31:18. > :31:26.I am joined pitchside now. Chris from, a Wigan perspective, are they

:31:27. > :31:31.good value? We have to go in at half time relatively happy to keep a side

:31:32. > :31:36.like Hull tryless. There have been efforts down the end to stop them

:31:37. > :31:40.scoring. I would have liked to have got two tries ahead, but we didn't.

:31:41. > :31:49.Overall we have to be pleased with how we've gone so far. The pattern

:31:50. > :31:55.has worked a treat? It will not win us this game. It is a typical

:31:56. > :32:00.semi-final - it is tense. Who is in at the end? It is a classic

:32:01. > :32:05.semi-final. We have said this is one for the purists, I guess. An ex-Hull

:32:06. > :32:12.player - I am sure you are rooting for them. Are you connerned about

:32:13. > :32:17.the errors in their play? We have is seen a better class from George

:32:18. > :32:20.Williams. Unlucky with that forward pass. It is the creativeness which

:32:21. > :32:25.may be lacking. The forwards are doing OK. They are rippling the

:32:26. > :32:31.forwards. It is just we need more from Tuimavave. What do you think

:32:32. > :32:36.Radford will say to the players? Let's build more pressure, but it is

:32:37. > :32:39.that creativeness. Wigan, what they have got defensively, they are very,

:32:40. > :32:42.very solid. They need to come up with better in attack. Thank you for

:32:43. > :32:47.joining us. Thank you a lot. Thank you to the three of them - right

:32:48. > :32:50.Gareth Ellis has been wearing the player mic for us today. This is how

:32:51. > :33:12.the first half sounded through him. GARETH ELLIS: Go on!

:33:13. > :33:15.Go on. Great work. Don't lose the impression. Be smart,

:33:16. > :33:30.boys. Look on... Forward... Are you close to the line? I should

:33:31. > :33:32.have gone off to the right. Move, Wigan...

:33:33. > :33:40.We will have a longer version of that and included in tomorrow's

:33:41. > :33:44.coverage when we bring you Warrington-Wakefield at 2pm. What do

:33:45. > :33:51.Hull need to do in the second half? They need to be better and have good

:33:52. > :34:01.composure. Keep running hard and keep kicking in. Can you keep this

:34:02. > :34:06.intensity up? I think you can. These are two fantastic defensive sides.

:34:07. > :34:11.Hull to maintain composure. Patience is a big word for Hull for me

:34:12. > :34:15.tonight. They can break Wigan down. They look ferocious. Patience can be

:34:16. > :34:23.hard in a Cup semi time, can't it? Absolutely. You have to have pace. I

:34:24. > :34:28.think Hull need to have one of their bigger players and manifesto that

:34:29. > :34:37.break, either a Manu or a Pritchard, or Tuimavave. Even Danny might mean

:34:38. > :34:42.the difference. That is what they are relying on. Wigan look organised

:34:43. > :34:46.and that have the bit between their teeth, don't they? Now you have to

:34:47. > :34:50.make your way to the commentary book. He is back to join the

:34:51. > :34:58.commentary team. THE COMMENTATOR: Hull fairly bounced

:34:59. > :35:03.out. They were ready and waiting for a minute or so before Wigan, not

:35:04. > :35:09.saunterred, but looked more relaxed as they came out. Determination from

:35:10. > :35:14.the Black and Whites. Assuredness from those in Cherry and Whites. The

:35:15. > :35:17.body language that seemed to be suggested, as we get under way in

:35:18. > :35:24.this second half. Just four points in it. Wigan, six. Hull, two. Flood

:35:25. > :35:29.lit rugby league on BBC Two. Back Back To The Future - and it is a

:35:30. > :35:33.cracking cup tie. It is an outstanding semi-final. The outcome,

:35:34. > :35:40.the prize at the end of it really is showing in the determination drive

:35:41. > :35:44.of the player. -- players. Use more inside play, because in these greasy

:35:45. > :35:50.conditions, you can sometimes wrong-foot players that easier. So I

:35:51. > :35:53.thought Wilson had to play more through was the way forward rather

:35:54. > :36:00.than trying to go around, especially in these conditions. And that was

:36:01. > :36:07.Dom Crosby who made that... Apologized again to the family.

:36:08. > :36:13.Somebody has tweeted me a cartoon of Busby. It is Crosby, not Busby.

:36:14. > :36:26.Hull have the ball for the first time in this second period.

:36:27. > :36:35.Tuimavave down that right-hand side. Houghton. Here is Pritchard... Can

:36:36. > :36:40.you hear what the coaches have had to say at half time. Let's see this

:36:41. > :36:46.from Hull. The first set with ball in hand. Pritchard puts it back.

:36:47. > :36:50.Sneyd, looking for the corner. Tomkins connects it close to his own

:36:51. > :36:57.line. Runs it back. There is support out there. He'll take the tackle 50

:36:58. > :37:01.metres away. Damian Johnson, what has been said at half time? The Hull

:37:02. > :37:06.coach has said that patience is the key. He told his players they had

:37:07. > :37:11.good ball in the first half. They executed well in their own half but

:37:12. > :37:14.have to be more clinical. As for the Wigan coach, where we've got the

:37:15. > :37:17.ball, we have to keep up the pressure. Hull will come at us in

:37:18. > :37:22.the second half. We showed good defence in the first half. We must

:37:23. > :37:25.keep it up in the second. Respect the ball and respect what Hull will

:37:26. > :37:28.throw at us. In the second half they are

:37:29. > :37:32.attacking their own end, if you like. That is where their supporters

:37:33. > :37:39.are amassed. Wigan are attacking their end. Are the coaches before

:37:40. > :37:43.the games, they were telling us our fans can cheer us home. Does it make

:37:44. > :37:49.a difference? You have to cross the goal line at the far end. It is lift

:37:50. > :37:53.you generally, no doubt about that. I don't think it matters which way

:37:54. > :37:58.you will play. You will play one half one way and one half the other.

:37:59. > :38:03.No snapshot going out there. Thanks fellas.

:38:04. > :38:13.Bateman is down. Ten metres away and gets a penalty because too much

:38:14. > :38:18.messing on from Watts. It is a tough kausmt I would like to see it

:38:19. > :38:22.myself. He's going for two, Matty Smith. That is sensible, take it

:38:23. > :38:29.again. A bit of a flap. Yes. Liam Watts. If he's done it for the flap,

:38:30. > :38:35.I agree. And then straddling him. It is again, it is ill disciplined. In

:38:36. > :38:40.a vital area of the field and at a vital time. Straight after half

:38:41. > :38:45.time. Minimal flop and a straddle - it is not often you hear those words

:38:46. > :38:52.in the same sentence. That is a novel, isn't it?

:38:53. > :39:07.Smith should have this nailed. This to take the lead to six points,

:39:08. > :39:13.a try and a goal. He has rather flashy boots. Wigan

:39:14. > :39:21.lead 8-2. So the first blow. Minimal blow of this second half goes

:39:22. > :39:28.Wigan's way. They lead by 8-2. They will be very happy with that

:39:29. > :39:32.will Wigan. Four minutes into the half, they have stretched it to the

:39:33. > :39:35.full six points. It is all start again.

:39:36. > :39:44.Sneyd's kick. Hull's defence. Sarginson looking

:39:45. > :40:10.left. They have kept Manfridi quiet. He's

:40:11. > :40:14.been out of the game in all honesty. I don't know whether it is strategy

:40:15. > :40:20.or not. Williams. Trying to slice past. Just

:40:21. > :40:25.pause briefly to see what Williams was going to do with the ball there.

:40:26. > :40:32.Preferred option for a kicker, they feel he's less of a threat than

:40:33. > :40:37.Manfradi. What he hasn't got testimony kins

:40:38. > :40:43.has got. The kick doesn't travel far. Hull back in possession and not

:40:44. > :40:46.unreasonable position. 12 yards from the halfway line. A chance to build

:40:47. > :40:58.Prescotture here. -- pressure here. He has got good feet for a big man.

:40:59. > :41:02.It is so difficult to line him up for a good defensive shot. Because

:41:03. > :41:06.of that footwork and that urgency to bring the ball back into play, he's

:41:07. > :41:10.won a penalty. This will be a really important set, ba us the kick from

:41:11. > :41:18.Sneyd will go into the corner. It is a great start.

:41:19. > :41:23.Looking to square things up with a try and a goal here, Hull. But

:41:24. > :41:26.they've been in a similar position so often before. And failed to get

:41:27. > :41:33.over the line. What changes here, if anything?

:41:34. > :41:36.Sneyd's quick hands. There are four Wigan defenders coming across. So he

:41:37. > :41:40.takes the tackle. There's a Hull player injured. I

:41:41. > :41:45.think it is Sneyd who is down injured at the moment. This is

:41:46. > :41:47.Watts... He gets way with it. Manu with a hand on thaend the

:41:48. > :42:01.charge. Houghton still being treated.

:42:02. > :42:06.With the offload, Shaul skips away, gets away from Crosby. The pass for

:42:07. > :42:10.Ellis. A great offload. Pritchard with a risky pass.

:42:11. > :42:14.Manu gets it away. Look at this, look at that!

:42:15. > :42:22.Into the corner. They gamble. They twist it and they have it.

:42:23. > :42:30.Right in the corner, Steve Michaels. Hull FC with some thrilling hands.

:42:31. > :42:34.What a fantastic try and it all came about with that penalty, the

:42:35. > :42:38.Minichiello one and that part of the field position and they did what was

:42:39. > :42:42.suggested, played through. They wept back on the inside, inside ball.

:42:43. > :42:47.With lots of support and that is what got them.

:42:48. > :42:52.There's Minichiello, working so hard to bring the ball back in. Wins the

:42:53. > :42:57.penalty. Thnd Anne off it goes. The offload.

:42:58. > :43:01.It is a bit of broken play. It is a little bit of an inside ball and

:43:02. > :43:04.there's been an overchase. They switched off a little on the inside

:43:05. > :43:10.of Wigan. That is when they almost get through. It is still needed

:43:11. > :43:16.finishing and so by Michaels in the corner. Great hands from Hull.

:43:17. > :43:26.Speculative. Shaul has nowhere to go. He runs across the line. Dumps

:43:27. > :43:31.off to Ellis. To Tautai.

:43:32. > :43:37.Michaels is in the corner. A great try.

:43:38. > :43:44.Hull fans are finding their voice. Steve Michaels is having a party.

:43:45. > :43:49.He'll be having two if he scores another. That was a great try,

:43:50. > :43:54.wasn't it? And I think that is an indication. I think this half will

:43:55. > :43:57.be a little bit loser, because the element of fatigue will start to

:43:58. > :44:04.kick in. You would have to think that the

:44:05. > :44:10.athletic prowess in the Tuimavave and the Minichiello and the Ellises

:44:11. > :44:15.may just prove the balance. I have been mightily impressed. Wigan,

:44:16. > :44:20.their system, with all the kids in there, really bringing the fruit

:44:21. > :44:25.home. So Marc Sneyd. Whose kick in the

:44:26. > :44:31.first half took his tally to 400 points. This, his 53rd game. A

:44:32. > :44:35.kick... My word: He rattles that home.

:44:36. > :44:43.Even most of us try that kicking style, we end up in on faces. He

:44:44. > :44:50.gets it in. Intense pressure. A semi time final. What a lovely -- a

:44:51. > :44:54.semi-final. What a lovely try. In greasy conditions, to nail that try.

:44:55. > :44:58.There's the celebration. At last we've done it. At least we've broken

:44:59. > :45:04.the defence down and Sneyd come pounds that by making aen

:45:05. > :45:10.six-pointer from the touchline. Eight points a piece. A timely

:45:11. > :45:16.reminder. Extra time, if necessary. But there are 31 big minutes before

:45:17. > :45:21.that happens. The last semi-final here, Leeds and castle ford was a

:45:22. > :45:29.golden point extra time. Kevin Sinfield with a penalty late

:45:30. > :45:36.on. Was that 2013? 2012? It was a good semi and this is as well.

:45:37. > :45:42.Going, it passes and here comes Shaul. Shaul darts into that pocket

:45:43. > :45:51.that opened up ahead of him. It closed, snapped shut just as quick.

:45:52. > :45:57.Hull have the mood here. A bounce by Sika Manu. Look at them,

:45:58. > :46:03.all over his back. They only just pull him down... Eventually.

:46:04. > :46:11.Back it comes again to Sneyd. Sneyd now. Shaul, with a kick through.

:46:12. > :46:18.Testimony kins has missed it. Shaul has it touched down. There are about

:46:19. > :46:22.8,000 in black and white behind the goal line who say, try Try." The

:46:23. > :46:30.referee, on the field, says "No try." Let's hear from the video are.

:46:31. > :46:38.Can we just check the offside. Yes, it is from a kick. So, I have got

:46:39. > :46:43.that clip. Thank you. OK, yeah. So, Shaul is going to kick and in front

:46:44. > :46:45.of him, that appears to be Ellis. OK, run that through on that angle

:46:46. > :46:57.just to see. I think, I just want to check that

:46:58. > :47:01.again, if I can. Manu is in front of the ball. I want to see what Manu

:47:02. > :47:05.does. He's ahead of the ball because of the break in play. Just that

:47:06. > :47:20.replay again, please. I can see what Manu does, who is ahead of the ball.

:47:21. > :47:24.Ellis stays outside the ten. OK, so Ellis is in front of the

:47:25. > :47:28.ball, as is Manu. I think that is Manu. Play it on from here, nice and

:47:29. > :47:33.slow, please. OK, so that is - now what happens

:47:34. > :47:39.here, Manu could be ten metres from Sneyd. The decision was onside. So,

:47:40. > :47:41.can I see it from behind the six? Have you got anything from behind,

:47:42. > :48:01.just to see the width? Manu, he's not interfering. I was OK

:48:02. > :48:07.with the onside. Can I look at the knock-on by testimony kins first? --

:48:08. > :48:21.Tomkins first? If it is a knock-on to it, it would be a free play.

:48:22. > :48:28.OK, so Tomkins, a knock-on by him. We are on free play. What happens

:48:29. > :48:36.from Shaul? One from behind the sticks was a good angle, to be

:48:37. > :48:42.honest. So, OK... So... Shaul, I think it is just a collision. That's

:48:43. > :48:47.play on. Shaul now has the ball. Then he loses it. It is two knock

:48:48. > :48:54.ones. No try. First knock-on by Tomkins. Hull, head and feet.

:48:55. > :49:00.So no try. But Hull will get the ball back.

:49:01. > :49:08.Head and ball for Hull. No try, but they have the second best outside in

:49:09. > :49:12.that they get another set of six to rattle this Wigan line again. It

:49:13. > :49:16.looks like they have upped a gear in the last five minutes. They are

:49:17. > :49:19.asking some real questions when they go back against the grain of the

:49:20. > :49:25.Wigan defence which is pressure from the inside. You just feel there may

:49:26. > :49:31.be another score. On the immediate horizon for the

:49:32. > :49:34.black and whites. It has done Wigan a favour, because they have a chance

:49:35. > :49:38.to get some oxygen back into their lungs here. It is not always the

:49:39. > :49:43.case. Sometimes you relax, you think we didn't concede the try and they

:49:44. > :49:47.come up with the play and they are ready physically, but mentally they

:49:48. > :49:53.are not ready. Let's see if Hull can come up with it, then. There may be

:49:54. > :49:57.a short side play here. It will be on YouTube by the end of the night,

:49:58. > :50:07.won't it? Six from here. Having a go.

:50:08. > :50:15.An increasingly common pattern, Hull captured but not stopped. Here is

:50:16. > :50:19.another big fella, Watts. He is again striding up. The Wigan

:50:20. > :50:23.defenders are having to work twice as hard to stop the Hull players

:50:24. > :50:32.from moving forward. Sneyd puts it back. Shaul. Yeaman... Couldn't

:50:33. > :50:38.quite roll around the defender. Sneyd again.

:50:39. > :50:40.Pritchard with a soft hand. They are going across the line. Looking for

:50:41. > :50:49.an angle. Fonua... Williams on the last

:50:50. > :50:54.occasion. Pritchard again. Battering forward. Wow, we are asking some

:50:55. > :50:58.questions here, Hull. All been answered.

:50:59. > :51:04.How much fuel have Wigan got left in attack? Manu gets the ball away.

:51:05. > :51:21.Will they go down with possession? Sneyd again. Now he puts the kick to

:51:22. > :51:27.the corner. And it is scored. He's dropped it and Wigan's problems have

:51:28. > :51:30.just doubled. It is given. He says try on the field. But we need

:51:31. > :51:44.another video referee here. So we are checking onside.

:51:45. > :51:49.So, we are checking to see the winger. We need to check from the

:51:50. > :51:58.kick. If we can pause it on the foot and look to see if anybody is in

:51:59. > :52:02.front of the kick. Sneyd has the ball. Kicks the BA

:52:03. > :52:07.everybody in the shot looks to be onside. We cannot see beyond that.

:52:08. > :52:12.Have we got anything that shows... What about from behind the post?

:52:13. > :52:21.Does that show any other... ? Does anything show... The winger.

:52:22. > :52:25.Everybody else looks onside. We cannot see the winger, the live

:52:26. > :52:30.decision is a triesmt he's not in shot there.

:52:31. > :52:34.And that's, are they the only two angles we've got? OK. I have nothing

:52:35. > :52:36.that disproves it. Can I check the grounding now. That is just the end

:52:37. > :52:52.of the process. Right, he's onside off that. The

:52:53. > :53:03.decision is he's onside. We need to check the grounding, please.

:53:04. > :53:10.It is off this Wigan man. Picked up. Try.

:53:11. > :53:30.The flow of the game is changing. It is all going black and white at

:53:31. > :53:37.the moment. We have to say it has been about the

:53:38. > :53:45.pressure and the ball-carrying and the prowess. Too much pressure for

:53:46. > :53:50.Wigan. Sneyd came up, you would expect

:53:51. > :54:02.Manfridi to come up with every day of the week. It is Talanoa... This

:54:03. > :54:04.by Manfriedi and that is all about the stress and pressure that Hull

:54:05. > :54:16.have put on Wigan. I think he liked that concentration.

:54:17. > :54:18.19 times out of 20. In the most important game of his

:54:19. > :54:30.life. That would have cheered the kid up.

:54:31. > :54:41.Here is Sneyd. 12-8 at the moment.

:54:42. > :54:50.Starts it left. Drifts it in. The chant of "Sneyd" goes up again. It

:54:51. > :54:55.is Fetuli Talanoa t man whose coach calls a front row winger. The big

:54:56. > :54:59.fella has touched down. Well if there is one way this Hull

:55:00. > :55:02.team will get over the line tonight it will be with all these

:55:03. > :55:07.supporters. There are loads of people in this stadium. They have

:55:08. > :55:15.got about, oh, I have to say about two this thirds of the stadium.

:55:16. > :55:19.I think Robin may have been distracted there by the company he

:55:20. > :55:30.was keeping. Old faithful, rattles out again. Well the, the point is

:55:31. > :55:37.about Manfridi, they can cope with the big play after. Let's see if

:55:38. > :55:40.they can do that. At the minute, Hull FC are dominanting proceedings.

:55:41. > :55:44.You wonder how much energy that first half took out of the Wigan

:55:45. > :55:49.Warriors. Such a great defensive effort. I think it is more about

:55:50. > :55:56.what the coach Radford said to his troops. They look more energised.

:55:57. > :56:01.Watts, the big man. I think Wigan need to, have a bit of patience. Get

:56:02. > :56:06.themselves into the rhythm and they have got plenty in the tank left.

:56:07. > :56:07.They are young and athletic. It may be stressful now they have gone

:56:08. > :56:23.behind. Wigan, they need a big play, Dave, I

:56:24. > :56:26.tell you, the Warriors, just to turn this Hull FC tie.

:56:27. > :56:42.Smith... Here is Bateman... Five gone. Here comes the last.

:56:43. > :56:46.Williams... Threatens to... Well he threatened to kick it. Everyone had

:56:47. > :56:50.run past him and the ball goes to ground. It is a handover. That is a

:56:51. > :56:55.big defensive play from Hull. Williams has took them on there and

:56:56. > :57:00.boom... Hooch, that would have hurt him address well. He is a tough kid.

:57:01. > :57:04.-- as well. He is a tough kid. Has not come off. I don't know if it is

:57:05. > :57:11.the right decision there. It would have been better to put it into the

:57:12. > :57:14.air to Talanoa. Still 25 minutes left in this game.

:57:15. > :57:20.It is a long, long, long way from being over.

:57:21. > :57:25.It is Hull in the ascendancy at the moment.

:57:26. > :57:33.Carries like that from Taylor t ball carrying, taking a little bit of

:57:34. > :57:43.juice out of this Wigan team. Yeaman...

:57:44. > :57:56.Yeaman, 22 years of age. Three Challenge Cup finals, with Hull FC.

:57:57. > :58:02.16 16th season here, Kirk Yeaman. There's the kick from Sneyd again.

:58:03. > :58:25.Tomkins underneath this. Sarginson... Got a strapped nose at

:58:26. > :58:30.the moment. Some tired Wigan bodies, you know,

:58:31. > :58:33.out there. You can tell it is taking them some time to regroup and get

:58:34. > :58:39.behind the ball after the kick. Williams going left.

:58:40. > :58:45.Gildart going nowhere. A penalty. A penalty for Hull to give away. It is

:58:46. > :58:47.a cheap one as well. In the ascendancy and a leg up for

:58:48. > :58:57.Wigan. Hull are in the ascendancy, but it

:58:58. > :59:01.is only a try and a goal, and it all changes here. I am thinking golden

:59:02. > :59:06.point here. You are thinking of the overtime. Oh, we have a bad injury

:59:07. > :59:09.here. We have a bad injury because instantly the reaction on the

:59:10. > :59:38.field... Concern from the coach, Lee Radford.

:59:39. > :59:45.His head is in the wrong place there, Fonua.

:59:46. > :59:48.It is good to see how the medics are out there so quickly w the prompt

:59:49. > :59:53.attention. I am certain this will be a head

:59:54. > :59:59.injury assessment. No doubt about that. He got his head

:00:00. > :00:09.in the wrong side for the tackle. And it seemed to knock the kid out.

:00:10. > :00:15.In my era, growing up, it was about getting on with it but this is

:00:16. > :00:23.brilliant, the medical attention that they get nowadays. They have 15

:00:24. > :00:28.minutes to assess them. Here is Williams, try number one that gave

:00:29. > :00:32.Wigan the lead. That was a tremendous off-load. He keeps the

:00:33. > :00:44.ball alive and it ends up with Michael 's Crossing in the corner,

:00:45. > :00:53.that is a strong drop. Talanoa took advantage.

:00:54. > :01:06.Concern here for the Tongan, Mahe Fonua. He was new to the side this

:01:07. > :01:11.year having arrived from Melbourne in the off-season. He has pulled his

:01:12. > :01:20.weight, hasn't he? He has been very good. You can see, technically his

:01:21. > :01:25.head should have been on the other side. And you can see, with his

:01:26. > :01:30.arms. He looked as though he had been knocked out before he hit the

:01:31. > :01:33.ground. There is some movement, there, which is always reassuring

:01:34. > :01:39.but they will take no arrests, they will give him all of the necessary

:01:40. > :01:46.medical care and attention. Less serious is the injury to Dan

:01:47. > :01:51.Sarginson. A fashion piece that Jon Wilkin have. There was a fashion

:01:52. > :01:57.piece about that guy, the elephant man. What is going on? He has a

:01:58. > :02:01.badly broken nose and it's a nastier one according to the doctor, he has

:02:02. > :02:06.manipulated it to allow him to breathe more easily. But he's a hard

:02:07. > :02:11.man and he wants to stay out there. Look at that. I said about the

:02:12. > :02:16.medical practice, he has broken his nose and there is blood everywhere,

:02:17. > :02:22.but they just want to get on with it. What do you think? They are

:02:23. > :02:25.great athletes. Their psyche is tremendous and sometimes you have to

:02:26. > :02:29.protect them from themselves and that is one of the reasons for the

:02:30. > :02:34.15 minute concussion assessment, they remove the player from the

:02:35. > :02:38.field and the doctor has 50 minutes to check that there is no problem

:02:39. > :02:43.and if that is the case he can go back out there. -- has 15 minutes.

:02:44. > :02:51.And if not he is kept off the field for the rest of the game. We

:02:52. > :02:55.heard... A quick reminder of what is happening tomorrow, Warrington

:02:56. > :02:58.against Wakefield. The other semifinal in the Challenge Cup

:02:59. > :03:09.semifinal series. The final is on August 29. What about this fella?

:03:10. > :03:15.Billy Boston, one of the great wingers of all time in the 1950s and

:03:16. > :03:20.60s for Wigan. He was a tough one as well. He was a great player. In the

:03:21. > :03:30.Hall of Fame, and in the Welsh Hall of Fame after dinner last year. He

:03:31. > :03:33.was one of the first two to be inducted. Josh Charnley. Not playing

:03:34. > :03:47.tonight because of suspension. The Doncaster team would like to

:03:48. > :04:00.have an atmosphere here every week. How good would that be?

:04:01. > :04:09.Let's have a look at those tackles. Danny Haughton, as you can see.

:04:10. > :04:13.Before tonight began he had pulled off 1017 tackles and he was the

:04:14. > :04:18.leading tackler by a distance but Sam Powell has done well tonight.

:04:19. > :04:22.They have had a lot of work to do because possession has been in their

:04:23. > :04:27.favour, Hull. Territory has been in their favour. They have had to work

:04:28. > :04:32.so hard defensively to keep in the game. Do you think this break takes

:04:33. > :04:43.the sting out of what Hull are doing? It could do. That is a moment

:04:44. > :04:48.he will not want to be reminded of Ulster that has given them the lead.

:04:49. > :04:53.That gentleman is very happy indeed, and the crowd behind are impressed.

:04:54. > :04:58.By the way, I know we get a lot of viewers across this country but

:04:59. > :05:12.around the world as well, and a big shout out to the Chicago Stock

:05:13. > :05:17.Yarders. Apparently they are watching on the Fox Soccer Network.

:05:18. > :05:23.You are playing in English rugby league next year? Yes, a massive

:05:24. > :05:26.expansion for the game in North America and everyone is very

:05:27. > :05:31.enthusiastic, 3000 season tickets sold already to watch the great

:05:32. > :05:36.game. There are 13 teams in North America at the moment and we should

:05:37. > :05:40.embrace that. We are on our way, you are going to see the greatest game

:05:41. > :05:50.of all, played in the right way and it absolutely has legs. Are you

:05:51. > :05:54.joining him next year? No. We are doing a six-week trip around North

:05:55. > :05:57.America to trial the overspill is from the athletes that don't make

:05:58. > :06:03.the professional grade over there as part of a telly show, we will take a

:06:04. > :06:07.couple of buses to Detroit and Chicago and Boston and Ottawa and

:06:08. > :06:11.Montreal and we are going to get some contracts out at the end of it,

:06:12. > :06:15.so we are really excited about that and the talent that we might

:06:16. > :06:21.unearth. Hopefully someone like that man on the screen can get us there.

:06:22. > :06:25.One or two signings already. One Super League chairman told me he

:06:26. > :06:31.wanted to sign a certain player from Toronto. You have serious

:06:32. > :06:39.intentions? Absolutely. The board of directors and the CEO... As we see

:06:40. > :06:42.him being carried from the fields to generous applause, they are serious

:06:43. > :06:49.about spreading the gospel of rugby league. Interesting as well, the

:06:50. > :06:57.Wigan fans there, joining in with the Hull FC fans and applauding the

:06:58. > :07:02.efforts of Fonua. He has been very, very good today. It will be

:07:03. > :07:07.interesting, as you rightly say, it has been a long hold-up and rightly

:07:08. > :07:11.so, but how will the teams react? Just a reminder that before the

:07:12. > :07:18.break Hull were in the ascendancy, looking on top, leading as they

:07:19. > :07:22.still do by 14-8, and there is now the thumbs up from Mahe Fonua to say

:07:23. > :07:30.that he's OK. They are looking after me. I will be OK. He might not be

:07:31. > :07:35.coming back tonight. Wigan with four tackles still to go in this

:07:36. > :07:43.particular set. Joe Bretherton, the youngster on the field, the

:07:44. > :07:47.20-year-old. He is a very yeast -- he has become very recently

:07:48. > :07:54.involved. Looking to wrap things up. O'Loughlin kicks it into the in-goal

:07:55. > :07:59.area. Tierney was chasing it. Frustration, so close. It was so

:08:00. > :08:02.near, that one. Good play by Tomkins, you can understand the

:08:03. > :08:10.decision from O'Loughlin but he just does not execute the skill well

:08:11. > :08:14.enough. It gives Hull a free 20 metres, I would be tempted to play

:08:15. > :08:19.out the last couple of plays. I would agree with you, they have had

:08:20. > :08:23.so little territory, Wigan, they need to camp on the Hull line to

:08:24. > :08:27.build some pressure. Instead of absorbing it. A very, very decent

:08:28. > :08:47.carry. Ellis, a couple of tackles to go. 20

:08:48. > :08:53.minutes still to play. Going on a little bit. That was the fifth

:08:54. > :09:01.tackle. And they have given away a penalty. Danny Haughton immediately

:09:02. > :09:04.tells the referee, we are going to go over two here because these

:09:05. > :09:11.points might be enough to win us the game. Danny Houghton there, and

:09:12. > :09:15.Sneyd has been picking the ball up with his eyes closed. In a game like

:09:16. > :09:24.this it gives them two scores, they have had an injury break. It's the

:09:25. > :09:28.carry, tremendous again by Tuimavave. He forces Flower to

:09:29. > :09:34.illegally try to slow down the game, and as Dave Woods pointed out,

:09:35. > :09:51.tackle five. My word. That is a heartbreaker. Marc Sneyd settling

:09:52. > :09:55.the ball on the tee. Averaging over four points per game since is

:09:56. > :10:01.signing from Castleford a couple of years ago. Played in the final for

:10:02. > :10:07.Castleford in 2014, part of the side that made US Open our eyes and be

:10:08. > :10:12.dazzled by classic Castleford. Everything was going right for him

:10:13. > :10:17.tonight but nothing went right for him that day. Certainly settled into

:10:18. > :10:22.the Hull team this year. Real fans favourite. He will be elevated in

:10:23. > :10:31.that favouritism if he gets this and he does. The flags are up. Four out

:10:32. > :10:35.of four, 100 ascent kicking tonight. Dick 's team goes to eight, Wigan

:10:36. > :10:40.have the scored twice and in a low scoring semifinal that will not be

:10:41. > :10:43.easy. The possession that Hull have dominated will ensure they have

:10:44. > :10:49.plenty of energy to defend their own line should they be called upon to

:10:50. > :10:54.do that. If Wigan snatch this, I tell you, it will be one of the

:10:55. > :11:00.greatest fight backs of all time. Hull bring it forward without Mahe

:11:01. > :11:05.Fonua. Do you have news on his injury? A fantastic response by the

:11:06. > :11:08.medical team, he has been taken to the medical room and is being seen

:11:09. > :11:17.to buy a doctor and paramedics. He is in a neck brace, but he gave a

:11:18. > :11:24.thumbs up to the whole supporters. No news of hospital yet. He looks in

:11:25. > :11:31.decent shape. Knock-on by you man. That is what Wigan wanted. That is

:11:32. > :11:36.the leg up that Wigan needed. -- Yeaman. Needing to form the scrum in

:11:37. > :11:47.the correct place. Great defence, forcing the error. The time is off.

:11:48. > :11:54.A real squeezing tackle from Bateman to make that happen. I know this

:11:55. > :11:58.sounds crazy in a really high-intensity, highly emotional

:11:59. > :12:02.game, but they need a bit of clarity, they can get themselves

:12:03. > :12:05.back into this. Tomkins skips back on the inside again. He makes the

:12:06. > :12:21.tackle. Sam Powell. He has O'Loughlin to his

:12:22. > :12:30.right but it goes to Williams and Tomkins has to reach him. Outcomes

:12:31. > :12:40.are wily reader of attacking plays. -- the wily reader. He has Isa left

:12:41. > :12:53.and Gildart. A couple of tackles to go here. Wigan are ten metres away.

:12:54. > :12:59.O'Loughlin, running it in hard. The last play, in this set anyway. That

:13:00. > :13:03.is very untidy and the referees says penalty and again it is a fifth

:13:04. > :13:08.tackle penalty. They have to forget about gold kicks, tapped the ball

:13:09. > :13:12.and build some pressure. You never know what might occur, it might be a

:13:13. > :13:22.ricochet, might get lucky kick. Just stay up there and work to make some

:13:23. > :13:25.thing happen. Bateman. Five metres away with four tackles to go.

:13:26. > :13:32.Spinning left. He goes large and long. Tierney catches it but he had

:13:33. > :13:37.to stop his run to make that catch. Some of the defenders came out to

:13:38. > :13:45.meet him. Getting frustrated here. Wigan need numbers in motion, they

:13:46. > :13:52.really do. Williams, skipping away. Dummying. And then certain. That's

:13:53. > :13:56.the fifth and here comes the last. Bateman is that the me half but he

:13:57. > :14:03.will go himself and he realises it is closed up. Smith puts in the

:14:04. > :14:09.kick. That is going nowhere. Hull survived that moment of drama. That

:14:10. > :14:14.is the element of composure, it needed to be a structured last

:14:15. > :14:19.tackle play, really. They have been comfortable with this all season.

:14:20. > :14:25.The Hull defence was magnificent as well, Bateman is hard to stop, it is

:14:26. > :14:31.hard to criticise him if he sees a hole that he thinks he can get

:14:32. > :14:38.through. Give credit to the defence of Hull. Here is Haughton, 17

:14:39. > :14:40.minutes to go. He gets a good pass away and suddenly there is a

:14:41. > :14:46.marvellous opportunity. He goes wide. Michaels is dragged down from

:14:47. > :14:54.behind but it's a great recovery by the Wigan defence. This is the last

:14:55. > :14:57.play. Out it comes. Sneyd cuts back inside and Ellis goes down the

:14:58. > :15:01.middle but he is chopped down and they will have two handed over five

:15:02. > :15:15.yards out from the Wigan line. Great success, Hull, with inside plays. It

:15:16. > :15:25.was the inside play. There he is. Almost ripping them open, it was an

:15:26. > :15:31.inside ball, Tuimavave has in side support. Scrambling thereby Gildart

:15:32. > :15:38.and Tomkins, they have seemingly done that all day. Hull have Wigan

:15:39. > :15:42.on their heels again and Wigan are looking to punch their way out of

:15:43. > :15:52.trouble. Did that get a touch from a Hull player? O'Loughlin spins it

:15:53. > :15:57.back into the middle. Putting the left shoulder in. Leading from the

:15:58. > :16:06.front, Ellis. The last three tackles he has been involved in. Smith plays

:16:07. > :16:10.it to Bateman. They have already got to tackle 4, deep inside their own

:16:11. > :16:20.half, so Matty Smith knows that they need a clearance. It has been reined

:16:21. > :16:29.in. Over the 20. But not much further. Tuimavave has had a decent

:16:30. > :16:37.game, a couple of decisive breaks down the right-hand side, perfect.

:16:38. > :16:38.He has certainly justified the coach Lee Radford's decision to pick him

:16:39. > :16:56.in that position. Some heavy duty work down the

:16:57. > :17:04.middle. It is so physical, the Hull FC side, they are so big and

:17:05. > :17:15.physical and relentless tonight. Six is the next. They go to the boot, a

:17:16. > :17:22.clever kick through. Using the modern expression that everybody

:17:23. > :17:29.loves. I think he mis-hit it. He wanted it to go there. I think it

:17:30. > :17:43.might have been the outside of his foot, Brian. They practice that. Not

:17:44. > :17:57.in my book, they don't. That is called dexterity with the foot. They

:17:58. > :18:02.think they are going to Wembley. Well, they think they are going.

:18:03. > :18:07.They think they are going. More importantly, the blokes on the field

:18:08. > :18:12.think they are going but that won't help, first tackle penalty. There is

:18:13. > :18:16.still 14 minutes left to play. Wigan need to inject energy into the game

:18:17. > :18:20.because they look really tired, as if all of the defensive work has

:18:21. > :18:26.taken its toll. This is a man who can make an impact down the middle.

:18:27. > :18:35.They have to score twice, Wigan. They have to score twice. They have

:18:36. > :18:52.had 17 more tackles today. That is virtually three sets. It drains you.

:18:53. > :19:06.Gildart is going to have a -- from dummy half. Tomkins again. His

:19:07. > :19:15.footwork got him Pat the first danger but he could not recover any

:19:16. > :19:20.further. They are hunting. Last tackle again, Matty Smith with the

:19:21. > :19:26.kick and it is a take. Tuimavave loses it in the tackle and Wigan get

:19:27. > :19:31.it back for another set of six. What about that for a pass from the prop

:19:32. > :19:37.forward? This is a free play. Tomkins is chasing. He hits the

:19:38. > :19:38.post. That could be anybody's. Eventually out of play. They will go

:19:39. > :19:55.back to the original knock-on. Again, good tackle, underneath the

:19:56. > :20:02.ball, forcing the error. This was worth doing. Clever little kick from

:20:03. > :20:07.Williams. Almost pays off for Tomkins but the lack of energy, just

:20:08. > :20:12.one chaser, five Hull FC defenders around the ball, just one Wigan

:20:13. > :20:17.player chasing, that might be an indication of fatigue. This is a

:20:18. > :20:22.massive set of six. If Wigan can get a score back here, the game will be

:20:23. > :20:28.wide open but if Hull holdout, then their competence or is a little

:20:29. > :20:37.higher. There is the first effort from Bateman. Sarginson ships it to

:20:38. > :20:46.Smith and now Tautai rattles it forward again. Powell stands and

:20:47. > :21:01.weights. Four tackles in the set left to go. Searching, desperately.

:21:02. > :21:09.O'Loughlin. Three tackles gone. Play on. The referee says play on.

:21:10. > :21:13.Bateman takes three, four defenders, dragging him to stop his determined

:21:14. > :21:24.effort towards the line. Two tackles left. Here is certain. Like a

:21:25. > :21:36.bowling ball, racing in. But it's another set of six. It's another

:21:37. > :21:41.penalty! What was that one for? He stepped and you caught him high.

:21:42. > :21:46.Let's keep it low. High tackle. Is there a temptation to go for two?

:21:47. > :21:47.They need an energy lift, and that will only come if they cross the

:21:48. > :22:02.whitewash. Another five tackles for Hull to

:22:03. > :22:05.survive. These are heroic moments, these are moments where cup ties are

:22:06. > :22:13.won and lost, where energy levels drained. But from somewhere you have

:22:14. > :22:17.to find something. Either with the ball or without. Tomkins! Has he

:22:18. > :22:21.knocked it on? It went backwards. Trying to flick it over the top, was

:22:22. > :22:31.that a bit of a rush of blood? Definitely. It was play 3, wasn't a

:22:32. > :22:35.knock-on, didn't go backwards. You live or die by your decisions. If

:22:36. > :22:38.you are going to kick on tackle three, you have to go with

:22:39. > :22:46.something. The refs gets it right, that went backwards. Just a lack of

:22:47. > :22:50.composure, there. Wigan are not giving up their position and Hull

:22:51. > :22:56.are not out of trouble just yet because this is a big effort in

:22:57. > :23:02.defence. Four tackles gone, and Hull are restricted to the minimum. They

:23:03. > :23:06.could stick this ball 60 metres and it will be to no avail. Here it

:23:07. > :23:10.comes, but it goes straight to Tomkins and he should return it to

:23:11. > :23:14.at least the 40 metre mark and maybe beyond. He gets to the halfway line

:23:15. > :23:19.and he gets the pass away to Gildart. He runs to the middle and

:23:20. > :23:25.looks for support but he can't find it yet but Wigan are back. What

:23:26. > :23:28.scrambling defence from Hull. Right back where they have been for what

:23:29. > :23:37.seems like an eternity now. Sarginson. Manfredi plays it inside

:23:38. > :23:44.for Smith. Sutton, just winds himself up.

:23:45. > :23:54.Powell, out of dummy half. Smith carries it in. Williams. And they

:23:55. > :23:58.have got the try through Willie Isa. The Hull defence is finally

:23:59. > :24:03.breached, this semifinal is not over yet. Not by a long way. What a game

:24:04. > :24:10.we have got here. Absolutely fantastic entertainment. With two

:24:11. > :24:15.sets of players who are giving absolutely everything in their quest

:24:16. > :24:21.for Wembley. This is the kick return, tremendous work by Tomkins,

:24:22. > :24:26.pushing up by Gildart, that is the play that injected the energy into

:24:27. > :24:30.the Wigan Warriors, they have good movement on the dummy half play, the

:24:31. > :24:35.ball is shifted and that was a perfect pass for Willie Isa, soaking

:24:36. > :24:40.the defender out of the line and Isa goes into the gap. Powles, Smith and

:24:41. > :24:48.Williams are pivots to get Isa over the line. That is a great score from

:24:49. > :24:55.Wigan on the back of relentless pressure, five penalties, a

:24:56. > :24:58.knock-on, an error by Tuimavave. Relentless pressure in this

:24:59. > :25:02.semifinal. How much is George Williams coming-of-age in this

:25:03. > :25:08.semifinal? Big game, big expectations. He has really

:25:09. > :25:13.delivered tonight. Absolutely. All of the players have had a few brain

:25:14. > :25:17.explosions, but Williams has been special for Wigan as well as

:25:18. > :25:21.Tomkins. It was his start to get Gildart through the line. We have

:25:22. > :25:27.been waxing lyrical about Hull for the past 20 minutes! Hats off to the

:25:28. > :25:42.unbreakable spirit that Wigan have shown. To get themselves back. As he

:25:43. > :25:45.put it wide? Yes, he has! Well, it is not absolutely devastating, but

:25:46. > :25:51.they still had to score a try to win the game, but now they could have

:25:52. > :25:56.been within a goal-kicking penalty taking the game to a golden point.

:25:57. > :26:00.Psychologically changes everything, they need to keep playing because

:26:01. > :26:03.they need to get a try and Hull will feel as though they had a let off

:26:04. > :26:12.will Eight minutes left and four points

:26:13. > :26:22.in it, the prize on offer, the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

:26:23. > :26:31.Eight minutes to go. Who is going to Wembley Stadium? Well, we knew that

:26:32. > :26:36.it would take a very special effort from one side or the other to get

:26:37. > :26:42.through this particular semifinal. It has taken a very special effort

:26:43. > :26:46.so far. Is there a winning moment still to come or do they hang on

:26:47. > :26:58.from here? They are good early tackle yards. Up to the halfway

:26:59. > :27:04.point. Tackle 4. That is Sutton. Ten yards inside Hull territory.

:27:05. > :27:10.Bateman. He looked out on his feet not that long ago. He has lost it.

:27:11. > :27:14.Minichiello would suggest that he should have been allowed to play on,

:27:15. > :27:21.there. The tackle was completed and then the ball was lost. I was about

:27:22. > :27:27.to say on commentary, don't rely on your defence, but what do they do?

:27:28. > :27:32.He comes up with the error, but your mindset, if you're going to rely on

:27:33. > :27:37.your defence,... I think he drops it. He did drop that. It is the

:27:38. > :27:43.physicality of the Hull side, when they carry the ball, those metres

:27:44. > :27:48.after contact, it is hard work to put them to ground and when they

:27:49. > :27:54.defend, the big man, they hit with the shoulder, every collision is

:27:55. > :28:05.draining against this physically massive Hull FC team. We have said

:28:06. > :28:10.it before and we will say it again, floodlit rugby league on BBC Two,

:28:11. > :28:23.what is not to like? Colourful, exciting...

:28:24. > :28:30.Sneyd's feed. Hull know that they don't have the scorer again. That

:28:31. > :28:34.was my point before, thinking, don't rely on your defence, you still have

:28:35. > :28:38.do offer something so that they don't get into the comfort zone,

:28:39. > :28:43.Wigan will just think, we can have another crack because we know we

:28:44. > :28:49.will always get the ball. Dragging himself over the halfway line. Five

:28:50. > :28:57.Hull players who played for Hull the last time they were here. He was

:28:58. > :29:00.playing for Wigan that day. Helped on from dummy half. There is no

:29:01. > :29:07.value in a drop goal at also they will kick it towards the corner.

:29:08. > :29:11.Well, he has underplayed that. That was not the best end to the set but

:29:12. > :29:17.I'd tell you what, he would settle for Wigan playing the ball eight

:29:18. > :29:20.metres from their own line. Six minutes to go, there is plenty of

:29:21. > :29:31.time when Wigan have the ball in their hands. Here is Powell. Running

:29:32. > :29:42.hard from O'Loughlin again. Not on that occasion. Williams, the ball

:29:43. > :29:48.squeezes free. Minichiello has it. This is to win the cup tie. He goes

:29:49. > :29:54.in underneath the sticks. But... It's a big but, we will go to the

:29:55. > :30:00.video referee. It's going to be a video referee, because for my money

:30:01. > :30:05.he knocked on as he picked it up. I agree totally, Williams knocks it

:30:06. > :30:10.backwards and Minichiello... Well, we will soon find out. I think he

:30:11. > :30:20.said try on the field. Let's hear from the video referee.

:30:21. > :30:29.VIDEO REFEREE: See what happens on the offload first. So, comes out on

:30:30. > :30:39.impact and goes behind him. That looks like it hits Minichiello's

:30:40. > :30:44.hand. That has come out on impact. It has gone behind him. It has not

:30:45. > :30:50.hit a Hull player. That has then hit Minichiello's hand. It has to be a

:30:51. > :31:01.no try. It is not finished yet. It is not

:31:02. > :31:07.finished yet. No try.

:31:08. > :31:10.Five minutes to go. So, for the majority of the time they have the

:31:11. > :31:14.ball here, they will be inside the Hull half. They will. And that is

:31:15. > :31:27.the correct decision. What about that? That is the correct decision.

:31:28. > :31:34.Hull fans furious. Absolutely the right decision.

:31:35. > :31:36.As he explained it came out on impact and went backwards and

:31:37. > :31:43.Minichiello attempting to pick the ball up.

:31:44. > :31:53.The nerves are tingling here. What a game! Two sets of fans who

:31:54. > :31:56.can barely look. It a east no wonder the teams are tired. It is tiring

:31:57. > :32:03.watching this, isn't it? It is nerve-racking. Warrington against

:32:04. > :32:06.Wakefield tomorrow. They are sitting in their hotel rooms, their own

:32:07. > :32:11.homes, watching tonight, nervous about tomorrow. It will be a cup

:32:12. > :32:18.tie. This is very much a cup tie. Here's Williams.

:32:19. > :32:40.Gildart... Of Tierney. Manfredi went chasing after this.

:32:41. > :32:45.Hang on... A 20-metre restart. They are just checking. It is not a

:32:46. > :32:48.try they are looking for here. They are just having a look to see

:32:49. > :32:55.how they restart here. It is not a try decision. It is the

:32:56. > :33:01.two replays. OK. Live it looked right.

:33:02. > :33:12.A good chase from Manfredi. And It has touched the floor.

:33:13. > :33:30.By the way if you are tuning in to watch Claire Balding Meets, that

:33:31. > :33:35.will now be shown on Tuesday night, 10pm. We are staying with this. I am

:33:36. > :33:40.sorry. I am sure she's watching and enjoying every moment of this. The

:33:41. > :33:44.show which should be on after us will now be on Tuesday night at

:33:45. > :33:47.10pm. We are not peeling our eyes from this.

:33:48. > :33:52.I tell you what, this game is going to be closed out or won by Wigan on

:33:53. > :33:57.the will and the will and the desire to get over the line and get that

:33:58. > :34:00.prize. Tautai down the middle.

:34:01. > :34:13.Three-and-a-half minutes to go. Smith again.

:34:14. > :34:17.Tomkins. Sarginson... : Smith. Oh, it is O'Loughlin. His pass.

:34:18. > :34:22.It shows an element of fatigue there.

:34:23. > :34:26.Gildart bustles in again. Two tackles for Hull to survive. Two

:34:27. > :34:32.tackles for Wigan to have a real go again. Williams dribbles it through.

:34:33. > :34:37.Wants to do it in one. He's forced another set. It is a drop out under

:34:38. > :34:42.neath the sticks. They will take their time will the

:34:43. > :34:49.black and whites at Hull FC, they really will. Still in the melting

:34:50. > :34:53.pot. Less than three minutes to go. The referee stopped the clock here.

:34:54. > :34:59.All of a sudden the possession has gone back towards Wigan. That might

:35:00. > :35:03.be why they look more energised. That may be why they are building

:35:04. > :35:07.pressure. I tell ya, the prize is big.

:35:08. > :35:11.Never mind possession and position, it is all about heart and soul at

:35:12. > :35:13.this stage of the game. Who's got the bigger hearts to see the job

:35:14. > :35:24.through? Tautai put down. Powell from dummy half. Bateman

:35:25. > :35:28.takes it on again. They are within striking range and full tackles to

:35:29. > :35:34.probe and prod. Smith throws a lose pass. They have lost ground. Tierney

:35:35. > :35:41.loses the ball. Backwards, backwards. So, they have lost

:35:42. > :35:48.ground. Tomkins. ... Sutton, he's lost it.

:35:49. > :35:54.Knock-on. Knock-on... Two minutes to go.

:35:55. > :35:59.Wigan will rush here to pack down and stop the clock, I am sure. It is

:36:00. > :36:05.in Hull's hands now. It is. There is no doubt Hull FC will be a very

:36:06. > :36:08.conservative set, a very slow set. I have no doubt the ball will be

:36:09. > :36:22.kicked out of bounds the last tackle. This

:36:23. > :36:39.The clock starts as soon as the ball is in the scrum.

:36:40. > :36:41.Yeaman... His ambitions are minimal. Keep the ball right at the top of

:36:42. > :36:53.them. This is Talanoa, running the clock

:36:54. > :36:56.down. Wigan should get the ball back.

:36:57. > :37:01.There's enough time for them to have at least another two, maybe three

:37:02. > :37:06.full tackles here. Depending on how well Hull manage this. And how well

:37:07. > :37:09.they finish it. Game management is essential once

:37:10. > :37:20.again. Ellis... Halfway.

:37:21. > :37:26.Houghton goes right. Hull are on to tackle five. They wanted a penal

:37:27. > :37:32.tismt here comes the sixth. Sneyd finds the touchline. How quickly do

:37:33. > :37:38.Wigan get together here? How quickly before the referee stops the clock.

:37:39. > :37:44.Now. 55 seconds for a Challenge Cup semi-final to be won or lost. It is.

:37:45. > :37:52.And you can understand, a tremendous game tonight. Rolling over the

:37:53. > :37:56.sideline. Trying to hot the clock up by putting it out of bounds. There

:37:57. > :38:02.is a set to defend and for me that man, Marc Sneyd has really achieved

:38:03. > :38:06.a great deal tonight. They are trying to sing them home.

:38:07. > :38:12.There's a bit of physical work on the field to be done as well. Hull

:38:13. > :38:18.FC are five tackles away from Wembley. Wigan are now 50 yards away

:38:19. > :38:23.from rescuing the game. O'Loughlin... Williams... Gildart

:38:24. > :38:30.with a kick and a chase. It is all on this. Shaul picks it up. It is

:38:31. > :38:34.behind the ball line. So, it is a drop out. How long before the

:38:35. > :38:39.referee stops the clock here? Well the touch is in position. It is the

:38:40. > :38:43.signal of the outcome, get into position.

:38:44. > :38:49.20 seconds. The Man of the Match? For me it has to go to the Hull FC

:38:50. > :38:54.number seven, Minichiello has had a great game. For me, Marc Sneyd with

:38:55. > :38:59.his kicking in the general play and with his goal kicking also and how

:39:00. > :39:04.he's controlled the game. He deserve toss be taking his team on the road

:39:05. > :39:09.to Wembley. But there are still 20 seconds for

:39:10. > :39:14.someone to potentially write their name into their club's legend.

:39:15. > :39:20.That's a huge kick from Sneyd. That is exactly what his side wanted.

:39:21. > :39:25.So, a couple of tackles, at most, here. Sutton takes it in. This will

:39:26. > :39:30.be the last play of the game. Unless Wigan score. It is a

:39:31. > :39:36.knock-on. It is a knock-on. And Hull rejoice.

:39:37. > :39:46.Black and white all over. It has been whole hearted from both

:39:47. > :39:52.sides, but it is Hull FC who are going to Wembley for the Ladbrokes

:39:53. > :39:55.Challenge Cup final. What a magnificent game of rugby league

:39:56. > :40:00.that was. Both team have absolutely given everything.

:40:01. > :40:03.I do think over the fullness of the 80 minutes probably the results is

:40:04. > :40:08.just right. It has been a close game. Hull FC shaded it. They had a

:40:09. > :40:14.purple patch after half time when they built that lead. My word, those

:40:15. > :40:19.Wigan Warriors can be proud. They hung in there. They came back. It

:40:20. > :40:22.has been a classic semi-final of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup. Well the

:40:23. > :40:28.difference on the score board has been very small. But the difference

:40:29. > :40:33.in emotions is immeasurable. From the sheer delight of those in black

:40:34. > :40:38.and white... They are on their way to Wembley.

:40:39. > :40:43.And the absolute crushing, disappointment of those in cherry

:40:44. > :40:47.and white, who know how close they came, and yet were denied that

:40:48. > :40:51.prize. Let's hear from the Man of the

:40:52. > :40:54.Match, Marc Sneyd, who is down there with Damian Johnson.

:40:55. > :41:00.Receiving his Man Man of the Match bubbly. You are in the Challenge Cup

:41:01. > :41:06.final. How does it feel? Unbelievable.

:41:07. > :41:11.I am absolutely just speechless, to be fair. The effort towards that

:41:12. > :41:16.back end was unbelievable. To be able to defend like that against

:41:17. > :41:20.Wigan, it's just amazing. What did the manager, the coach say at half

:41:21. > :41:26.time? You had to come from behind to win it and dig deep? We kind of knew

:41:27. > :41:32.our defence could hold out against good attacks, anyway. We have a

:41:33. > :41:35.great defence. It was just a case of keeping patient, not getting carried

:41:36. > :41:40.away and panicking. Obviously it paid off. We got a couple of tries.

:41:41. > :41:45.In a moment when you thought it would not be your day, try

:41:46. > :41:50.disallowed after the video ref decision. We played outstanding

:41:51. > :41:56.together. Worked for each other. And yeah, buzzing. Congratulation, the

:41:57. > :42:02.Ladbrokes Man of the Match. Lee Radford is with us. The winning

:42:03. > :42:08.coach, he is congratulating. E-Lee, you are in the final. Howson does it

:42:09. > :42:13.feel? Not -- how does it feel? Not a great deal between the two sides. It

:42:14. > :42:17.really was one of the most, towards that back ends I felt we had that

:42:18. > :42:22.little bit extra. It must have been talk of your life at half time, was

:42:23. > :42:27.it, as a coach? We spoke about that special play. There was nothing

:42:28. > :42:31.between the two teams. Somebody has to come up with it and somebody has

:42:32. > :42:36.to be responsible for not coming up with it. It is important we found

:42:37. > :42:45.it. On a couple of occasions we done it. Concern for Mahe Fonua - how is

:42:46. > :42:49.he? We will see how he is when we get the report. You never won at

:42:50. > :42:54.Wembley and a chance to put that right now. I want to wrong that

:42:55. > :42:58.right. I really do. I want to get this fixed up and put and end to

:42:59. > :43:02.that song, that is for sure. Well done. Gareth Ellis, the winning

:43:03. > :43:06.captain. You have been to Wembley and lost before. You have got

:43:07. > :43:09.another chance now. At the age of 35. You sometimes think these

:43:10. > :43:14.opportunities will not come. But we have been outstanding all year. I

:43:15. > :43:19.thought we were outstanding tonight. If I would be critical, not clinical

:43:20. > :43:24.enough in that first half. It is outstanding. A bruising encounter.

:43:25. > :43:28.You looked outon our feet at the end, all of you? The effort was

:43:29. > :43:32.unbelievable. We had a lot of work to do. Wigan are a top, top side.

:43:33. > :43:39.They put you under the pump. We had to do it tough tonight and I thought

:43:40. > :43:42.we stood up to it. What kind of advert was that for rugby league?

:43:43. > :43:48.Toughness. Working out when you are tired. That is what it felt like to

:43:49. > :43:54.me, anyway. Two tough teams. Some tough lads out there. They

:43:55. > :43:59.went-to-toe to toe. Happy to come out the right side. Warrington or

:44:00. > :44:06.Wakefield? Nice to see my old club get there. It would be something

:44:07. > :44:08.special. Happy tonight and we're in that final. Well done, Gareth. Thank

:44:09. > :44:19.you. Well, the Hull fans here inside are

:44:20. > :44:22.staying put. Very few have left. They are applauding their players. A

:44:23. > :44:27.few of whom are still out there on the pitch. The Wigan fans have

:44:28. > :44:33.already gone, we are not going anywhere, either. We will stay until

:44:34. > :44:37.10. 30pm. If you were tuning in for Clare Balding Meets this evening. It

:44:38. > :44:41.will be shown Tuesday evening at 10pm. If there was one thing Clare

:44:42. > :44:46.wouldn't mind being bumped for it is the rugby league and the Challenge

:44:47. > :44:51.Cup semi-final. The players are out there. I don't know which of you

:44:52. > :44:55.said in commentary, not a game full of skill, but a game full of

:44:56. > :45:01.intensity and admirable defence. Would that be fair? It was

:45:02. > :45:08.breathtaking. Typical semi-final fare. It was emotional. Hull tried

:45:09. > :45:11.their best. To lose it, the way they played, technically. Emotionally

:45:12. > :45:18.they were brilliant. They stuck in there. Ellis has said it, Howton has

:45:19. > :45:23.said it, their desire was there all r for all to see. All the energy

:45:24. > :45:28.Wigan used up defending the Hull team at the start of the second

:45:29. > :45:31.half, it was hard and going to ground and kept seeing the desire

:45:32. > :45:38.from both teams. Fabulous game. Right in the middle of the Hull

:45:39. > :45:42.huddle at the moment. I am assuming Jamie Peacock, knowing how teams are

:45:43. > :45:46.in semi-finals, enjoy this, but the job is not done yet. It is not done

:45:47. > :45:50.yet. The right to enjoy it because it is a classic game between two

:45:51. > :45:55.closely-matched side. You could tell at the end the will and the want was

:45:56. > :46:01.greater for Hull. That is why they came away with it in the end. It

:46:02. > :46:05.with us a spectacular -- it was a fabulous spectacle.

:46:06. > :46:10.At the start of the second half, Hull edged. They edged it when Wigan

:46:11. > :46:15.had the ball for a long time. Their defence was better than Wigan's

:46:16. > :46:20.attack. Also when you have a team's desire and enthusiasm, I think it is

:46:21. > :46:24.measured by how many shirts you saw in the frame. You saw more black

:46:25. > :46:28.than red and white. Hull's defence was spectacular at times. Their

:46:29. > :46:34.willingness to work for each other on the goal line was a big lesson in

:46:35. > :46:38.how to win a big game of rugby league. I think we have to credit

:46:39. > :46:45.Hull's defence. Hull put Wigan under pressure. Wigan struggled to break

:46:46. > :46:50.Hull down at any time. There was a break when Tomkins made a break, got

:46:51. > :46:54.some field position. Aside from that Wigan struggled to break this Hull

:46:55. > :46:59.team down. It was a huge effort from them. I agree with you, John. I

:47:00. > :47:02.think the individual prowess we spoke about at half time came to the

:47:03. > :47:07.fore at the start of the second half. A lot of the Hull players,

:47:08. > :47:11.Minichiello was making a break, Watson was getting out there and

:47:12. > :47:14.that willingness to offload the ball and take advantage of that at the

:47:15. > :47:20.start of the second half broke the game up for Hull. Hull's execution

:47:21. > :47:26.and the way they passed the balls, there were a couple of players, in

:47:27. > :47:31.the first half they were not sticking. In the second half, they

:47:32. > :47:36.set. They do not want to leave do the Hull players or the fans. You

:47:37. > :47:41.can understand that. Reminiscent of the scenes with Hull KR and their

:47:42. > :47:46.fans and their players. I know you are a Hull KR man now, Jamie. We

:47:47. > :47:51.said it last year after Hull KR made the final, it is great for the city.

:47:52. > :47:58.I know for a lot of us around this table, me, you, John it is a city

:47:59. > :48:02.close to our heart. That is a great effort. It is from Hull. You cannot

:48:03. > :48:06.knock how they played this year. They should talk it up. When you win

:48:07. > :48:10.a semi-final and you've had an atmosphere and a following like

:48:11. > :48:14.that, you deserve to stay out there and enjoy the moments. That is what

:48:15. > :48:19.you play sport for - these big moments where you have nailed a

:48:20. > :48:27.performance you soak it up. We can contrast that with the Wigan

:48:28. > :48:31.dressing room, as Shaun Wane and the team talk to the players. Heads are

:48:32. > :48:40.bowed and nobody saying anything at the moment. The worst place to lose,

:48:41. > :48:43.the semi-final. At least you get the Wembley experience. No-one there

:48:44. > :48:47.remembers who was in the semi-final. A lot of young guys will be

:48:48. > :48:49.learning. On the flip side we have Hull players who are having a

:48:50. > :48:54.picture. They have a lot of experience. You know the power in

:48:55. > :49:03.that group of players there, if you look at Pritchard, fan fan, Talanoa,

:49:04. > :49:08.when they carry the -- Fonua, when they carry the ball were magnificent

:49:09. > :49:13.tonight. Hull's defence won them the game tonights. Frustrated Wigan to

:49:14. > :49:16.death. Credit to them. It is an interesting contrast to earlier in

:49:17. > :49:23.the season, Brian, and I am interested in all of your thoughts.

:49:24. > :49:29.They went to Widnes early in the Super League, got smashed by

:49:30. > :49:32.widness. Ness. Widnes, at the end of that game the managers were kicked

:49:33. > :49:38.out of the dressing room and dealt with it themselves. Crisis, what

:49:39. > :49:43.crisis? It is easy for the focus to be oh an coach in what is going --

:49:44. > :49:47.focus to be on a coach and what is going on. I never used to minds

:49:48. > :49:51.players getting together and saying this is what is wrong, so long as

:49:52. > :49:56.the plan of action to put it right afterwards. The players have a huge

:49:57. > :50:00.amount of ownership. Once you get into a game you have a plan. The

:50:01. > :50:04.players have got to dictate that. We will come back to Hull in a moment.

:50:05. > :50:07.Back to Wigan, the defeated side and Shaun Wane is talking to Damian

:50:08. > :50:12.Johnson. Thank you for joining us. When the

:50:13. > :50:16.dust settles, would you concede that the better team won marginally on

:50:17. > :50:20.the night? Absolutely. They were the best team. On the back of that I

:50:21. > :50:26.would say I am very proud of our efforts. People don't understand,

:50:27. > :50:30.but the efforts of those 17 players was outstanding. Hull were the best

:50:31. > :50:36.team, they deserve to be at Wembley. They have been good all year. All

:50:37. > :50:40.the best to them. The first half was extraordinary? It was. We gave

:50:41. > :50:44.ourselves too much to do. Turn the ball over and play two again T

:50:45. > :50:47.desire my team showed was outstanding. It will help us further

:50:48. > :50:53.in the year. This is very, very tough to take. I thought all was

:50:54. > :50:56.there for the taking. If we had been smarter at certain areas of the

:50:57. > :51:03.field. Did the defensive effort take so much out of you could not find

:51:04. > :51:07.the line to cross in the second half? You've got it. Our attack was

:51:08. > :51:11.not crisp. In the final third, we scored a try. We had a try

:51:12. > :51:16.disallowed. We didn't really test them in the second half. I feel the

:51:17. > :51:21.decision we had was poor. We didn't really give ourselves a chance to

:51:22. > :51:28.get a foothold in the game. That was bruising and as intense as it gets,

:51:29. > :51:34.wasn't it? It was a tough game. What my team has, a lot of desire, a lot

:51:35. > :51:39.of toughness. The players are absolutely as sad as I have ever

:51:40. > :51:42.seen them. They were devastated. We felt we deserved something today. In

:51:43. > :51:46.the end it was not enough. I appreciate your time. Thank you. He

:51:47. > :51:49.is proud of the earth fof of his players. He is proud of how they

:51:50. > :51:54.perform. If you look at the Super 8s to come

:51:55. > :51:58.and a potential Grand Final, that will be their aim. How concerned

:51:59. > :52:03.will he be about their attacking threat? Only Leeds have scored less,

:52:04. > :52:07.and they struggled gone tonight. It has been a consistent problem for

:52:08. > :52:12.them all year. The points for and against don't lie. The defence has

:52:13. > :52:18.been immaculate. Fantastic. They have struggled to break the teams

:52:19. > :52:23.down. There are a million reasons. We would get technical as to why it

:52:24. > :52:25.has not worked this year. If they can bring that attitude to the

:52:26. > :52:30.majority of games they would win. The problem up against Hull, a side

:52:31. > :52:34.who is equally as good as defending as well. With the ball were more

:52:35. > :52:40.potent. This game they were a kick or a pass away from getting over the

:52:41. > :52:42.line. So you said it, it has been mentioned, they were bitterly

:52:43. > :52:47.disappointed. That will fuel their end of season and generally see you

:52:48. > :52:51.in a loss like that it gives, it galvanises you and you think, we

:52:52. > :52:54.didn't get those spoils, but it will make them have a decent charge

:52:55. > :53:01.towards the Super League title. Shall we look at the two tries in

:53:02. > :53:04.the second half. We spoke about Hull's

:53:05. > :53:09.ineffectiveness to come one a player. One player involved, second

:53:10. > :53:13.player involved. They were patient. Explored the defensive line. Three

:53:14. > :53:17.players involved. They are trying to engineer an opening. Pritchard

:53:18. > :53:20.offload. Six players, seven players, Michaels

:53:21. > :53:26.is in the corner. That's a little bit of quality in the game. I think

:53:27. > :53:29.your attack is not fine and when your big set players are not working

:53:30. > :53:35.and you go to the unorthodox, this is where you get tries from. They

:53:36. > :53:40.managed through great skill. Every team practicing defending against

:53:41. > :53:44.structure and players. So we all set starts and defend those set starts.

:53:45. > :53:48.We look at Wigan's players and defend Wigan's players. We look at

:53:49. > :53:52.Hull's players and defend them. You cannot defend against things you

:53:53. > :53:56.have not seen. The things Hull have not done before. It has not been

:53:57. > :53:59.created in the history of rugby league. You will not see those tries

:54:00. > :54:03.again. They had to make the decision at the

:54:04. > :54:07.start of the second half. They were stifled by a good Wigan defend, who

:54:08. > :54:14.handled everything thrown at them. So those individuals who have the

:54:15. > :54:19.ability to offload took a chance at the start, they expand game. The

:54:20. > :54:24.second with Sneyd was off the back of offloads. If I will not see that

:54:25. > :54:28.try again in the history of rugby league. I might see the Talanoa

:54:29. > :54:33.again. One million things have gone on. You will never see this try

:54:34. > :54:38.again, either. Look, it was another offload. It

:54:39. > :54:42.looks frantic, but it is not. Steve gets composure. Kicks. Isolates

:54:43. > :54:46.Manfredi. Manfredi, he's got to do better.

:54:47. > :54:50.Normally catches those. He will think about that all night. He

:54:51. > :54:54.needed to catch it. Good sides can have a bit of that and go back to

:54:55. > :54:58.structure. Kick to the corner for a winger. That is when structure is

:54:59. > :55:02.helpful. When you go away from it and the game is frantic. It is

:55:03. > :55:09.dropped back into your structure and Wigan's try came off the back of

:55:10. > :55:13.something similar. A great kick. You cannot make those big mistakes in a

:55:14. > :55:18.big game. We talked about how close it was. Mistakes like that kill you.

:55:19. > :55:22.Isn't there an argument, I don't want to get too philosophical,

:55:23. > :55:29.thatly never see an identical try again. On BBC iPlayer you can watch

:55:30. > :55:35.it again if you want. It is too deep for a Friday night. Going back to

:55:36. > :55:38.what we heard about and the Hull players taking responsibility - can

:55:39. > :55:43.we read too much into that, given how their season has gone now? I

:55:44. > :55:46.think it was a turning pointed this season. I think great sides have

:55:47. > :55:51.players who own the game, they will understand that the ebb and the flow

:55:52. > :55:55.and the feel of a game and are able to mash up. The rest of the players

:55:56. > :55:59.around there and you look at any team sported that the great teams

:56:00. > :56:05.have three or four, five, six players in there who own that team,

:56:06. > :56:09.who know how to move it around. This is where Hull's recruitment has been

:56:10. > :56:15.fantastic. It is off the back of recruiting five or six international

:56:16. > :56:19.players. Hull five years ago didn't have these players. We have Pryce,

:56:20. > :56:25.we have Frank Pritchard, we have Gareth Ellis, we have Houghton,

:56:26. > :56:29.experienced senior players. And... Let's hear from Gareth Ellis, shall

:56:30. > :56:33.we? Not from an interview, but from the whole of the 80 minutes because

:56:34. > :56:38.we had worn the player mic for us this evening.

:56:39. > :56:44.Let's turn the screw on him. Wherever happens we go straight into

:56:45. > :56:51.this. Awesome... Stay strong for us in the

:56:52. > :57:02.last stages. Too tense for me, this.

:57:03. > :57:03.Well done! Well done!

:57:04. > :57:13.Best of luck. Thank you. A nice touch from O'Loughlin at

:57:14. > :57:18.tend. He is a world-class player. To meet in the middle, they are icons

:57:19. > :57:28.of our game. How much will the fact they have not

:57:29. > :57:33.had a play at Wembley play on them? That will motivate them to win. They

:57:34. > :57:38.will get that monkey off their back. You have to give him the credit.

:57:39. > :57:42.He's got his team going, after adversity, that at the start of the

:57:43. > :57:48.season we spoke about, it takes some turning around, that. He seems to

:57:49. > :57:53.done it in emphatic style. Two teams have run their blood to water. To

:57:54. > :57:57.run it to the line, it was exemplary. They will look for more

:57:58. > :58:00.attacking prowess. They are there. They have done it. Hull will think

:58:01. > :58:06.they have a chance of the double? Definitely. They will stick with one

:58:07. > :58:10.at a time at the moment. Says, that is the coach in you, isn't it?

:58:11. > :58:14.Listen. Thank you very much, we will see you all tomorrow. Tomorrow of

:58:15. > :58:17.course, we have got Warrington against Wakefield on BBC One. All

:58:18. > :58:19.the build-up from 2pm. Hull will be waiting for one of them in the

:58:20. > :58:25.final. Good night.