BWhSL: What happened in the opening round

The opening round of the 2025 Betfred Wheelchair Super League was always going to be historic, with debut fixtures for two new clubs including the first Super League match of any form in Scotland for well over a decade.

But that game at the University of Edinburgh’s Pleasance Sports Complex, as the Giants took on the champions Leeds Rhinos in their Super League debut, went into the record books for another, less predictable reason - thanks to a happy event in the build-up.

Connor Blackmore, the Giants captain, was unable to lead the team into Super League because his partner had a baby. In his absence Olivia Fulton stepped up as skipper – and with Wales international Jodie Boyd-Ward already established as the Rhinos captain, that meant two women at the helm for the first time in Wheelchair Super League history.

The teams received an appropriate reception as they entered the field from a piper, but it was the Rhinos who called the tune as they launched their title defence with an emphatic 114-6 victory.

The other 2025 Super League newcomers, Sheffield Eagles, were also handed a tough opener and suffered a heavy defeat, in their case 80-4 against Wigan Warriors at Robin Park.

The Warriors fired an early message that they will be among the contenders again in 2025 with five tries from Wales international Scott Trigg-Turner, and four each for Jack Heggie and Nathan Roberts – although the Eagles still celebrated a late score from their England international Chris Haynes.

While history was being made elsewhere, the established Super League duo of London Roosters and Halifax Panthers staged a classic at the Barking Sporthouse.

Seven days after the Panthers beat the Roosters to regain the Betfred Wheelchair Challenge Cup in Wigan, they seemed on course for another comfortable victory – only for Joe Coyd to lead a stunning Roosters fightback with four tries which secured a 40-40 draw.

Another feature of the weekend was the growing depth of the Wheelchair game. The Super League matches at Edinburgh and Wigan were preceded by curtain-raisers contested by the clubs’ Reserves – with the Giants claiming a 32-18 win against the Rhinos.

And elsewhere on Saturday, there were five matches in the Championship competitions, with wins in the East for Castleford Tigers over Batley Bulldogs (66-22) and York Knights over Hull KR (36-26), while in the West, Hereford Harriors beat Warrington Wolves 41-34, and there were big wins for North Wales Crusaders and Rochdale Hornets over Salford and Widnes respectively.

There are no Super League fixtures this weekend with the 2025 England Performance Squad training in York, but the action resumes on the first weekend in July – when Edinburgh host Wigan, Sheffield Eagles have their first home game against London Roosters, and Hull FC enter the competition with a trip to Halifax Panthers.