sam burgess blasted the captain’s challenge system after Warrington Wolves lost 32-12 to Hull KR in the Challenge Cup semi-finals on Sunday afternoon in Doncaster. He said the delays dragged the match out for two hours and ten minutes and left the contest feeling disjointed.
Burgess had no complaints about the result, but he was direct about the process around it. Warrington challenged multiple calls in the second half, and by 6:10pm he said the game, which kicked off at 4pm, had gone on far too long.
Burgess on the delay
“You have to be careful what you say because they don’t like it when you tell the truth. But the captain’s challenge.. I don’t know if we’re watching the same game,” Burgess said after the semi-final.
He added: “I don’t know who the third referee was but I mean.. some of those calls. The inconclusive stuff.. they get decisions wrong all the time but how long do they want to take? It’s 6:10pm, we kicked off at 4pm. Two hours and ten minutes. I’m disappointed with the result but.. it’s a mess, it needs tidying up. I say it every week.”
Warrington’s first-half issues
The scoreline had already tilted Hull KR’s way before the late challenges stretched the evening. Burgess said his side did not get into the game early and did not build any momentum in the first half.
“We didn’t get into the game early. In the first half we didn’t build any momentum or anything. We’ll take plenty of lessons out of it. We went away from things that have been working for us so it’s disappointing. But I’m proud of our effort, we never stopped trying,” he said.
He also said Warrington were fortunate to reach half-time without the game getting worse. “I was happy with them for hanging in (at half-time) because it could have been way worse. We gave them so much territory and weren’t clinical with the ball and that makes defence hard. It’s disappointing but we’ll take lessons that we hope help us at the back end.”
Hull KR hold their edge
Hull KR, the reigning holders, ended Warrington’s bid to win back the cup with a 32-12 semi-final win. The result left Burgess praising the effort from his players while still making the challenge system the sharpest issue from the afternoon.
For Warrington, the frustration came in two parts: a heavy defeat and a match that stretched past two hours. Burgess has been raising concerns about the captain’s challenge system every week, and after this semi-final he made it clear he wants it tidied up.
