WRU Challenge Cup

The WRU Challenge Cup (currently known as the WRU Premiership Cup, formally called the Welsh Rugby Union Challenge Cup, is Wales' premier knockout rugby union competition and is organised by the Welsh Rugby Union. As of 2022, it has been divided into separate Cup competitions Premiership Cup, Championship Cup, Division 1 Cup etc. as well as the Bowl and Plate editions for other lower divisions. The competition is now seen as the top cup prize for the community game, separate from the Super Rygbi Cymru competitions.

Logo of the SWALEC Cup

On 26 February 2007, the WRU agreed a new £1 million three-year sponsorship deal with SWALEC, who had previously sponsored the event from the 1992–93 season until the 1998–99 season; the Cup was renamed the SWALEC Cup once again.^[1] The SWALEC Cup is a three-tier competition with Cup, Plate and Bowl winners. In the inaugural year, the SWALEC Plate was contested by clubs that were knocked out of the SWALEC Cup in the first two rounds, while the SWALEC Bowl was contested by clubs that were eliminated in the first round of the Plate competition.^[2] In its second year, the WRU directly split the three competitions, with teams from Divisions 4–6 competing for the Bowl, teams from Divisions 2–3 competing for the Plate, and teams from the Premiership and Division 1 competing for the Cup.

The current WRU Premiership Cup holders are Pontypridd who beat Cross Keys 43-12 at the Millennium Stadium on 5 April 2025.

Past winners

Year	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Final venue
1972	Neath	15–9	Llanelli	Cardiff Arms Park
1973	Llanelli	30–7	Cardiff
1974	Llanelli	12–10	Aberavon
1975	Llanelli	15–6	Aberavon
1976	Llanelli	16–4	Swansea
1977	Newport	16–15	Cardiff
1978	Swansea	13–9	Newport
1979	Bridgend	18–12	Pontypridd
1980	Bridgend	15–9	Swansea
1981	Cardiff	14–6	Bridgend
1982	Cardiff	12–12 (Cardiff win on try count)	Bridgend
1983	Pontypool	18–6	Swansea
1984	Cardiff	24–19	Neath	National Stadium
1985	Llanelli	15–14	Cardiff
1986	Cardiff	28–21	Newport
1987	Cardiff	16–15 (after extra time)	Swansea
1988	Llanelli	28–13	Neath
1989	Neath	14–13	Llanelli
1990	Neath	16–10	Bridgend
1991	Llanelli	24–9	Pontypool
1992	Llanelli	16–7	Swansea
1993	Llanelli	21–18	Neath
1994	Cardiff	15–8	Llanelli
1995	Swansea	17–12	Pontypridd
1996	Pontypridd	29–22	Neath
1997	Cardiff	33–26	Swansea
1998	Llanelli	19–12	Ebbw Vale	Ashton Gate
1999	Swansea	37–10	Llanelli	Ninian Park
2000	Llanelli	22–12	Swansea	Millennium Stadium
2001	Newport	13–8	Neath
2002	Pontypridd	20–17	Llanelli
2003	Llanelli	32–9	Newport
2004	Neath	36–13	Caerphilly
2005	Llanelli	25–24	Pontypridd
2006	Pontypridd	26–25	Neath
2007	Llandovery	20–18	Cardiff
2008	Neath	28–22	Pontypridd
2009	Neath	27–21	Llanelli
2010	Llanelli	20–8	Carmarthen
2011	Pontypridd	35–24	Aberavon
2012	Cross Keys	32–19	Pontypridd
2013	Pontypridd	34–13	Neath
2014	Pontypridd	21–8	Cross Keys
2015	Bridgend	19–15	Pontypridd
2016	Llandovery	25–18	Carmarthen
2017	RGC 1404	15–11	Pontypridd
2018	Merthyr	41–7	Newport
2019	Cardiff	25–19	Merthyr
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Newport	25–21	Aberavon
2023	Cardiff	13-10	Newport
2024	Llandovery	20-18	Merthyr
2025	Pontypridd	43-12	Cross Keys

Total finals by club

Team	Winners	Runners-up
Llanelli	14	6
Cardiff	9	4
Pontypridd	7	6
Neath	6	7
Llandovery	3	0
Swansea	3	7
Bridgend	3	3
Newport	3	4
Cross Keys	1	2
Merthyr	1	2
Pontypool	1	1
RGC 1404	1	0
Aberavon	0	4
Carmarthen Quins	0	2
Caerphilly	0	1
Ebbw Vale	0	1

Sponsorship

Period	Sponsor	Name
1971–1977	—	WRU Challenge Cup
1977–1992	Schweppes	Schweppes Cup[3]
1992–1999	SWALEC	SWALEC Cup[4]
1999–2000	—	WRU Challenge Cup
2000–2003	Principality Building Society	Principality Cup[5]
2003–2008	Konica Minolta	Konica Minolta Cup[6]
2008–2016	SWALEC	SWALEC Cup[1]
2016–2019	—	WRU National Cup
2019–2021	Specsavers	Specsavers Cup[7]
2021–2024	Indigo Group	Indigo Group Premiership Cup[8]
2024–present	—	WRU Premiership Cup

External links

• SWALEC Cup website
• Konica Minolta Cup: A Brief History