Thursday 30 April 2020 22:49, UK
Friday night is rugby league night and we have all missed our weekly dose of Super league action. With live sport still in limbo, we will be looking to fill that void with some classic match-ups.
To kick things off we have the 1996 Cross Code Challenge between Super League champions Wigan against domestic rugby union champs Bath.
This was a unique challenge played over two games - one of league and one of union - with whoever had the highest aggregate score, crowned the winners.
The league match kicked things off at Manchester's Maine Road while two weeks later the union rematch took place at Twickenham.
The Wigan team of that era was regarded as one of the greatest sides ever, with the likes of Martin Offiah, Kris Radlinski and Terry O'Connor as well as Jason Robinson, Va''aiga Tuigamala, Scott Quinnell, Andy Farrell and Shaun Edwards - all who went onto have massive impacts on the 15-man game.
Union had only been professional less than a year but Bath had dominated the domestic season and had also had an impressive line-up. Jeremy Guscott refused to take part but Mike Catt, Andy Robinson, Jon Sleightholme, Phil de Glanville and Steve Ojomoh were all involved.
Scott Quinnell had made a successful transition from union to league, but it was to be his last game in the 13-man code as he was heading back to union to play for Richmond.
He was perfectly placed to know exactly what part of the game Bath would struggle with: "It is a simple game to get the hang of, but the difficulty is getting back 10 metres and setting your defensive line," explained Quinnell.
" As long as they get that right, it should be a good game. It is a very physical game and it can be a bit of a culture shock."
For Terry O'Connor, it was the scrum and the line-out that was concerning him for the union match at Twickenham.
"We had a really close connection with Orrell so we went and did some scrum and line-out practising against them," said O'Connor.
" We couldn't win one scrum against them! I remember saying to the lads, that if we can't get the ball against Orrell, how were we going to get the ball against the best union team in England!? We were in a bit of a panic.
"Our plan was to be as physical as we could with them and try and keep the ball away from them."
Relive all the action from both games on Friday 8 May from 7pm.
Following on from Wigan vs Bath, we will have a classic game each Friday between 8pm and 10pm, as well as Retro Magic and Retro Summer Bash weekends...….
8 May: Wigan vs Bath 1996, 7pm SS Arena
8 May: Bath vs Wigan 1996, 9pm SS Arena
15 May: Huddersfield vs Leeds, Sept 25, 2015, (channel tbc)
22 May: Castleford vs St Helens, Sept 28, 2017, (channel tbc)
23 and 24 May: Retro Magic Weekend, (channel tbc)
29 May: Australia vs Great Britain, November 4, 2006, (channel tbc)
30 and 31 May: Retro Summer Bash, (channel tbc)
