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St Helens R.F.C.–Wigan Warriors rivalry

St Helens–Wigan Derby
Other names Good Friday Derby
Locale North West England
Teams Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
First meeting 16 November 1895
Latest meeting Wigan 29 – 18 St. Helens
(14 April 2017)
Next meeting 25 May 2017 at St Helens
Statistics
Meetings total 324
Most wins Wigan (184)

The Rugby league matches between St. Helens and Wigan are local derbies with the two clubs being fierce rivals, both on and off the pitch.

St Helens and Wigan are two of the original twenty-two northern rugby clubs that broke away from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Union in 1895, which gave birth to the modern day sport of rugby league.

The two clubs first met in the very first season of the new code and drew the first ever encounter at St Helens' Knowsley Road ground nil points a piece.

Over the years the two clubs have become very successful. Wigan are the most successful club in British rugby league, having won 21 league championships and 19 Challenge Cup titles. St Helens are the second most successful team with 13 league titles and 12 Challenge Cup wins. In all competitions, the clubs have played each other over 300 times and the rivalry has grown to become rugby leagues biggest derby encounter with fans of each club passionately disliking their derby rivals. Although, unlike in football rivalries, crowd trouble at the games is rare.

Since the start of the summer era in British rugby league, the two clubs have played each other every Good Friday, leading to these encounters being known as the Good Friday derby.

In finals rugby league, the clubs have contested four league championship matches with St Helens claiming the title at Wigan's expense on three occasions (1971, 2000 and 2014) to Wigan's one grand final success over Saints in 2010.


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