The wheels came off for the Hull teams this afternoon, when, in the biggest fixture mix-up of all time, Hull City went up against St Helens in the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley, and their rugby neighbours Hull FC stayed at the KC to take on Wigan Athletic at football.
Both teams lost, and an investigation is under way tonight to try and find out how a football team played rugby, and a rugby team were forced to play football.
Hull manager Phil Brown told reporters:
"We did our best, but we've not played much rugby, and St Helens are the top team at the moment. We went behind early on, and even when we put Saints under some pressure in the second half, it was always an uphill struggle."
Airlie Birds' team boss Richard Agar was equally apologetic, saying:
"I think Wigan realised that the wrong team had turned up. We were never in it, they went two-up, and swamped us in the end. We'll learn from our mistakes though, in case such a ridiculous mix-up ever happens again."
The final scores were:
St Helens 28 Hull City 16
Hull FC 0 Wigan Athletic 5
The BBC's Clare Balding, the one who looks a bit like a rugby player herself, said:
"Perhaps it was the occasion, the fact that they play at the same stadium, or maybe it was just an attack of nerves."
