Tom Briscoe did not know he had sealed a place in the Challenge Cup record books until a member of the Leeds staff informed him after the final at Wembley.
The wing became the first player to score five tries in a Challenge Cup final during Leeds’ 50-0 rout of Hull Kingston Rovers on Saturday, surpassing the four tries scored by Leroy Rivett in the 1999 final while also playing for Leeds. Briscoe said the scale of the achievement was yet to sink in, and he was not aware of the magnitude of his performance initially.
“It’s obviously a pretty incredible achievement,” he said. “I wasn’t even aware of it until someone said it to me after the game, and it makes it a special moment for me personally.”
The 25-year-old picked up his second winner’s medal but, after losing two finals earlier in his career, he admitted the low times make the highs all the sweeter. “The first final I played in I got injured, and having been nilled in 2013 whilst at Hull FC I know how it feels to lose here.
“I know what Hull KR fans are going through having experienced that low, and like most of the boys here will tell you who’ve lost a cup final, it builds the anticipation and creates an incredible feeling when you’re going up the stairs to collect that medal.”
