NAN FUNG GROUP | AIRSIDE HONG KONG PREMIERSHIP: WOMEN'S SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW

It is knockout rugby time in the 2025/26 Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership, and the Women’s League Winners, Societe Generale Valley RFC, will face Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons, while runner-up Kroll USRC Tigers Women take on HKFC Natixis Ice in the semi-finals on Saturday 7 March 2026.

Societe Generale Valley RFC won the club’s 15th Women’s league title in 19 seasons, and they have won the Grand Championship Premiership title 13 times during the past 16 seasons.

Societe Generale Valley RFC vs Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons - Happy Valley Recreation Ground 6 - 15:50

Societe Generale Valley RFC wrapped up the League with a game to spare and lost only once all season, which was against their opponents this weekend in the semi-final. 

In the three matches in the regular season, Valley RFC won 43-0, before Gai Wu beat them 15-12 in Round 10, and Valley RFC won in the final round 26-12.

Societe Generale Valley RFC Head Coach Bella Milo oversaw her 100th game in charge of coaching the Valley side, in addition to having played over 100 games for the club previously. She will be looking to oversee their defence of the Women's Premiership Grand Championship Trophy.

“I think it's been a competitive season, and teams have gotten stronger as the League went on, and that's the beauty of having three rounds. This weekend, we will play the same side we had in the final round, and even though we beat them, we were not happy with how we performed. It's knockout rugby, and we have the opportunity to go out there and rectify what we got wrong last weekend.

The Prem has been competitive among the top four teams and among the bottom two teams. There is a lot more physicality and tactical awareness, as there has been more kicking, which meant more awareness about counterattacking, and the kick-chase has been awesome. The players who have come in have helped raise the physicality, and there have been exciting and some tight games,” she said of the Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Women’s Premiership 2025/26 season.

Of her team, Bella added, “It's been a real team effort across the board, but we have had some consistent standout performers. Just one is Grace Gago in our front row, who has been all over the park and had a huge workrate. The same can be said of our co-captain, Jayme Nuku, who has been a real workhorse and has been playing consistently well.

I think Sabrina Chung, who is relatively new to the game, has been grafting hard and getting around the field and has been consistently great and improving every week for us.”

Among the backs, the Samoan international mentioned Hasting Leiataua and Crystal Mayes (who have been regulars on the scoresheet all season, and both were players she singled out as ones to watch at the start of the season).

“Hasting has been awesome with her boot and defensively very strong for us this season, while Crystal Mayes has been a consistent performer and getting better as the weeks have gone by and into these final stages. They are just some of the top consistent performers this season.”

She added from a personal point of view as a coach, “This season, the ability to have repeat training sessions and have consistent messaging has been a big learning for me. Often, we can get bored as coaches and change things, but being able to repeat things with some minor adjustments has allowed our players to be consistent and aware of what is expected of them. We have been big on conditioning and our contact blocks, and that has really come through on the back end of the season and how we finish the games.”

Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons won as many games as they lost this season (7), but the one big win they had was inflicting the sole defeat on Societe Generale Valley RFC. 

Tumua Ioane is the Gai Wu Head Coach, and the side finished 3rd overall last season and 4th this season. He had said at the start of this campaign, “Last year still hurts if I'm honest. I'm very competitive, and a big thing for our group last year was just to drive belief in our club that there might be lots of great overseas players playing for other clubs, but it's nothing that we need and that they can achieve as well as the other teams.” 

He will need his side to be at its optimal best to prevent Valley RFC from heading towards another Grand Final.

Kroll USRC Tigers Women vs HKFC Natixis Ice – King’s Park 19:00

The sides met three times in the regular league season, drawing 7-7, before Kroll USRC Tigers won the second match 25-10, and in the final round were victorious 22-7, so the odds are stacked against the HKFC Natixis Ice side heading into the semi-final. 

Conor Joyce has been in charge for his second season as WCCO and Head Coach of the Kroll USRC Tigers Women, and led them to second in the Premiership, recording 11 wins in 15 games - it's a big improvement on finishing 4th last season, which had been one of his goals.

Joyce said of the season, “I would rate this season as a successful period of growth. Finishing in the top four was an objective of ours, but the way we’ve done it this year is particularly pleasing. We’ve shown that we can compete with the very best in the league, highlighted by some dominant performances in the later rounds. What stands out most is our defensive consistency. In the latter half of the regular season, we’ve been incredibly clinical, often keeping teams to zero or a single try. 

That 'shut-them-out' mentality has become a hallmark of this squad. While we had some tough battles early on, the momentum we’ve built heading into March is exactly where we wanted to be. We’ve managed to integrate new talent and see our senior players step up in crucial moments, making us much more cohesive than we were at the start of the campaign.”

The Tigers have had several players standout and the Head Coach pointed to the likes of Captain Shaye Whareaorere, prop Balljai Ng, Former Black Fern Kendra Taoho, centre Hinemaringi Scott, Hong Kong China 7s players Jessica Ho and Ka Man Nam, as well as lock & back row Elitha Sylvester.

He said The 2025/26 Nan Fung Group AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership has been incredibly impressive. “Specifically, in terms of the rising floor of competition. In previous years, there was often a clear gap between the top two and the rest of the pack, but this season, that gap is getting closed.

What has impressed me most is the intensity of every single round. You can see it in the results; no game has been a 'given'. Even the teams outside the top four have pushed the leaders, proving that the technical standard across Hong Kong women's rugby is at an all-time high.”

He added that the importance of 'Finishers' over 'Replacements' and the physical nature of the Women’s Premiership means the game has evolved beyond a starting XV. 

“A key learning for me has been the management of our bench. Ensuring that the players coming on at the 50 or 60-minute mark understand exactly how to maintain or increase the tempo has been the difference-maker in our most clinical wins this year. It’s not about who starts the game; it’s about who has the composure to finish it.”

In her first season in Hong Kong, HKFC Forwards Coach and WCCO, former USA Eagle Charli Jacoby, assisted Hannah Edwards as Head Coach.

Jacoby said, “This season has been a great learning opportunity for us, as our focus has been on developing and training a pool of players, while building depth and aiming for competitive matches and finishing in the top two.

We fell short of the aim to be in the top two, but that speaks volumes about the Prem’s development, and we are still in a great position and excited to take on the Tigers again this weekend in the semi-final. 

Something I have been impressed by is the amount of rugby the women get to play. There are 15 regular season rounds, and there are not too many competitions in the world where you get to do that and play opposition three times each. So, it allows everyone to learn and hopefully perfect.”

In terms of the challenge this weekend and players who have impressed this season, she explained, ‘Finals’ rugby is a different breed, and we have to prepare for all scenarios, and we have to ensure we have the best and healthiest squad to reflect the entire club's efforts this season.

I feel like we have had a ton of standout players, but one that stands out is Rachel Hocking Fong, who has been an absolute ‘Mrs Fixit’ for the team, and her versatility has meant she has played across the backline and slotted in wherever we needed to. Honestly, I think she would have a good crack in the forwards if we let her.

Christy Cheng, who is a well-known former Hong Kong China representative player, is an absolute weapon and will be one to watch in the semi-final. Hayley Glass, in the front row, has played almost every minute of the season and is massive on defence, has great footwork and has become a stalwart of our forward pack. While Lori Cramer made her debut only a couple of weeks ago and has opened up our attack and shown the weapons we do have in our backline. Her kicking game has put us in parts of the field to attack and allowed us to change things tactically.”

In terms of her own development and takeaways, Charli Jacoby said, “Some of our key learnings this season are that you have to plan for every scenario, as you never know what's going to happen. We have had to ask players to switch positions and, in some cases, learn new positions. We have used 56 players this season in the Premiership, so we are working hard and developing all of the players as athletes.”

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