As dawn broke this morning, most seasoned observers would have been predicting another clash between league champions Natixis HKFC and Societe Generale Valley, the most oft played finals pairing in Hong Kong rugby history, in next weekend’s Saxo Capital Markets Grand Final.  

But as dusk settled on another thrilling day of rugby, two clubs are set to mark their first Grand Final appearances as Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish beat Valley 27-18 at Shek Kip Mei, and Herbert Smith Freehils HKU Sandy Bay blitzed league champions HKFC, 31-10, at Sports Road.

Sandy Bay extended its league record-winning streak to six and capped a dream run to the final after being bottom of the table pre-Christmas. They halted Club’s pre-game undefeated streak at seven and reversed a heavy 54-24 loss to Club in their last meeting in January.

Scottish’s victory was some atonement for a season that looked to be lost at the turn of the year after four straight losses post-Christmas evaporated their seven point lead on the table. Today’s results make for a rejuvenated Grand Final next weekend and Scottish coach Craig Hammond was pleased that his side have made the big show for the first time.

“Sandy Bay at six in a row now and beating Football Club and us beating Valley, it’s great isn’t it?

“It just shows that anyone could have won the Premiership. We’re 7, 8 years old and are now in our first final, against Sandy Bay, a new club as well, so it’s a bit of a fairytale end,” he said.

It was hard work, rather than fairy dust, that saw Scottish overcome Valley, as they nearly let slip a 21-6 lead in the second half, after two tries from Valley No.8 Karetai Williams closed the gap to six, 24-18, with six minutes remaining.

But as they had all afternoon, Scottish had a quick reply for Williams’s scores with fullback Sean Taylor slotting a 78th minute penalty to push the lead out of converted try range at 9 points, 27-18, where it would remain as time expired.  

Taylor was immense for Scottish, scoring the first try after five minutes when he finished a nice passage of play with a perfect dummy on the line to try. Taylor added the conversion, and would add two more in the match, alongside two key second half penalties to keep Scottish in the lead throughout the tie. Taylor notched 17 points from today’s outing.

Valley fly-half Ben Rimene was quiet with the boot with penalties in either half; the first coming in reply to Taylor’s opening score as Valley shaved the lead to 7-3.  

Former Valley hooker Dayne Jans replied with a simple try when he crashed over unmarked at the front of the line-out; Taylor’s conversion pushing Scottish ahead 14-3, a lead they held at half-time.

Rimene poked a second through the uprights to start the second half, closing the gap to 14-6, but Scottish were again quick to reply.

Lock Jamie Pincott was on the right end of a massive forwards drive on the Valley line to score his second try in as many weeks, pushing Scottish ahead 21-6 after Taylor’s conversion.  

A yellow card against prop Jack Parfitt put Scottish behind the eight-ball late, with Williams taking advantage of the space to score twice in ten minutes, deserved reward for an afternoon of barreling runs.

William’s first try brought the score to 21-11, with the conversion going astray. Again Scottish did enough to hold them off, with Taylor slotting a penalty in reply to both of William’s scores, poking his side ahead 24-11, before his final strike made it 27-18.

“It was a classic semi really, coming down to six points and I was pretty nervous,” said Hammond.

“I’m proud of all of them, you know, we haven’t had much luck since the start of the year, losing four on the bounce after Christmas and our seven point lead in the league. Valley have been in the last five, six Grand Championships and we knew that.

“We’ve never had a home semi final before and the guys really stepped up into this atmosphere and played like it was just another game. Next week will be exciting, but we need to look after ourselves right and get back to work. I’ve been banging on about it all season, but when we get our house in order, we do ok. We’ll need to again next week,” said Hammond.

They certainly will, as Scottish try to unseat the league’s hottest team in Sandy Bay whose dismantling of Club hasn’t been matched this season. It was the veterans that made it happen today, with fullback Gus Cameron scoring a hat trick, including two straight in the second quarter that unbalanced the hosts, while mainstays Matt Lamming, Alex McQueen and captain Gair Currie were all influential.

Sandy Bay ran an air raid at Club, dominating from the early stages after going down 3-0 to an early Glyn Hughes penalty.  Sandy Bay’s first try was scored by Currie after scrumhalf Liam Slatem picked the opportune moment to move the ball from the base of a driving maul finding Currie on the offload for the try and a 5-3 lead.

Sandy Bay grew in stature and self-belief from that moment, stinging Club for two more tries in the half, with Cameron finishing both in the 26th and 32nd minute. Currie was on target as Sandy Bay led 19-3 at half-time.

Football Club started the second half positively, driving deep into Sandy Bay territory, but conceded a momentum-sapping counter-attack try started from a jailbreak by Alex McQueen who motored 60-metres before dishing to Cameron who found winger Seb Brien out wide to finish cleanly as Sandy Bay led 26-3.

Club collected its only score of the second half from a 55th minute penalty try after some chicanery from Sandy Bay’s forwards, closing the gap to 26-10 with ten minutes left.

But Sandy Bay were not through, driving the ball deep from the restart with a Club defensive miscue giving the visitors another attacking lineout deep in Club ground. A barging run by No.8 Luke van der Smith took the ball to the tram tracks before Cameron collected his hat trick and the final 31-10 victory.

Coach Brett Wilkinson hailed his side’s effort saying, “We understood what we had to do today, and we fronted up physically. We were really good in the set piece and we nullified their go-forward ball which really helped us win.

“I’m incredibly proud of all the players. They really laid a marker down right from the beginning. It is finals rugby now and we have given ourselves a chance and earned another week of rugby. We have Scottish in the final so nothing is guaranteed. We have to carry on from today, regroup and train really hard.

“But I am really happy for the players. They have had to put in a lot of hard work. It has been a tough season with us bottom of the table before Christmas, but we stuck to our guns and the support we have gotten from the Club is amazing.

“It really lifted the team today and I am just pleased. We are really grateful and thankful to be part of such a good club,” Wilkinson added.