Bloomberg HK Scottish, Societe Generale Valley and the Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers were the victors in Saturday’s Old Mutual International Men’s Premiership as the placings for the grand championship play-offs begin to take shape.

Valley snuck home 15-14 against a vastly improved HKCC side and Tigers pipped HKFC, 27-22, while Scottish locked in a home quarter-final with their 45-28 victory over Kowloon, the team they will host in that quarter-final.

A quiet opening featuring only a penalty to Scottish fly half Gregor McNeish gave way to a Kowloon onslaught as the first quarter ticked by.

Kowloon pinned Scottish in their half through some strong work across the board and cashed in with tries to inside centre Jack Neville and scrum half Bryn Phillips, with fly half Scott Sneddon converting both to give his side a 14-3 advantage.

The Scottish forwards sprang to life soon after, however, putting their adversaries under immense pressure. They drove Kowloon right back to their line and the pressure was eventually telling, with Scottish picking up a penalty try for a deliberate knock on, which also resulted in a yellow card to Kowloon prop Angus Dixon.

The home side’s forward pack certainly struggled in his absence and the visitors picked up a second penalty try for collapsing the maul.

To compound matters, Scottish surged forward again and No 8 Josh Dowsing found the line, with McNeish’s conversion completing a 20-minute blitz that gave his side a 24-14 half-time lead.

The scoring dried up in the opening stages of the second half, with handling errors preventing either side from gaining any real momentum.

Scottish looked the likelier of the two side’s and increased their buffer in the 54th minute, with second rower Mike Parfitt barrelling over from close range.

McNeish’s extras made it 31-14 and the home side were staring down the barrel of a heavy loss.

Kowloon hit back through a try to Rohan Cook but Scottish kept coming, with first centre Lex Kaleca and then lock Kyle Sullivan dotting down as the score ballooned to 45-21.Kowloon snared a late consolation try from Andy McEwan.

Scottish coach Craig Hammond was realistic about his side’s win as they continue an up and down season that has seen them fail to string together consecutive victories.

“We were 14-3 down after not long and that was probably just our individual errors from playing a bit and they’re being very good offthe turnover ball,” Hammond said.

“The boys clawed back into it and our set piece helped us out and we slowly built some good scores and the bench coming on and scoring a couple of good tries at the end is pleasing.

“After that first half, we camped down in their half for a good 10 or 15 minutes, but we coughed up a couple of things and came away with nothing but were able to eventually score a couple of quick ones.”

In the Old Mutual International Championship, HKFC Scorpions swept Disciplined Services XV, 82-5, to take home the Old Mutual International Championship Challenge Cup for a fourth successive game.