KPMG PREMIERSHIP AND PREMIERSHIP A TITLES UP FOR GRABS IN SEASON FINALE

21st Feb 2019

The KPMG Premiership Top 4 and Prem A titles will come down to the wire on Saturday.  Societe Generale Valley and Gai Wu Falcons meet on the final Premiership weekend of the season with the Top 4 title on the line at KGV (1615), while Natixis HKFC Ice host SCAA First Pacific Causeway Bay in the Prem A finale at HKFC (1500).  

Valley and Falcons, the heavyweights of women’s rugby, having been involved in the last six Grand Championship finals, will meet for a third time this season, with Valley having won both previous ties.  At 12 straight wins, Valley are one match away from completing an undefeated Premiership run – and claiming the league title, after conceding it to Falcons in the final weeks of last season.  

The two are neck and neck on the table with Valley on top with 22 points and five wins since the split in the Premiership into a Top 4 and Prem A in January.  Gai Wu are three points behind, making Saturday’s clash a winner-take-all encounter.

In that sense things look very familiar to last season’s magic run for Gai Wu, when they lurked in striking range for the entirety of the season before claiming a first win over Valley on the penultimate weekend of the year.  That win snapped Valley’s then record 51-game winning streak and denied them a fourth straight league title.

The Falcons haven’t forgot that history, but it’s not a focus for Saturday either, according to coach Lai Yiu-pang: 

“Last year is a useful reference for us on the intensity we need against Valley. It was a great moment and started a good run but it is only a template for us. Both teams are in a different situation now. We had a lot of retirements after the Grand Championship and our team is quite new, at least in terms of players in key positions, so consistency has been a focus for us this year.”

After being able to field only one back reserve last weekend, and with a few niggles casting injury shadows over some of his regulars again this weekend, Lai is calling on his side to dig deep.

“We are still waiting to see on a few girls, but it’s finals rugby now, so everyone should be expecting to play the full 80 minutes.”

Lai is predicting a forwards’ battle, which to him plays to one of Falcons’ key strengths with several internationals in the pack.

“We have to put them under pressure defensively and make sure we don’t give them good position with our errors. If we don’t limit their options, they can turn them into points quickly, so I think Saturday will be decided in the forwards and the contact area, and hopefully that favours us a bit.”

Injuries derailed a promising start from Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers in their Top 4 run and they will now focus their sights on breaking the Valley-Falcons stranglehold on the grand final. Tigers will play Kerry Hotel Kowloon at King’s Park (1800) on Saturday with third place in the Top 4 a lock.

The KPMG Premiership A title will also be decided on Saturday with Natixis HKFC Ice having a chance to equal the feat of their men’s section in claiming a Premiership title.  Undefeated in Prem A play, 5-0 Football Club face off with second placed SCAA First Pacific Causeway Bay while Transact 24 Tai Po Dragons play Plastic Free Seas City Sparkle at Shek Kip Mei (1800).

Causeway Bay are in a similar position to Gai Wu with a chance to win it all on Saturday, but they have more work to do as a bonus point win away to Club, while keeping the hosts out of the bonus, is needed to lift them into the title spot.  

Despite the buffer, Ice coach Wesley Feausi is calling for an “all-in” performance this weekend.

“Although we’re on top of the table, their results speak volumes. They are the in-form team right now. From 1-23 they are strong and we are going to have to rely heavily on our bench against them.”

Aiding Football Club’s cause is the return this weekend of star back Elizabeth Musgrove, who arrived at Football Club this season hoping to make Scotland’s Sevens team only to have been called up for the Six Nations.  With Scotland on a bye this weekend, Musgrove has returned to play on Saturday.

“That speaks volumes about Elizabeth,” Feausi said of her return to help Club close out the season,

“But it also speaks a lot about the Club and the team culture we are building here that despite all that is going on she is still trying to get back for Saturday. I think that comes down to the girls all wanting to play for each other,” he added.

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