The HKRU Old Mutual International Men’s Premiership kicks off this weekend with the much-awaited Super Saturday, a triple-header of games to get the season off to a flying start.

Societe Generale Valley, reigning grand champions for a fifth straight season, kick off proceedings against Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers at 3.00pm at King’s Park, while Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC and Bloomberg HK Scottish keep the ball rolling with a 4.45pm kick-off.

Last season’s Grand Championship runners-up Kowloon take on Natixis HKFC at 6.30pm, rounding out a mouthwatering line-up of the best of local rugby.

The opening round of the Premiership will be missing some of some of its superstars with Hong Kong competing in the second round of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in South Korea this weekend, but on the whole the six sides enter the season with healthy lists.

New Tigers coach Sam Hocking knows he is getting thrown in the deep end in his side’s clash against the juggernaut that is Valley but is looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s pretty much a baptism of fire but it will be good to get involved,” he said. “The boys have worked hard during pre-season and we are looking forward to it.”

Recruits Nick Seymour, Joe Elyatt, Ian Etheridge and Andrew Krelle are all set to play, however recent Hong Kong debutant Liam Gallaher is unavailable due to a shoulder injury.

“All four new boys will be involved in some shape or form,” Hocking said. “They have settled in well and they have added quite a bit of value.

“We’re hoping to build on what we did last year, with an attacking style of rugby as well as a little bit of control in our defence. We are looking to put teams under pressure defensively this year, hopefully we can add that to our arsenal.”

Valley have been relatively quiet on the recruiting front – bringing in only versatile back Sean Conner – however Hocking knows they will still be a handful.

“Out of all the teams, they probably haven’t brought in as many players, they usually wait until Christmas to bring in a couple of boys,” he said.

“We expect a tough battle at the set piece and they have got some old experienced heads in that backline, with Matt Rosslee and Tiger Bax directing the way that they play.”

HKCC’s Brett Wilkinson is the Premiership’s other new coach and he is eager for his side to get things right while he scopes out the competition on Super Saturday.

“To be honest, because I’m new I don’t know much about Scottish, but in chatting to the players I’ve got a good bit of feedback. For me, it’s about concentrating on us and getting ourselves right, rather than someone else for this first game,” he said.

Wilkinson is looking forward to seeing new additions Jak Lam, Gair Currie, Lawrence Babe, Jack Metters and Luke van der Smit in action and has put the onus on his players to get things right.

“They have been here for a while and are raring to go, they have fitted in very well,” he said. “We need to really be accurate in our set plays and our set piece and also have accuracy around the breakdown.

“We need players doing their jobs to a high standard. That’s what I mean about worrying about ourselves, each individual player taking that responsibility upon themselves to put in a performance and do the basics really well.”

Kowloon are looking to go one better in 2017/18 after losing to Valley in last year’s decider and coach James Scaysbrook has the luxury of picking from a fully fit squad for the clash with an HKFC that has shown steady improvement over recent seasons.

Scaysbrook is looking forward to seeing what they bring to the table: “We know what we’re going to get, we are going to get a physical, combative performance from them. They’ll have new players the same as everyone else so whether they will make any adjustments, we will have to see on Saturday.”

For Kowloon, it’s about continuing to build on the continuity that carried them so far last year.

“I don’t think there is going to be any one key area of the game, the big thing is focusing on ourselves and our performance,” he said. “We need to knit together as many positive actions as possible.”