Inthe final round of the 2017/18 KPMG Women’s Premiershiptoday, there’s all to play for at the top, with ECO Gai Wu Falcons leading SocieteGenerale Valley by a single point. To take the title for a fourth successive year, Valley will likely need to overcome Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers (18:00, King’s Park), looking for the extra point and hoping that Natixis HKFC Ice inflict some damage on Gai Wu (16:30, KGV).

The competition is even stiffer in the KPMG Women’s Premiership Development, where three teams have a shot at wrapping upthe season in top spot. Kowloon, in second place, need a good four-try win over leaders Transact24 Tai Po Dragons (17:30, HKIED), while third-placed SCAA First Pacific Causeway Bay Phoenix are hunting for a demolition of winless Comvita City Sparkle (16:00, HKIED), supported by a kindly narrow win for Kowloon.

Tigers head to King’s Park touting their October draw with Gai Wu as evidence that they have what it takes to bring down Valley, whose seeming invincibility was dispelled in their 22-15 loss to Gai Wu, two weeks back.

Both teams enjoy near-full-strength squads, with theirHong Kong sevensplayers returned from the Coral Coast Sevens.

With all sides looking for advantage going into the Grand Championships, this year’s Women’s Premiership season finale could be the most competitive for years.

Tigers coach Fan Shun Kei has opted to play exciting 17-year-old Lara Schats at fly half, and move New Zealander Sarah Swinbanksto defence, tasked to use her strength and kicking skills to cover the back line. His only notable absentee is winger Hebe Talas, resting after a concussion in her previous game.

He feels he now has the options to take on any team in the comingknockout competition.

“Lara is the youngest in the squad, but is a very attacking player. In the fly half role, she gives us an extra possible combination for the Grand Championships. We now have the option to swap around for each team we play,” he explains.

Fan is brimming with hope about the opportunity to cap the season by beating one of the top two.

“Unfortunately we are not able to compete for the league leadership,” he said. “But our girls are very excited because of Valley’s defeat by Gai Wu.This is our rehearsal for the Grand Champs and hopefully it will bring out our best game.”

“Valley have some really good players, but do not always play as a team. If we can mark up their important players, and shut down their attack, we’ve got a chance. Our attack this year is quite sharp, and we should be able to score against them, as Football Club did last week,” points up Fan.

Unsurprisingly, that’s not how it looks to Valley’s player-coach, former Samoa captain Bella Milo. She recognises that the league win may have slipped from their grasp, ruing that their single loss to date in the season doesn’t overcome Gai Wu’s two losses and a draw. But the team are focused on securing a fourth consecutive Grand Championships title, and are going about it in typically thorough fashion.

Milo had the players watch and honestly analyse the video of their streak-breaking loss to Gai Wu.The team saw some correctable errors that led to a dip in confidence that she believes they can put behind them, with no major revision of the approach that notched 51 straight wins over three seasons.

Milo expects a tough match but comes well-armed.

“We can’t take anything for granted, after losing to Gai Wu. Tigers have all their sevens players back and a strong team so it’s going to be a battle right through the 80 minutes. But this is the first week this season that we have a possible best starting line-up. So this is a good situation as we go into the [Grand Championship] quarters and semi-finals,” she observes.

In KPMG Women's National League 1, leaders Revolution SRCwill hope to retain the KPMG NL 1 Challenge Shield for a fifth time when they playBloomberg HK Scottish Kukris, just two points adrift in third (18:00, King’s Park). In NL2, second-placed Police Sirens play City RFC Twinkles (18:00, PBS), eying a third week in possession of the KPMG National League 2 Challenge Shield.