NAN FUNG GROUP | AIRSIDE HONG KONG PREMIERSHIP: ROUND 8 REVIEW

Round 8 of the 2025/26 Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership marked the last game of the calendar for all but two teams, as HKFC Men will play HKU Sandy Bay RFC on Thursday 18 December to play a game rescheduled from the start of the season.

Then all sides will have a well-earned break over the festive season, but they will come back to a Prem table which is topped by the undefeated Societe Generale Valley RFC for the women, while the club’s men’s side also leads and with just the two defeats.

On 13 December, Societe Generale Valley RFC maintained their unblemished season in the Women’s Prem and were joined by Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons and Kroll USRC Tigers Women in the winners' circle.

In the Men’s Premiership, HKFC Natixis Club, Kowloon Rugby Club, and Milwaukee Hong Kong Scottish were victors, with the latter earning their first win this campaign.

The 2025/26 Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership returns from 9 January 2026.

Women’s Premiership

Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons 67-10 Causeway Sandy Bay

Gai Wu Falcons followed up last week’s big win over HKFC to trounce Causeway Sandy Bay, and now move up to third on the log, ahead of HKFC but trailing Valley and Kroll USRC Tigers Women. 

Causeway Sandy Bay is 5th on the log.

Kroll USRC Tigers Women 80-0 Kowloon Rugby Club

Second on the log, Kroll USRC Tigers Women had a similar win to last week’s big 70-5 victory over Causeway Sandy Bay, but the massive win will have been enjoyed for keeping the clean sheet as much as the manner of the win.

Tigers voted their own Hinemaringi Scott as their Player of the Match in the win. The starting lineup included the likes of representative players Jess Ho, Maggie Au Yeung, Chong Ka Yan, Nam Ka Man, Vivian Poon, and Chloe Baltazar on the bench.

They have a healthy buffer over Gai Wu in third, leading them by 7 log points, and they will want to enter 2026 with the same momentum, but will start off the new year facing second-place Tigers and then followed by table-topping Valley - two massive games in the context of the season and title credentials.

Kowloon are rooted to the bottom of the table and are still looking for a first win this season, and their best chance might come in Round 10 when they play Causeway Sandy Bay.

Societe Generale Valley RFC 36-19 HKFC Natixis Ice

Defending champions, Societe Generale Valley RFC have now secured two big wins over their usual rivals, and they will face each other once more in the regular season. 

The victors held a slight 17-12 halftime lead after HKFC had opened the scoring through Niamh Orchard. Valley replied with tries through Grace Hamilton and Tanya Dhar, and Chloe Chan before Orchard scored a second.

HKFC scored first again in the second period with Izzy Littlehailes dotting down and levelling the scores at 17-all, and the conversion putting them in front. Valley came back again; Nadia Cuvelier, Katrina Roszynski, and Hamilton secured a brace as they ran away with the game.

The winners named their own Ella Lynam (who was on the recent Women’s XV tour to Europe) as their Player of the Match.

Valley has an 8-point cushion at the top of the log and a far superior points difference to the other 5 sides. For HKFC Natixis Ice, the third loss of the season has seen them drop to that vital 4th log position, which means they still are in contention for the playoffs.

Men’s Premiership

Milwaukee Hong Kong Scottish 41-25 HKU Sandy Bay RFC 

The hosts secured their first win of the 2025/26 Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership, and with that monkey off their back after some real tight losses, they will hope to kick on in the campaign.

They kick off the new year facing the 3rd and top-ranked teams in the Kroll USRC Tigers RFC and Societe Generale Valley RFC.

For HKU Sandy Bay RFC, they knew this season would be one of rebuilding, and they are now 9 log points away from fourth and out of play-off contention, for now. They have one more match against HKFC before the year closes out, before they face Valley and Kowloon in the first two matches of 2026.

Kroll USRC Tigers RFC 15-30 Kowloon Rugby Club

Kowloon gained revenge on Tigers, and they are 1-1 in the head-to-head this season and closely placed on the ladder. Kowloon have overtaken Kroll USRC Tigers RFC into second and they head into 2026 where they have HKFC first up before the defending champions who they currently sit three places above.

It was not the result Kroll USRC Tigers RFC captain Jamie Williams would have wanted as both he and Mak Kwai Chung reached 50 caps for the club in the loss. 

Societe Generale Valley RFC 31-32 HKFC Natixis Club 

Log leaders Societe Generale Valley RFC lost their second consecutive game (and their only losses this season), and again by a margin of one point. The result means they are only three points clear of Kowloon in the table and five points ahead of the Tigers.

For HKFC, the away win will be very sweet, and they are in fourth in the Men’s Prem with one more match before the year ends.

In the match they had only a one-point lead at the break - heading into the sheds 22-21 ahead. Their tries came from Quintony Ngatai (2) and Murray Brechin with Tommy Hill slotting two conversions and a penalty. Their second half haul of ten points were all scored by Hill as they edged out their rivals and gave HKFC's Head Coach Ben Siffleet a 2/2 winning start.

HKFC starting lineup included 8 HKCR representative players and two former GB7s representatives. 

Valley were without both Rob Fogerty or Charles Warren, while HKFC didn't have flyhalf Kai Stroem available as all three were in the Philippines 7s team which won bronze at the SEA Games 2025 in Thailand.

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