Following the postponement of the Natixis HKFC versus Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC match tomorrow, the Hong Kong Rugby Union have confirmed that the first ever RugbyPass.com Game of the Week will now feature Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish hosting USRC Borrelli Walsh Tigers at Shek Kip Mei (16.30).

Due to injuries to its group of front row forwards, several of whom were involved in the recent Cup of Nations, the HKFC v HKCC match will be postponed.

HK Scottish and Tigers will now star in the first ever RugbyPass.com Game of the Week, which will be live-streamed worldwide on RugbyPass.com. In other Premiership action, Kowloon host Societe Generale Valley at King’s Park at 15.00.

Fittingly, the new RugbyPass.com Game of the Week will feature some new faces on their debut Premiership appearances as the Hong Kong Rugby Union deepens its partnership with Super Rugby side Gallagher Chiefs.

As part of an expanded developmental partnership, the Chiefs have sent five players from their development team to Hong Kong to take part in the RugbyPass.com Premiership for the remainder of the season and on an initial trial basis.

The incoming players are flanker Josh Dowsing, No.8 Turoa Stephens, lock Lars Murrice, fly-half Nathan De Thierry and centre Joseph Ikenasio.

The players have been seeded within the clubs based on positional need. Two of the five, Murrice and Dowsing, will play for Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish, who battled insufficient numbers throughout last season’s Premiership, while Ikenasio will mark his Tigers debut.

Dowsing, who captained Samoa at the World Rugby U20s Championship in 2015, has made two earlier appearances in Hong Kong, with the Development Squad on earlier training tours in 2015 and 2016, while Ikenasio was included in the 2015 travelling squad. The incoming players are all involved in Mitre 10 league level competition in New Zealand.

The infusion of new blood comes at an opportune momement for Scottish as they look to carry on the brilliant form that sees them sitting second on the table against Tigers without prop John Aikman, who has returned to England.

“Trying to keep that momentum going over these little breaks is crucial, we had a good run coming into that November test series window, we have just got to carry on now,” coach Craig Hammond said.

Hammond is by no means underestimating bottom-placed Tigers, who enter the game on the back of three straight losses.

“We have been doing some really good stuff and we have been building, but Tigers are dangerous,” he said. “They have got their sevens guys back and they have had a tough couple of games leading into this so they are going to want to win.”

For Tigers coach Craig Stewart, it has been a long three weeks with his side in the basement: “The boys are pretty keen to get back into it. Obviously being at the bottom doesn’t sit too well with us but a couple of wins will get us back in the hunt,” Stewart said.

Young lock Will Eversfield, who debuted for Hong Kong in the recent of Cup of Nations, will provide plenty of grunt for Tigers, while Stewart is excited about the prospect of having the services of Liam Gallagher at his disposal once again. Stewart is hopeful that fly half Gallagher will play this week after overcoming a number of niggling injuries.

“He is an important player. He is a very competitive individual and very driven to help the team succeed. He is a really tough character. I’m looking forward to getting him back on a regular basis,” Stewart said.

In Scottish, Stewart is eager to test his charges against the side he says were “probably the form team of the competition going in to the break”.

“They are a big abrasive side, they have got a style of rugby where they try and strangle teams in their own half and get their big forwards carrying the ball,” he said. “You have to stop their momentum and take away what they want. They are setting the benchmark at the moment.”

With Ben Higgins, Nick Hewson, Ben Rimene, Thomas Lamboley, Ally Maclay, Matt Rosslee and Ryan Meacheam, among others, fresh off international duty, Valley are set to continue where they left off against Kowloon.

“Playing international rugby must make anyone better,” Valley coach Andrew Kelly said. “They may be a bit sore but the ERP boys coming back and the guys that played for Hong Kong always add to the squad and the training sessions so it is good to have them back.”

Kowloon ran Valley within six points last time the sides met and Kelly is expecting a similar challenge this time around.

“They put us under a lot of pressure at the breakdown and with their defence so we have just got to compete there,” he said. “If we can get that sorted out we should be looking okay.”