VALLEY BLITZ KOWLOON IN SAXO CAPITAL MARKETS PREMIERSHIP GAME OF THE WEEK

15日 12月 2018

Societe Generale Valley blitzed Kerry Hotel Kowloon 70-12 in the Saxo Capital Markets Premiership game of the week at Happy Valley, while Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay claimed an important scalp beating Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers, 48-28, in the other afternoon match. Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish maintained their status as the Premiership’s top team after beating Natixis HKFC at Shek Kip Mei 34-21.

 

Today’s results see Scottish extend their comfortable lead atop the table and reinforce their status as the Premiership’s top outfit this year.  Losses for Tigers and Football Club have opened an opportunity for Valley to climb the ladder ahead of the New Year with a crucial tie against Tigers on Tuesday.

 

An evenly contested first half saw Kowloon trailing Valley 14-5 at the break, but the hosts looked increasingly dangerous as the half went on with Valley’s forwards collecting metres in chunks in open field running approaching the break.  It proved an ominous portent of a second half that saw the hosts put Kowloon to the sword with eight tries in the final forty minutes.  

 

Centre Richie Lewis led all try scorers with a hat trick after the break, while full-back Scott Davidson finished ten of 11 from the tee, and added the first try after half-time, for a 25 point haul. Lock Rob Lennox scored Valley’s first try and repeated the feat early in the second half to keep his side ahead in crucial periods, while scrumhalf Ruan Duplooy added a brace of his own and Matt Rosslee and Sheldon Coffin added tries to complete the rout.

 

“The loss to Scottish last week was a huge wake-up call for us at many levels – both as a team in where our collective focus was, and as individuals.

 

“We talked about that a lot this week and I think that focus contributed to a great win today,” said Valley’s Director of Rugby Dean Herewini after the match.

 

“We eradicated some of those small mistakes that have plagued us so far, and that really helped with our ball retention. We held on to the ball for significant amounts of time, which gave us real momentum. The belief was there and then things really started to click,” Herewini added.

 

Valley will be hoping that momentum – and the relatively fresh legs afforded by a win secured early on – will carry into next Tuesday’s clash against Tigers – giving them a real chance to move into second place on the table before the end of the year.

 

Sandy Bay blitzed the Tigers at King’s Park this afternoon – racing out to a bonus point in the first half after tries from wings Jack Metters and Seb Brien, fullback Gus Cameron and hooker Alex Post.  

 

Metters added a penalty and three conversions to give Sandy Bay a 29-7 lead at the half, with fly-half Liam Gallaher accounting for Tigers’ only try of the half and full-back Robbie Keith adding the conversion.

 

Tigers fought hard to reduce the gap after the break, ultimately pulling to within 10 points with ten minutes remaining. Wing Casey Stone started the fight back with his 44th minute try, Keith’s conversion bringing the score to 29-14. Their effort was derailed by a yellow card against scrumhalf Cado Lee shortly after Stone’s try, which soon created space for Lee’s opposite number Liam Slatem to score as Sandy Bay pushed its lead to 36-14 after Metters’ conversion.  

 

Keith replied with a converted try to narrow the margin once again, this time to 15 points 36-21. Tigers were then given another chance when Sandy Bay flanker Matt Lamming was sin-binned. Zac Hrstich capitalized with a try to pull Tigers to within eight points after the conversion from Keith left the score at 36-28.  

 

Having been on the wrong end of numerous close losses this year, Sandy Bay refused to be drawn into another tight affair and exploded for two tries in the final minutes as Hong Kong backs Tom McQueen and Seb Brien scored in the late stages to see Sandy Bay run out 48-28 winners.

 

At Shek Kip Mei, it was a case of dueling halfbacks early on in a pivotal clash between frontrunners Scottish and Football Club.

 

The visitors drew first blood after 12 minutes when scrumhalf Jamie Lauder found the gap for the opening try.  Fly-half Glyn Hughes converted Lauder’s strike to push ahead 7-0, but the lead was nullified five minutes later when Scottish scrumhalf James Christie put his team on the board with a try.  Fly-half Gregor McNeish slotted the conversion to level the scores at 7-all after 20 minutes.

 

In the 25th minute Scottish captain Josh Dowsing gave his side the advantage with a try while Christie notched his second try just three minutes later; a penalty from McNeish pushed the hosts further ahead, 20-7, before half-time.

 

In the second half, Scottish showed why they are one of the hardest home outs in Hong Kong rugby when centre Andrew Henderson crossed over for a try in the 44th minute, putting Club on the back foot immediately as they trailed 27-7. Dowsing scored his second try moments later with McNeish’s conversion pushed the lead to 34-7.  

 

A yellow card against Scottish lock Kyle Sullivan left the hosts with work to do over the final ten minutes as Football Club scored twice late with tries from centre Nate de Thierry and No.8 Paul Gualino.  Two conversions from Hughes made the score line more respectable, but Scottish ultimately came away with a comfortable win, 34-21.

 

That win adds to a comfortable bumper on top of the table for Scottish, lifting their record to 7-1, good for 34 points, ten more than their nearest threats in Tigers (24).  Valley’s victory sees them make a big move on the table and steal a jump on Tigers and Club. Football Club are in third with 23 points, one more than Valley, who improved their record to 4-4. It all sets a tantalizing stage for the closing action of 2018 when Valley travel to Kings Park on Tuesday evening while Football Club will be in action against Kowloon two days later.

 

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