The clash between second-placed Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers and top-ranked Societe Generale Valley in the opening round of the KPMG Premiership Top 4 was a thriller as expected, as Valley escaped with a hard-fought 19-12 win this evening at KGV.

An even match featuring numerous Hong Kong internationals on both sides saw neither team able to exert any real dominance in what was ultimately a scrappy encounter that was intensified by strong physical play with plenty of committed tackling.

Hong Kong sevens and fifteen-a-side mainstay Colleen Tjosvold was the in form back for Valley creating numerous attacks and scoring the first try for her club in 2019 on the 40-minute marker. Tjosvold’s score came after Valley were handed its first big break in the match - a yellow card against Tigers prop Ho Ka-po in the 39th minute after some adjudged chicanery in a scrum in front of the Tigers posts.

Valley wasted no time finding the open player with Tjosvold the beneficiary on the first play after the sin-binning as she found space out wide to cross over untouched.  Player-coach Bella Milo nailed a difficult conversion from the far touchline to give Valley a 7-0 lead at half time.

The second half saw more end-to-end action, but little extended possession from either side as they fought to a standstill.   Valley would eventually gain the edge after 20 minutes with a forwards-led try as they found themselves attacking the Tigers line deep.  The entire pack joined an impressive driving maul that eventually carried prop Jasmine Cheung across the line.  Milo’s second touchline conversion was also good, giving Valley a more comfortable 14-0 margin with 20 minutes remaining.  

But it was another Hong Kong star who would reply for Tigers with wing Natasha Olson-Thorne digging deep for one of her trademark solo tries as she barreled 35-metres down the Valley touchline to cap Tigers first real foray into the Valley half.  Charlotte Myrans added the conversion to slim Valley’s lead to a converted try with ten minutes remaining.

Tigers’ composure was found wanting late in the game as some wrong options were taken that helped to give Valley the ball back late.  For its part, Valley put on a master class in ball retention in the final moments as they methodically worked their way upfield, reversing the pitch to create space for Jasmine Cheung, who was perfectly on the spot once again, to collect her brace. Milo missed the final conversion but Valley had increased its bumper to 19-7.

Tigers answered once again, closing the gap to 19-12 after a late try from reserve Vivian Poon who darted through the defence along the far side to score.  The difficult conversion went astray and Valley fended off all further attacks to extend their undefeated run on the season into the first round of the Top 4.

Milo credited her side after the tough encounter, saying, “You’ve gotta be pleased with a win. We had to try and defend them and I think we did really well in that first 20 minutes. Once we got a few points and went into our pick-and-go game we settled down a little bit.

“We wanted to play a slower game against them to slow their attack and I think we carried off that game plan very well. We’re happy but we have to take it to the next level now. We were really focused on Tigers this week and now we have Kowloon ahead and need to focus on them; just take it game by game now,” Milo added.

Tigers coach Fan Shun-kei was also pleased with his side’s effort but left ruing his team’s lack of discipline at key moments.

“Both teams are bringing women’s rugby to a higher standard,” he said after the game.

“You have to really credit Valley. They pushed us really hard and they punished us when we made mistakes. We made three mistakes and they scored from each of them because they are so good in attack.

“I was a bit disappointed with some of our individual errors, but overall the team effort was great, especially coming back from 14-0 down. We scored two really good tries and I think it proves that when we get our structure right, we are really dangerous in attack.

“We also managed their physical threat well, which was a big part of our game plan - focusing on our defence. It just came down to a few key errors and discipline. We had fewer team penalties overall, but there were some critical individual errors and they punished us for them right away.”

Still Fan was delighted with what his side has managed to achieve in their first Top 4 outing, particularly in where it leaves them staring down the Premiership homestretch.

“We are in a good position. We held Valley out of the bonus point and got one of our own by finishing within seven, so hopefully we can beat the other clubs by bonus points and win out, then we can get through [to the league title],” said Fan.

In the other Top 4 match, third-ranked Gai Wu Falcons posted a convincing 38-5 win over Kerry Hotel Kowloon.

In Premiership A, SCAA First Pacific Causeway Bay survived a scare from Transact 24 Tai Po Dragons to win 14-12, while second ranked Natixis HKFC beat Plastic Free Seas City Sparkle, 36-10, with influential centre Elizabeth Musgrove adding a hat-trick.