Valley Black survived a scare from Gai Wu Falcons as they ran their undefeated streak to three league seasons – and 39 games – with an 8-7 win to clinch the Women’s Premiership title.
Another hard-fought encounter between Valley and Gai Wu was a fitting end to the league season, as both sides entered the afternoon with legitimate claims on the title.
For eighty minutes, the local titans of the women’s game played each other to a standstill defensively, allowing just one try in either half.
“It was a really tough game,” said Valley coach James Elliot. “Gai Wu clearly wanted to win the league. It was obvious when they turned down four or five opportunities to take penalty shots at goal, preferring to go for the try.”
With Valley only having to avoid conceding a bonus point loss to Gai Wu to win the league – and having one of the league’s top goal kickers in Zoe Smith, Elliot was happy to take the conservative approach as he sent his fullback out to slot an opening penalty for the 3-0 lead.
Falcons replied before the half with a quick tap and run try that was converted by Lee Tsz-ting, putting Valley in the unfamiliar position of trailing at halftime, 7-3.
With the game deadlocked in the second half, Valley flanker Olivia Coady stepped to the fore, scoring the game-winning try from 20 metres out in the 50th minute, brushing off five tacklers to barge over in the right corner.
“Olivia was immense,” enthused Elliot, “There are no words to describe her effort; she was invaluable; she was everywhere. I think she forced more than 15 turnovers, which is a good number for an entire team in a game.”
Falcons threw everything they could into the last 20 minutes, and were given an excellent opportunity when Rachel Wong was sin-binned. They camped out on the Valley try-line for the entirety of the final quarter, but an immense defensive effort from Valley held them off the board as time expired.
“Gai Wu worked really hard. We didn’t have as much ball or as many opportunities. They could have won the game if they’d taken a different strategy,” said Elliot. The girls were happy to win the game and win the league but it wasn’t just about the ladies today. It was fantastic day of rugby at the Valley ground, with a great turnout and a great atmosphere.”
Gai Wu coach Lai Yiu-pang hailed his side’s spirited performance, especially after they improved on a 28-3 loss to the champions in November.
“Our performance improved a lot since we played earlier this season. We were understrength today, with key players out injured and a lot of inexperienced players on the pitch, but they all pulled together.
“Compared to the last match against Valley, we did much better, especially at the breakdown. We managed that part of the game very well,” said Lai.
Despite the loss, and conceding the League title to Valley, Lai knows that today’s performance will benefit his side.
“We took a lot of confidence out of that performance. Hopefully we can build off that momentum. We have a few weeks now to get some of our key players back fit, so ideally we can be stronger and make it back to the final,” added Lai.
In other Premiership action, USRC Tigers beat HKFC Ice 52-13, while CWB Phoenix held off City Sparkle 12-0.
The weekend’s results earn Valley a first round bye in the Grand Championships. Gai Wu will play bottom-ranked City in the opening stages, while third placed Tigers will play Kowloon, who were on bye today but finished in fifth on the table. Fourth placed HKFC Ice will face fifth placed Causeway Bay in the mid-table clash in round one.
For all the weekends results see here
Additional reporting: HKrugby
