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Valley Black Thrash Gai Wu Falcons 28-3

After another in a long line of hard-fought matches, Valley Black beat their fierce rivals Gai Wu Falcons, 28-3, at Kings Park. The convincing win sees Valley remain the only unbeaten side after six rounds of the Women’s Premiership. In other Premiership action, Causeway Bay Phoenix edged City Sparkle 12-5 while USRC Tigers beat HKFC Ice 57-5.

While Gai Wu remain level with Valley on the table with 24 points, Valley have a game in hand and their convincing 28-3 win left no doubt as to who is at the top of the league’s pecking order. The Falcons put up a brave fight in the first forty minutes – trailing 9-3 at halftime – three penalties from the excellent boot of Valley fullback Zoe Smith against a single penalty from Aggie Poon Pak-yan.

It was a different game in the second half as Valley stormed home with three tries and two conversions from Smith. Prop Jasmine Cheung and flyhalf Kelsie Bouttle both got on the scoresheet as did centre Adrienne Garvey who broke four tackles in a hard-charging run to get across the paint as Valley put up a significant margin on the Falcons.

Powerful performances from Valley’s elite cadre of current and former internationals; flanker and captain Olivia Coady, a former New Zealand Black Fern; Bella Milo, a former Samoa international; and Hong Kong sevens and fifteens cap Garvey, were a crucial factor in the loss for Falcons coach Lai Yiu-pang.

“Valley gave us a good, hard lesson today. They are a really good team and they have some players that are in another class, even compared with our Hong Kong players. Coady and Bella [Milo] really exposed us today,” said Lai.

Coady was tireless as she dominated the loose and kept the Falcons off balance with her aggressive forward play while Milo and Garvey used the ample possession created by the forwards to open up the attacking channels and put Falcons’ one-on-one tackling under rigorous examination.

“Before the game we talked about the ruck being a key to win but we weren’t able to secure any possession today,” said Lai.

“Coady turned us over all day long and when we did have ball we made too many basic errors. They put us under so much pressure we couldn’t get our structure in place and couldn’t build any momentum in our attack. I was happy with the way we played in the first half but they were too much for us in the second half,” Lai added.

Lai believes that the loss today will ultimately be good for both his side and the Hong Kong XV. Sixteen players from the current national training squad were in action in the match with Gai Wu boasting 13 in their starting 23.

“We all want a higher level of performance week in and week out and these games against Valley and Tigers are getting there. This game will also help the Hong Kong players get ready for their upcoming test matches as the intensity from Olivia and Bella we saw today was the level that Hong Kong players will need to reach in international competition,” Lai added.

Gai Wu and Valley will face off just once more on the last week of the league season in February and Lai says his charges now know what to expect from the defending league and grand champions Valley.

“Now we definitely know what we have to do to beat Valley and we have some time to prepare to do that but it will be up to the girls if they are willing to do what it takes or not,” said Lai.

USRC Tigers thumped HKFC Ice 57-5 to break to claim sole possession of third place after the win with Ice slipping to fourth with Causeway Bay hot on their heels.

City ran CWB Phoenix close in their hunt for a first ever Premiership victory, it was 5-all at half-time but Causeway Bay put paid to City’s hopes shortly after play resumed with a converted try to claim the win.

City coach Fung Kai-hang says despite the accumulating losses his side is battling bravely: “We are still adjusting to the Premiership environment. We need to work on doing the basics under pressure, but compared to our last few games I see a lot of improvement. If we keep doing what we are doing and work more on our basic skills we will see some success soon,” said Fung.

While the winless streak wasn’t broken, City did manage their first Premiership point today after collecting the bonus for a loss within seven points.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Gai Wu Falcons Flying Start Continues

Gai Wu Falcons continued their perfect start to the Women’s Premiership season beating City Sparkle 58-0 in round four. In the other matches HKFC Ice beat CWB Phoenix 22-14 at King’s Park while the USRC Tigers beat Kowloon 49-0.

The return of Gai Wu’s sevens stars proved too much for Premiership debutants City as Chong Ka-yan ran in four tries alone. Coach Lai Yiu-pang also credited Melody Li Nim-yan for her commitment and work rate and welcomed sevens captain Christy Cheng Ka-chi back for her first fifteens action this season.

“It was really good to get the sevens girls back. Christy played about 30 minutes and she looked really good and Melody was all over the park today. Ka-yan [Chong] may have even had a fifth try it was hard to keep track,” said Lai.

Gai Wu prevented their opponents from scoring for a third consecutive game this season and have now posted 145 points for to zero against over just three matches.

Despite this prodigious strike rate, the Falcons still trail Valley Black – who were on bye this weekend – on points differential. Valley are on +154 after three wins to start the season, keeping the Falcons nestled in second place on the table behind last year’s double-winners.

In other Premiership action, USRC Tigers mauled Kowloon 49-0. It was a disappointing set-back for a Kowloon side that had come within a minute of claiming their first win of the season last week against HKFC and were looking to string together another strong performance. But the Tigers proved too strong.

Tigers coach Liu Kwok-leung was pleased the way his side stuck to their desired structure saying, “This result is what we planned for. We followed our game plan all the way, kept our intensity high and used our width and attacking space well. Everyone played their part well. It was very smooth.”

Liu was also pleased to have his own sevens players back, none more so than the influential Natasha Olson-Thorne. “Natasha was a key player for us tonight. At times when we struggled with our decision-making and the ball was getting messy, she always showed the leadership to rebuild momentum.”

HKFC Ice had the best of its second tight encounter in as many weeks beating CWB Phoenix 22-14. Ice’s forward pack proved the difference in a strong opening half, keeping Causeway Bay under near constant pressure with the first try coming midway through the half.

The pressure led to penalties for Causeway Bay and a succession of yellow cards enabled Football Club to add a second try on a 13-strong Causeway Bay shortly before halftime. Football Club added a buffer-try in the third quarter but Causeway Bay fought back with two successive tries to close the gap to 17-14 before Club collected a bonus point try for the 22-14.

“It was a ding-dong forwards battle,” said HKFC coach David Wigley. “Causeway Bay really upped their game in the second half and had us worried. They have some big strong forwards, and as we got a bit lazy in defence, we were struggling to control their pack.”

Wigley singled out Rosie Fong for her masterful control of the match and scrumhalf Henrietta Wong for solid display.

Full women’s rugby results for 22 October, 2016 here

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Woman’s Premiership Rugby Preview – 22 October, 2016

This weekends action in the Women’s Premiership sees Gai Wu Falcons take on City Sparkle at Shek Kip Mei, while CWB Phoenix host HKFC Ice at So Kon Po and USRC Tigers face Kowloon Ladies at Kings Park, All games kick off at 18.00.

HKFC Ice survived a tough encounter against Kowloon last week with a last-minute try securing a 22-17 win and will hope to continue their perfect start to the season against CWB Phoenix. After suffering a rash of injuries last week, the going could prove slippery for Ice. The Sports Road outfit suffered six injuries in the match last week with four players remaining out from the starting fifteen for this Saturday’s match, pushing them to call up players from National League level.

“We have a few girls who can step up from the second team, which is also part of our long-term plan. They are capable players but haven’t yet played at this level,” said HKFC coach David Wigley. “CWB Phoenix had a tough game against the Tigers last week and we won’t take them lightly at all, but we are confident. We’ve played them a number of times last season and they were all tough matches, but we came through and won them all.”

“They have a tough pack and are really good on the ground; they slow the ball down well,” added Wigley. “Our game plan revolves around quicker ball, so the contest at the breakdown will be vital. We are going to have to up our game, especially at the breakdown, where we lacked a bit last week.”

Causeway Bay coach Ocean Chow will be hoping to wipe the slate clean against HKFC and is targeting this match as his side’s potential first win of the season after having faced the most challenging schedule in the early rounds of the Premiership.

“We are ready for Football Club and believe this game can be our first win this season. The players know they played well last time, we had a good performance, and we have the ability. They feel confident.”

Chow wants to see his team get the ball wide this weekend. “Our plan is to involve the backline more, particularly in the first half. That is the strength of the side and if we can use them in the first half we can conserve some energy for the second half, when we can bring our forwards more into the play.”

Most importantly for Chow, who bemoaned his side’s lack of mental preparation for last week’s game, is that the self-belief has returned to the squad: “The players believe they can win, which is crucial – we have to have that belief. They can feel our potential and now we want to realize it.”

Causeway Bay are aware that Football Club boasts some difference makers, both up front and deep, with Hong Kong stars Royce Chan Leong-sze and Rose Fong Siu-lan anchoring the pack and backs respectively.

“Rose and Royce are key for them. Rose always controls play very well, while Royce adds strength to an already considerable forward pack. This is why we want to make sure we get width on our attack, to move their forwards around a bit,” said Chow.

A consistently improving Kowloon will look to sneak up on Tigers this weekend after turning in a buoyant showing against Football Club.

Tigers Coach Liu Kwok-leung will rely on the return of his sevens players from international duty to ensure there are no slip-ups for his talented side after last week’s heavy loss to Falcons.

“Kowloon are much improved – I saw them play last week – everyone is confident, aggressive and as a team they are getting much better. They have mostly new players, who are not so experienced but have done a lot to strengthen their skills and mindset. I see them running hard, playing confidently and knowing what to do in the second and third phases. They are much improved on last season.”

“The good news is that our sevens players are back, and our bench is looking strong.” added Leung. “I feel confident about our prospects this season. We’ve finished in the top three for the past two seasons and aim to move up this time. We always want to be at the top.”

“After coming through last week, despite some lapses, we know we need to keep our momentum going. In the past we haven’t always kept stable through the whole 80 minutes. Too often we give away chances, so everyone understands that we need to keep possession and keep the intensity high for the whole game,” said Liu.

That intensity promises to be matched by Kowloon after an inspiring performance last week versus Football Club.

“Everyone has renewed confidence after last week,” said Kowloon coach Jonathan Ho. “Our performance will definitely be stepping up a notch this weekend.”

Ho feels that the standings don’t flatter his opponents. “It’s true that Tigers are just slightly ahead of us on the table but they are a well developed and mature team. They are closer to Valley and Gai Wu than the rest of us.”

Ho has reinforced the team’s preparation in the set piece this week in training. “We have worked a lot on our lineout as it is an area where, with more confidence, we feel we can perform much better than we have been doing. Tigers strength is their backline, which I think is as good as the top two teams (Valley and Gai Wu).”

Ho’s estimation is confirmed by the fact that Tigers have three backs who are mainstays in the Hong Kong Women’s sevens squad including the hard-tackling Natasha Olson-Thorne, Lindsay Varty and Nam Ka Man who looked in outstanding form for Hong Kong in Sri Lanka.

Ho understands that with Tigers strength in the backs, possession will be a key for his team: “We need to get the ball in our hands and keep it. When they attack we have to make contact early, try to secure a turnover and work to turn defence into attack. We need to make something of every situation.”

Most importantly, Ho will look to his charges to build on last week’s efforts. “Last week’s game was definitely a turning point for us. Since last week, the whole mood in our camp has changed for the better. It’s just a matter of believing that we can do it.” That belief will be put to the test on Saturday.

It will likely be one-way traffic at Shek Kip Mei as the Gai Wu Falcons take on the debutant Sparkle. Gai Wu fans will be hoping the Falcons can maintain their defensive clean sheet, they have yet to concede a single point to their opponents this season, turning in convincing results over Kowloon (56-0) and Causeway Bay (31-0).

Additional reporting: HKRU
Image: Phoebe Leung

Can City Sparkle Against Valley Black?

Premiership debutants City Sparkle take on a Valley Black team unbeaten for two seasons in the third round of the 2016-17 tournament.

City coach Fung Kei-hang acknowledges that his side’s steep learning curve is about to face an even higher gradient: “It’s going to be a tough game for us but we will focus on our defence and hopefully be able to create some counter opportunities to mount our attack.”

In keeping with this season’s objective of acclimatising to the top flight, Fung views the Valley tie as another crucial learning opportunity for his side. “We have learned a lot from the last two games. We are still struggling to get used to the intensity of play at this level but are working hard on building our own intensity in terms of bringing our pace and quickness into the game.”

Fung is encouraged by some early signs of progress: “We have improved our recycling from the back significantly compared to last season and we managed to score a few points against Football Club last week so we can build from that,” Fung added.

The USRC Tigers will be roaring to go against SCAA CWB Phoenix after a stop-start beginning to the season. They were in action in week one, before joining all of the clubs on a bye for the Women’s Super Series the following weekend and then had a Premiership bye last week – leaving them with only one game over the last three weeks.

Coach Liu Kwok-leung is not concerned that the lengthy lay-off has hampered his team’s preparations. “We’ve done a lot to prepare our mindset for this and to prepare physically. We’re missing three of our sevens players this weekend, but that just creates opportunities for the younger players,” said Liu.

Tigers are bracing for a backlash from Causeway Bay who have yet to record their first win after facing last year’s Grand Finalists Valley and Gai Wu Falcons in the opening weeks. “It will be a hard game and we are ready for that,” said Liu.

“South China are always aggressive, especially early in the match. From playing them over the past few seasons we know we will need to focus on the contact area. It will be a real challenge for us as most of our team don’t have the physical size they have.

“We have been focusing on our defence and have had some hard, physical practice sessions. We know we can win when we play to our game plan so it’s all about our mindset and our discipline. With some experienced players away a lot will rest on the younger players stepping up and I am confident that the they can do it.”

HKFC Ice will look to back up their opening win with another ‘w’ this weekend over Kowloon after a solid start to the season last weekend against City.

“We had a positive start to the season with a tough game against City. Our forwards were key against them, they had an outstanding performance and took the match to them.”

Coach Wigley is pleased with the enthusiastic start but wants to channel his team’s energy better saying, “We need to focus more on improving the structure of our play. We were frenetic in the opener and even though there was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of our play was disorganised and we wasted a lot of energy.”

Despite the presumed gap between the two sides, with Kowloon finishing near the bottom of the table last season, Wigley remains cautious:

“We go in to every game looking to win – whether by a few or by a lot it doesn’t matter – we take every game as it comes. Even though Kowloon have some losses we don’t consider that. We don’t know what teams have been doing over the break so we don’t take anything for granted.

“Kowloon are strong in the forwards – as are we – so I expect a real battle in the packs. I’m confident in the quality of our forwards and we expect to win the majority of those confrontations,” Wigley added.

Kowloon coach Jonathan Ho is also expecting a tough encounter: “Last season we had two very close matches against Football Club – even though they won both, they were tight affairs. We weren’t too far away from them so we can take some confidence into this match.

“Football Club are very balanced. Rose Fong is a big threat at the back and Claire Forster, who used to be one of our players, is playing well for them up front. But our forwards have also improved and our backline isn’t too far off of Football Club’s pace, so I expect it will be a fast game and we will try to involve our backs to good effect.”

Ho is also confident of a turnaround in his side’s fortunes this year: “The season doesn’t look good in terms of our points on the board, but behind the scenes there has been quite a significant improvement. That isn’t just my view either; I have heard the same from other coaches in the league.

“I think we are most improved in the ruck and I’m pleased that the new players are getting used to being part of this group. Our backs are also more competitive even against the top teams. But we still need to improve our aggression, our tackling and our reaction speed,” Ho concluded.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

WNL1 Grand Champ Quarter Final : City Sparkle 62-0 HKCC

It’s with a heavy heart that I take over the match reporting pen from the ever enthralling Sarah Higgins. It is my hope, that I can provide at least a fraction of the grit, passion and pun filled reviews that she has so excellently delivered.

It was a tense start in the WNL1 QFs with both teams, HKCC Babes & Comvita City Sparkle prepared to battle it out until the final whistle to continue their aspirations of silverware. Despite both teams being poised and ready to go, it was a scratch side put together at the last moment by HKCC due to an ever lengthening list of injuries, illness, work and travel commitments.

Comvita Citys’ speedy backline attacked with deft pace & within minutes of KO, it was clear that HKCC’s defense was not nearly as strong as it has been in weeks gone by. Fly half, and player of the match, Harriet Jamieson desperately managed a new backline and dominated the pitch. Her relentless tackling prevented a number of scoring opportunities but with too many gaps in the HKCC defense, City were quick to capitalize on opportunity and charged through the open spaces, scoring a series of tries.

Regrouping under the posts Captain Carolyn Champion offered words of wisdom to rally her troupes. The outcome was strong running, with ball in hand, from the forwards making precious yards but then the despair of turnover ball at the ruck and retaliation from City which more than often resulted in an accumulating tally of tries. While the Babes have come a long way in their impressive reemergence at XV-a-side rugby this season, they proved to themselves and their sideline support, there is always room for improvement.

At half time the cricketers were desperate to turn the game around and with a cavalry of fresh legs, some of those who were carrying injuries were able to take respite on the sideline. The borrowed, begged and to coin the term loosely ‘stolen’ players from HKU slotted in & gave the team the boost to go on and allow City to only cross the line a further two times. With a final score line of 62-0, we’re sure anyone reading this would agree, that’s quite a remarkable second half effort.

We offer our deepest congratulations to City, who managed to take out two of our more experienced players with completely torn ACLs in an earlier season match, for the development they have shown this season. It was like playing against a totally different team to the beginning of the season and we wish them all the best in the coming SF.

In what has been a season of growth for women’s rugby in Hong Kong – particularly with the establishment of the Women’s National League 1 and importantly the reemergence of the Hong Kong Cricket Club Women’s XVs team (formerly Aberdeen RFC) though we culminate the season by bowing out, if you were to see us post match, you would know we are all winners. HK-CC!