Tag: HKFC Ice
Valley Black and Gai Wu Falcons Win!
Valley Black had to work hard to overcome a resilient USRC Tigers side in their 17-10 Women’s Premiership Grand Championships Semi-final victory. While Gai Wu Falcons posted a comfortable 11-try, 63-0 win over Tai Po Dragons. The results set up an intriguing, if familiar, final next weekend as Gai Wu look for a league and cup double.
The Tigers began the match making good use of their possession and Charlotte Myrans stroked them to early three-point lead with a well-taken penalty from the right wing.
USRC kept the pressure on and were rewarded with another penalty which fed into a series of ruck phases followed by some fast hands out to the right wing where Natasha Olson-Thorne scored in the corner. Another lengthy kick from Myrans added the extras for an early 10-0 Tigers lead.
Valley picked up some momentum in the second quarter with three points from the boot of Zoe Smith. Valley continued to attack and forced a lineout on the Tigers 22. Flanker Aroha Savage gathered the ball and powered her way over the line, Smith’s conversion tied the score 10-10 at the break.
In the second half, Valley held the lion’s share of possession, but were kept out by a solid Tigers defensive line. On 50 minutes, Savage picked the ball from the base of a scrum on the Tigers’ five-metre line and went over for her second try. Smith converted to give Valley a 7 point lead, which they defended until the final whistle.
Valley’s player-coach Bella Milo was pleased to get through a tricky match “It was a tough game,” she said. “Tigers defended well and made us work all the way. The first half showed we hadn’t had game time for the last few weeks. Then we found our groove and made the points to get us back in it before the break.”
“In the second half we built on the momentum we made. Our forwards played really well. They were dominant in our scrum, and in our lineout. We’ll take the win but it was hard one,” she added.
Milo continued “We’ve got a short turnaround. Now it’s back to the drawing board to get ready for next week’s match. I’m only hoping that we can go through and keep up what we were doing right today.”
Tigers’ coach Fan Shun Kei saw the match as one that got away, but nonetheless declared himself pleased with his side’s accomplishments this season. “We made a very positive start and controlled the first part of the first half. We were getting the ball out wide quickly and that’s why they struggled. Natasha played a very important role, maintaining the momentum. Later our forwards were playing more kick and go, taking easy options instead of going wide.” sais Fan.
“In the second half, when we had the ball, we were too rushed. Every time we got the ball, we’d make a mistake and gift it back to Valley. Under their pressure we didn’t use the ball efficiently.” Philosophical but quietly determined, Fan believes his side have a lot more to give.
“We defended very well all through – it was such a big difference to previous games and exactly the foundation I wanted. I was very pleased, especially with Maelle [Picut] and Lara [Schats],” Fan said. “The game could have been ours if we’d stuck to the plan. Valley kept it alive on our mistakes.”
“So in the end it was another learning experience. We lifted our game, and we made them fight for 80 minutes. It was one of our best games this season, and you could say we were unlucky, but our players can take a lot of positives from this game,” he smiled. “Hopefully next year we can come back faster and stronger.”
Click here for all the weekend’s women’s rugby results.
Additional reporting and image: hkru
Women’s Rugby Grand Championship Results – 3 March, 2018
Premiership
Gai Wu Falcons 63-0 Tai Po Dragons
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30
Valley Black 17-10 USRC Tigers
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 16:30
National League 1
Gai Wu Fawkes 0-15 HK Scottish Kukris
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 15:00
Valley Red 5-22 Revolution SRC
@ KG V, Kick-off: 18:00
National League 2
Police Sirens 29-14 HKFC Fire
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00
CWB Lammergeier 10-0 Kowloon
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 18:00
Images: hkru, scaa
It’s Grand Championship Semi-Finals Weekend
Valley Black continue their defence of the Women’s Premiership Grand Championship with a semi-final against USRC Tigers. In the other semi-final, league champions Gai Wu Falcons take on Tai Po Dragons.
Bella Milo, Valley’s player-coach, is keen to see her side playing again, after a long break, but is clearly hopeful that her charges are on track for yet another appearance in the final.
“It’s the most exciting time of the year, the Grand Championships are the big test – the pinnacle of club rugby. We’re all a little bit nervous and excited at the same time. Going into this match with Tigers with so little recent match time is not ideal, but we’ve had a couple of good training sessions that have given us a little bit of confidence,” she said.
“Our last game against Tigers was high quality and high scoring, and we’re expecting something similar this time. That was a fast running game, and likely this will be too, so whoever has the most ball will probably win. We held on to possession well then, and if we repeat that we can make it through to the final,”notes Milo.
Milo and her team have done their homework on Tigers, and pinpointed Lara Schats as a threat they need shut down. Tigers don’t always have great continuity, she says, and is confident if her side hold up their level of play, they will make another final appearance.
With Shan Pong and Stephanie Cuvelier away, Kelsie Bouttle at school in Australia, and Rebecca Thomson out with a fractured cheekbone sustained in training – all in addition to several players missing since Christmas, and Valley’s second team also in semi-final action this weekend – Milo will have slim bench of only four forwards and one back.
The Tigers go into the match buoyed by last week’s solid quarter-final win over Causeway Bay Phoenix, and while coach Fan Shun Kei is in no doubt that Valley will provide stiffer opposition, he takes confidence from the encounters between the two sides earlier in the season.
“We played them twice this year, and did quite well. Our attack is looking really good this year, we just need to keep on doing in attack what we did in that last game, when we have the ball. We’ll use our speed out wide, and try to force penalties by putting them under pressure,” said Fan.
“It will be a bonus if we can get into the final. Valley are strong and skillful, with special threats in Bella and Aroha Savage. Gai Wu have beaten Valley, so we know they can be undone. So our focus has to be on defence and tackling. I want our players to believe in themselves and go firmly into one-on-one tackles, a bit more aggressive,” he added.
Like Valley, Tigers have to work with some absences from their ideal squad, including veteran Lindsay Varty and captain Jessica Ho. Fan has called on the services of second-team flanker Maylynn Ng, who has featured before but never started, aiming to strengthen ball carrying and defending. Lai Pou Fan will move to No. 9 from her usual full back.
Additional reporting and images: HKRU
Women’s Rugby Grand Championship Semi-final Fixtures – 3 March, 2018
Women’s Rugby Grand Championship Results – 24 February, 2018
Premiership
Gai Wu Falcons 84-0 City Sparkle
@ KG V, Kick-off: 16:30
USRC Tigers 66-0 CWB Phoenix
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30
HKFC Ice 19-25 Tai Po Dragons
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 16:30
Valley Black 20-0 Kowloon
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 18:00
National League 1
Valley Red 19-14 USRC Tigers
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 13:00
Gai Wu Fawkes 86-0 HKCC
@ KG V, Kick-off: 18:00
HK Scottish Kukris 44-0 Tai Po Dragons
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00
National League 2
Kowloon v Gai Wu Hawks
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 15:00
Police Sirens 20-0 University
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00
CWB Lammergeier 20-0 City Twinkles
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00
HKFC Fire 19-0 Tin Shui Wai
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 18:00
Images: Takumi Photography
Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 24 February, 2018
Women’s Rugby: Kicking
We don’t get to see much high quality women’s rugby in Hong Kong, live or on television, so as a local rugby player it was fascinating to watch how play developed in the England v Wales Six Nation’s match.
As part of my watching brief bc magazine asked me to look for areas where we can improve locally. At the 2017 Rugby World Cup, much was made of the number of missed conversion and penalty kicks – and this applies to many teams locally. On the strength of England v Wales, it is an area which can benefit from close attention.
England’s Daley-McLean’s grubber kick through for Burford’s try was only one of a number of perfectly executed footballing moments, both from hand and place kicking. Elinor Snowsill on the Wales’ team had no opportunities to kick for goal, but she looked comfortable kicking out of hand.
Some of the most intelligent play came in preparation for receiving kicks; in the 36th minute Daley-McLean anticipated a long kick out to touch, and placed herself perfectly to bat it back into field at full stretch, giving England a fresh attacking platform.
There were also a number of charge downs: two of the England number 10’s kicks were tipped off course and a third charged down behind her, leading to one of Wales’ few try scoring opportunities before England recovered.
Look to improve kicking and catching skills:
– practice your catching stance. Getting the body in the right position is half the challenge; and it’s a basic skill.
– practice after main training is finished. Find a partner who will kick to you, and put you under pressure when catching, especially when you’re already tired.
– There’s no need be scared of the ball – it will bounce off you!
Image: courtesy of England women’s rugby