Tag: Kowloon
Match Report: HKFC Ice 20-7 Kowloon
In a first for women’s rugby in Hong Kong, the Premiership kicked off at King’s Park at the same time as the men’s. Linda Olson was there as six of the seven Women’s Premiership teams played their first matches of the 2015-2016 season under the clouds and rain of Typhoon Mujigae and a T3 signal – with stalwart supporters and tenacious photographers braving the elements to support them on King’s Park pitch 2.
More was at stake than in previous seasons, with HKRU Women’s Development Manager, Samantha Scott Feausi announcing shortly before Super Saturday that, “A new Super Series will feature our top 66 players from the domestic league. These players will be split into three Barbarian sides which will play against each other, effectively adding a component of representative rugby apart from the domestic league and just below the national setup. The goal is to better prepare and help transition players to full representative rugby.”
Premiership newcomers HKFC Ice proved they are worthy of their place in the top women’s league with a convincing 20-7 win over Kowloon Ladies. As Injured Captain Royce Chan looked on from the sidelines, young Captain Aileen Ryan led her team to a convincing victory over 2014’s sixth place team.
With winds gusting at 40-70km and heavy rain, Ice’s first try was scored within seconds of kick-off by number 8 Bobby Wilson, a second from Sarah McMillan quickly followed for a commanding early lead as Ice took control. A second try in the corner for Bobby Wilson before half time saw the premiership newcomers head into the break comfortably ahead 15-0.
At start of the second half, Kowloon, demonstrating an admirable never-give-up mentality, began the half with renewed energy, gaining ground despite good tackling by HKFC. Their momentum was stopped by a penalty and a couple of minutes later, Sarah McMillan capitalized on some excellent teamwork to take the ball across the line for Ice’s fourth try.,
Kowloon continued to play with Lily Chau Hei Tung scoring the best try of the match under the posts after some excellent teamwork and some fancy footwork.Cindy Yuen Lok Yee kicked the first conversion of the match for what turned out to be Kowloon’s consolation score.
Additional match report from Stephanie Wright
HKFC Ice made an impressive premiership debut against Kowloon on Saturday, looking stronger and fitter than ever. Despite the typhoon winds and lashing rain, HKFC Ice got off to a strong start with their new number 8 (Bobby Wilson) scoring a try in the first minute. In defiance of the numerous penalties called against them, HKFC Ice dominated the first half with two additional tries from Bobby and winger Sarah McMillan.
Half time and the rain had eased off. Kowloon kicked off the second half and started to show HKFC Ice what they are made of. Whether it was the improved conditions or a stern half time talk, they were back in the game. Sarah scored her second try of the game demonstrating exactly why Ice deserve their promotion. A strong defence from Ice and some great tackles by numbers 9, (Sophie Short) and 13 (Grace Hood) weren’t enough to stop Kowloon score and kick the only successful conversion of the game. It was a tough game in tough weather but HKFC Ice are off to a great start in the Premiership.
HKFC Ice 20-7 Kowloon
@ King’s Park, kick-off 14:30
HKFC Ice: Shonagh Ryan, Amy Kong, Megan Richardson, Martina Colombo, Claire Forster, Aysha Fiaz, Zuzanna Osinska, Bobby Wilson, Sam Tarrant, Aileen Ryan, Sarah McMillan, Jane Cheung, Grace Hood, Stephanie Siu, Emma Shields.
Substitutes: Denise Chan, Carol Hung, Madeline Adcock, Apple Lau, Sophie Short, Natalia Lech, Rabbit Leung.
Tries: Bobby Wilson (2), Sarah McMillan (2)
Kowloon: Tin Lai Lai, Yip Yuk Wun, Yip Cho Kwan, Lee Hoi Shan, Kwok Hei Woon, Au Yeung Yuen Ching, Lau Yan Yi, Leung Hei Nga, Chu Wing Yee Windy, Mak Ho Yee, Chiu Tsz Ki, Tsang Wing Chi, Mui Yan Long, Leung Lok Sze, Fung Wai Man Rita.
Substitutes: Wong I Kwan Elise, Iu Tsz Yan, Lau Ki Yan, Yuen Lok Yee, Lee For Wing Florence, Cham Wai Ling, Chau Hei Tung
Try: Lily Chau Hei Tung Conversion: Cindy Yuen Lok Yee
Updated 7 October with team lists and try scorers and Jena Saffery match report
Photo: Takumi Photography
Women’s Rugby Season 15/16 Preview
The women’s league structure, which was comprehensively overhauled for the 2014-15 season, sees further tweaks for the 15/16 season as the overall number of teams competing increases from 22-25 across three leagues. Despite the HKRU’s indifference to women’s rugby, it’s been the fastest growing area of the sport locally for several years and with Hong Kong’s women 7s winning in Qingdao recently there’s a lot of excitement ahead of the new season, which starts on 3 October.
The Premiership has grown from six to seven teams with HK Football Club Ice moving up to the top rung of local women’s rugby. The other participating Premiership teams are defending champions Valley Black, Gai Wu, USRC Tigers, Kowloon, SCAA Causeway Bay and Tai Po Dragons. Women’s Rugby Performance Manager Jo Hull and Women’s Rugby Development Manager Sam Feausi are looking to increase that to eight in the 2016/17 season.
One step below Premiership level, the National 15s League has grown by three teams to 11 with HK Scottish, SCAA Causeway Bay 3rds and Revolution joining the competition this season. The National 10s League will feature six teams and continues its role as a bridge for new and younger players looking to integrate into 15-aside competition.
The main change to this season’s competition is the introduction of a new internal representative competition: the Women’s Rugby Super Series – designed to bridge the gap between domestic rugby and the national XVs set-up.
“The Super Series will feature our top 66 players from the domestic league. These players will be split into three Barbarian sides which will play against each other, effectively adding a component of representative rugby apart from the domestic league and just below the national setup. The goal is to better prepare and help transition players to full representative rugby,” said Sam Feausi.
Feausi added that, “The Super Series will give coaches and selectors an opportunity to look at our best players and test combinations with an eye on the coming international season. The teams will primarily be drawn from the Premiership with selectors identifying any players from other competitions that we believe have what it takes to represent the National Team. The Super Series will give more opportunities to the best players in the Premiership to play at an even higher level.”
“We are focused on introducing more of a performance aspect into our women’s club system this season. The Premiership is the pinnacle of Women’s rugby and we want it to be geared towards high performance, as we are ultimately targeting qualification for Women’s Rugby World Cup in future.” said Jo Hull.
The three leagues promise to serve up some incredible rugby with defending champions Valley Black and perennial contenders Gai Wu shaping up as the favourites once again in the Premiership race. Gai Wu have 11 players involved with the national sevens team, Valley Black have nine. SCAA Causeway Bay is the only club to field a team in all three of the senior woman’s competitions.
“This is set to be the biggest club woman’s competition we have ever had in Hong Kong,” said Feausi. “With 25 teams across three highly competitive leagues it will be interesting to see who will be pushing hard for a place in the Premiership and spots in the Super Series teams. On the other end of the scale, we will be monitoring how successful clubs are at introducing beginners and less experienced players to rugby and transitioning them from National 10s to higher levels of competition.”
The Women’s Premiership will kick off on 3 October as part of the HKRU Super Saturday league launch at Kings Park. The National 15’s and Women’s 10s also kick-off this weekend and you can find the complete fixture list here.
Source HKRU, image courtesy of HKRU
Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 3 October, 2015
Rugby Union Domestic League Structure Changed to Support National Team
The Hong Kong Rugby Union has announced the schedule for the upcoming HKRU Domestic League. While similar on the surface to last season’s competition, the 2015/16 season ushers in some profound and long-term changes in the structure of local rugby.
Primary amongst these changes is the decision made jointly by the HKRU and its member clubs to ring-fence the Men’s Premiership around the six existing Premiership clubs at both Premiership and Premiership A levels for the coming three seasons.
Valley RFC, HKCC, Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong Scottish, Kowloon and USRC Tigers retain their Premiership spots for the coming season and will maintain this status for three years.
Dai Rees, General Manager, Rugby Performance at the HKRU, commented on the changes saying, “The objective is to ensure a stable competition that is structured around two performance leagues, Premiership and Premiership A, and supported by a development and community league structure that will ultimately contribute to the national team and high performance rugby in Hong Kong.
“These changes are a culmination of months of consultation with local clubs to secure their buy-in. As a result the final structure places significant emphasis on establishing clear playing levels, with Hong Kong’s elite level rugby ring-fenced around the clubs participating in the Premiership and Premiership A leagues,” Rees said.
The Premiership and Premiership A leagues will now mirror each other with club fixtures played at the same location each week. The new structure will allow the Premiership teams in these leagues to support each other on any given league weekend and maximize the development of their performance players.
Below Premiership A level, National League 1 will become a feeder system and development structure grooming potential high performance players who aspire to play Premiership rugby.
National League 1 will feature nine teams, headlined by Tin Shui Wai Pandas, who voluntarily relinquished their Premiership A spot to support the wider objectives of Hong Kong Rugby.
Discovery Bay Pirates, SCAA Causeway Bay, Gai Wu, University Wizards, Valley Mavericks, PLA and two Hong Kong Football Club sides round out the National League 1 competition this season.
The Championship Club league has also been revamped for 2015/16 with nine clubs: City RFC, Discipline Services XV, East Kowloon, Gai Wu Crusaders, Kowloon Barbarians, Revolution, Tai Po Dragons, Tin Shui Wai 2nd XV, and USRC Tigers Development taking part.
The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.
Following the amendments to the structure, the National and Championship Club leagues are now clearly identified as development competitions entering the season, with the aim to establish partnerships and mutually sustainable links with Premiership teams and to provide a clear and direct player pathway through to performance level rugby in Hong Kong.
National League and Championship Clubs sides will work closely with the HKRU to identify potential performance players. A new dual registration system will allow Premiership clubs to register and develop these players with nominated players allowed to play at both levels in a given season while officially remaining with their mother club.
Already there are signs of progress with U20s stand-out Eric Kwok Pak Nga, who developed his game at City RFC, now seconded to USRC Tigers in a move that has greatly hastened his development. Kwok was named the 2014/15 HKRU Development Player of the Year and is currently in the elite rugby sevens athlete programme at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, having represented Hong Kong in the Junior World Rugby Trophy and as vice captain for the men’s U20s sevens team which defended its Asian sevens title in August.
HKRU league competition rules continue to emphasise the selection and development of local talent with the Premiership rules requiring 12 of the 22 or 23 players selected (depending on the team’s front row configuration) for a league fixture to be eligible to represent Hong Kong.
The HKRU will continue to work in partnership with its member clubs to identify future strategic directions after the coming three seasons as it continues to refine and strengthen its development structures.
Complimenting the league’s move towards enhancing the stability of domestic Rugby and further preparing Hong Kong players for international competition, the HKRU will be announcing several other transformative development initiatives in the coming weeks.
Super Saturday marks 2015/16 Season Start
The Premiership will be played over 15 rounds with break for the Asia Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifiers on 7-8 November at the Hong Kong Stadium and for the Cup of Nations (13-21 Nov) at Hong Kong Football Club when Hong Kong will face off with Russia, Portugal and Zimbabwe.
The 2015/16 HKRU season will kick off with a Super Saturday on 3 October, gathering all six Premiership and Premiership A teams for a triple trio of rugby excitement at King’s Park. Admission is free.
Towards the business end of the season, a quarterfinals competition will be held with the top two teams entering the quarterfinals (27 February) receiving a first round bye. The semifinals will be held on 5 March with the Grand Final on 12 March.
Women’s Rugby Results – Grand Finals Saturday, 7 March 2015
Women’s Premiership
Valley Black 20-10 Gai Wu
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 16:30
Valley Black: Liz Nanai-Iafeta, Karen So, Octavia Nanai-Iafeta, Elysia Saundry, Sarka Dilingerova, Amelie Seure, Olivia Coady, Sam Scott Feausi, Jennifer Mackay, Bella Milo, Tamara Raya Cano, Tanya Young, Laurel Chor, Bobbie Poulton, Adrienne Garvey
Substitutes: Sonia Vashi Chandiramani, Becki Li, You Liu, Kk Wong, Toto Cheng, Julie Diva, Noemie Levy
Gai Wu: Lau Nga Wun, Lam Ka Wai, Lee Ka Shun, Wong Ka Yin, Ching Tsz Yung, Ku Hoi Ying, Li Nim Yan Melody Blessing, Cheng Ka Chi Christy, Chan Hoi Ping Emmy, Lee Tsz Ting, Chong Ka Yan, Ho Hoi Lam (C), Cheng Tsz Ting, Poon Pak Yan, Lau Sze Wa
Substitutes: Dowle Rebecca Claire, Pun Wai Yan, Lee Kwan Yi, Man Pui Pui, Sham Wai Sum, Fok Chi Yan Calida, Chiu Wing See
Women National League 1
HKFC Ice 29-7 HK Scottish
@ HKFC, Kick-off: 15:00
HKFC Ice: Lucy Burton, Shonagh Ryan, Kim Kan, Martina Colombo, Zuzanna Osinska, Iris Chan, Royce Chan, Fion Got, Emma Leeds, Aileen Ryan, Christie Davidson, Nicole Pang, Daisy Miers, Natalia Lech, Emma Shields
Substitutes: Amy Kong, Sophia Nazer, Marie Gaschignard, Caroline Lau, Aysha Fiaz, Denise Nga Chi Chan, Carol Hung, Jane Cheung, Madeline Adcock, Sarah Shuttleworth
HK Scotish: Antje Cosgrove, Idy Chung, Claire Hunter, Amanda Manchester, Brooke Amnuaychoke, Tiffany Tse, Angel Chau, Ellie Jones, Robyn Beese, Jeronsica Kwok, Micaela Jansen, Pandora Kwon, Law Ka-Po, Rachel Fong, Alissandra Crowther
Substitutes: Christy Tang, Ellie Ngan Kee, Ketsirin Robinson, Berky Kong, Francis Lo, Joelle Tung
Woman National League 10s
USRC Tigers 31-5 Tai Po Dragons
@ HKFC, Kick-off: 15:00
Women’s Rugby Finals Day – 7 March, 2015
Women’s Rugby Finals Day – 7 March, 2015
Women’s National 10s Grand Final : USRC Tigers v Tai Po Dragons @ HKFC – 2pm, 7 March, 2015