Top three maintain stranglehold on Premiership as Tigers keep up their winning ways
Scorpions beat Vipers 24-7 in first-ever Women’s Premiership Super Series showdown
The top three Hong Kong Premiership clubs all dispatched their bottom-half opponents Saturday though it wasn’t all easy going for Societe Generale Valley, Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers and Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish.
Valley, the league’s only undefeated side after five rounds, kept their grip on the top of the table after beating Natixis HKFC 27-15. Second-placed Tigers overcame Leighton Asia HKCC 22-15, while HK Scottish edged Sabre Kowloon 6-3.
The Women’s Premiership saw the first action in its new Super Series with Scorpions defeating Vipers 24-7 at King’s Park.
We put in a good first 40 minutes but we got a bit off track in the second half. Ultimately, we were able to regroup and pull away late
The men’s tie at Hong Kong Football Club proved an entertaining exchange in a day of taut match-ups, Valley enjoyed the better start as scrum-half Adam Rolston gave his side an early lead with a penalty in the ninth minute before dynamic flanker Toby Fenn extended the margin with a first-half brace.
The second half saw an inspired performance by the hosts playing under new coach Phil Bailey, as they took advantage of a few of Valley’s all-too frequent lapses in concentration.
Club exerted some real pressure on the Valley defence and managed to string together sustained periods of both possession and territory. The effort paid off soon after the restart, as Club recycled phase ball well to put centre Ben Axten-Burrett across beneath the posts. The conversion made it an eight-point match with 30 minutes remaining.
More HKFC pressure saw fly-half Jamie Lauder emerge from a pile close in to narrow the deficit to just three points at 15-12.
