Hong Kong Rugby Wrap: Kowloon Edge Scottish, Valley Go Top
All the action from the weekend's HKRU RugbyPass.com Men's Premiership.
Borelli Walsh USRC Tigers vs Natixis HKFC
GOW Bloomberg HK Scottish vs Kowloon
Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC vs Societe Generale Valley
In possibly the most enthralling round of the RugbyPass.com Men’s Premiership thus far this season, Societe Generale Valley landed a momentous come-from-behind 31-29 victory over Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC at Aberdeen.
Kowloon snuck home by the narrowest of margins with an 18-17 win over Bloomberg HK Scottish, while Natixis HKFC smashed Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers 42-17.
Valley regained top spot with their unlikely victory, snatching the lead late through a Tiger Bax try and a Ben Rimene conversion after at one point trailing 20-3.
“Credit to them, coming straight at us, 20 points to three lead, which they deserved,” Valley coach Andrew Kelly said.
“To come back and win the game was great, but we really need to assess why we gave so many points away and so easily. We’ve got a few injuries and we can’t get that consistency that we’re looking for, but we’ll get there.”
A manic HKCC had Valley on the hop early, with the hosts’ pressure at the breakdown proving decisive as they skipped out to a 13-3 lead after 20 minutes.
After Valley fly half Ben Rimene had opened the scoring with a penalty, HKCC fullback James Love followed up with two of his own.
It was a Liam Slatem charge down that led to HKCC’s first try, with Robbie MacDonald capitalising on the scrum half’s good work to touch down.
The home side maintained its intensity and for periods in the first half Valley looked genuinely rattled.
Slatem continued to exert his influence on proceedings and stretched the margin when he crossed on 30 minutes, with Love’s conversion taking the score to 20-3.
When Valley stalwart Nick Hewson was sent to the sin-bin with HKCC in attack in the dying stages of the first half, an increase in the deficit looked on the cards.
However a handling error by the hosts enabled Valley to break, with Ally Maclay putting the finishing touches on a sublime piece of play.
Rimene was wayward with the conversion, leaving HKCC with a 20-8 lead at the break.
Valley showed far more stability in the second half, controlling play early as Rimene and Love each booted a penalty.
Hewson re-entered the fray with a bang, barging over after some sustained attacking from Valley, allowing Rimene to convert and trim the margin to just five points.
As the lights came on, both sides continued to concede penalties, with the score moving along to 29-21.
When HKCC lost MacDonald to a yellow card, Rimene slotted the resultant penalty, pulling Valley back to within five points as the clock ticked down.
It was Valley who were finishing the match with more gusto – at one point crossing only to be held up by a determined HKCC line – and eventually they found the score they needed.
Cricket Club coach Kevin West identified plenty of positives in the match despite his side suffering another close loss.
“We are happy with a lot of what we saw, particularly in that first half,” West said.
“It was a battleground and we lost a lot of players throughout the course of the match, so to still be there at the death is great testament to the guys. Obviously we went a bit off script, we had the opportunities to close out that game and made the wrong decisions and in the end that is what cost us.”
The clash between Kowloon and Scottish got off to a slow start, with a successful Jack Neville penalty the only score in the first half hour.
Both sides refused to give an inch and were unable to capitalise on the few scoring opportunities on offer.
It was Kowloon’s Tom Bury who found the line first, increasing his side’s lead to 10-0 after 34 minutes, a scoreline that stood at half-time.
It was a different story in the opening stages of the second half, with two early tries to Scottish via Conor Hartley and Jamie Pincott squaring things up at 10-10.
Kowloon regained the lead after a masterful run from Jack Neville sent Ben Madgwick over, but with only 10 minutes remaining Scottish hit the front for the first time.
It was Hartley again who found the line and Jack Wardles’ extras gave his side a 17-15 lead.
But the backbone that Kowloon has displayed in recent weeks was on display again late as Neville slotted a hard-earned penalty to secure victory for his side.
Latest Comments
A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!
The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.
Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)
I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.
This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).
This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.
Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!
Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍
Go to commentsWouldn’t mind seeing that grounding in slow mo there. Too much to ask?
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