Hong Kong Premiership round nine: Valley edge Scottish in thriller
Societe Generale Valley again showed why they are the five-time reigning grand champions in the Old Mutual International Men’s Premiership on Saturday, defeating Bloomberg HK Scottish 41-39 in a thriller.
Elsewhere, Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC’s troubles worsened with an 87-17 hammering at the hands of Natixis HKFC, while Kowloon downed the in-form Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers 27-22.
Valley refused to lie down at Shek Kip Mei despite falling behind in the dying stages and it was Ben Rimene who was the hero, with the fly half slotting a drop goal to win the match after his side put together a phenomenal string of phases.
“It was fantastic ball retention, I’d like for that to be our stock standard during games,” Valley coach Andrew Kelly said.
Valley opened the scoring in the ninth minute, with hooker Dayne Jans cashing in after a strong line-out drive. Fly half Ben Rimene’s extras gave Valley a 7-0 lead, however the hosts were quick in response, with Gregor McNeish banging over a penalty to open their account.
Valley’s cause was not helped by a yellow card to winger Ruan Duplooy and Scottish capitalised on their advantage, with skipper Kane Boucaut scoring on 15 minutes for an 8-7 advantage.
The tries came freely for the next 15 minutes, with Thomas Lamboley dotting down to put Valley in front before Shea Turnerand Kyle Sullivan found the line for Scottish to put them in front 22-14. The scoring halted in the lead up to the break and remained 22-14 in favour of Scottish at half-time.
Valley’s forwards made a strong statement early in the second half, pressuring Scottish on their line.The sustained effort paid off as prop Taukiha’amea Koloamatangi put his name on the score sheet, barging over from close range to draw his side back within a point after Rimene’s third conversion.
McNeish replied with a penalty but it was again Rimene in the thick of the action, with the Hong Kong veteran scoring his side’s second try in the opening ten minutes of the half. He was again on target from the tee to increase his points total for the match to 13 and hand his side a 28-25 lead.
Soon after, Scottish prop Jack Parfitt found himself in the bin after infringing in the scrum and all of sudden the hosts were well and truly up against it heading into the final quarter. It quickly got worse, with second rower Alessandro Nardoni also yellow carded and Valley extending their lead through a try to Carl Marks.
Scottish were not done though and showed the value of stringing some phases together, piercing the Valley defence to allow Boucaut to cross after some slick passing. The ever-reliable McNeish slotted the conversion to bring his side within a point with 15 minutes to play.
The tries kept flowing right to the end, with Valley replacement Roger Ng touching down in the corner before Conor Hartley burst free to score for Scottish.
The conversion attempts looked to have proved critical, with Rimene missing for Valley and Sam Vaevae on target for Scottish to give the hosts a one point lead with only minutes to play. But Rimene had the last laugh, slotting the winning drop goal after Valley edged forward relentlessly with phase after phase of desperate rugby.
“Everyone is elated now but we were definitely poor in areas. We conceded a try when they were down to 13 men, things like that. These are pressure points that you have to make the most of, and to let in a try then is just not on; but in saying that, the spirit to win in the last minute was brilliant, so I’m delighted.”
For Scottish coach Craig Hammond, it was a case of so close yet so far: “It’s frustrating, there’s no consistency. We fought our way back into the game and I’d hate to think how many phases we defended right at the end.I’m sure if you were watching at home it was a pretty good game, but I thought we could have taken the five points and climbed back up the ladder.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
2 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
2 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
227 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
227 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
227 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to comments