USRC Tigers pull off a stunning comeback in HKRU Premiership
The Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers pulled off a stunning comeback to defeat Bloomberg HK Scottish in the Old Mutual International Men’s Premiership on Saturday, scoring two tries in the final three minutes to steal a 31-28 victory.
SocieteGenerale Valley defeated Natixis HKFC 41-31, while Kowloon edged Herbert Smith Freehills 44-27 in tonight’s other Premiership ties.
After trailing by 11 points in the 78th minute, No 8 Josh Hrstich found the line to ensure a tense finish, before loose forward Joe Ellyatt put the Tigers ahead in the final minute.
“We were pretty flat in the first half, gave them 28 points and we were just forcing it too much,” Tigers coach Sam Hocking said.
“At the end of the day, we came out in the second half and didn’t make any mistakes. We just simplified the way we played, we kept hold of the ball a bit more and we played very similarly to how they played in the first half.
“We played down in their territory, waited for them to make a mistake and we lived off that.”
Both sides were slow to start but it was the hosts who managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over, with fly half Gregor McNeishslotting three penalties to give his side a 9-0 lead.
McNeish was in on the act again soon after, finding Jarrod Mongston with a kick, with the winger driving over the line with the help of some teammates.
Tigers’ fly half Robbie Keith finally got his side on the board, splitting the sticks from a close-range penalty to make it 16-3.
Diminutive winger MakKwai-chung brought the scores closer when found the line, with Keith converting from the sideline to bring it back to 16-10.
With both teams starting to warm up, it was Scottish who really put the foot down as the first half progressed.
Full back Ben Tyler crossed first, before the hosts brought the crowd to their feet with a sensational team try.
After McNeish again got the ball rolling with a high kick, winger Conor Hartley and centre Sam Vaevae got their hands on the ball to send scrum-half Mark Coebergh over for a sensational five-pointer.
McNeish’s extras made it 28-10 and the home side went to the break with all the momentum.
“We knew they were going to come back into that game but probably not in that style,” Scottish coach Craig Hammond said.
“We gave a couple of penalties away in that last 15 minutes, we played a lot of footy down our end which in the first half we didn’t, we played in the right areas.
“Some of our attack structure in that first half is probably some of the best we have played, so it’s disappointing to have a second half like that.”
The scoring ground to a halt as the second half got underway, with both sides defending grimly at times.
It was the Tigers who looked the more likely throughout the third quarter of the match, but they were unable to capitalise on their chances and the score remained 28-10 until the 67 minute mark.
A Josh Walden try broke the deadlock for the Tigers, bringing them within 11 points and sparking one of the best comebacks in recent memory.
“At the moment we are peaking and troughing, we just need to put that 80-minute performance in and I think we’ll be in good shape,” Hocking said.
“We have got a really good squad this year and the boys are buying into what we’re trying to do and staying tight.”
In the Old Mutual International Championship, University Wizards ran out 19-12 winners against RB-SRK Tin Shui Wai RFC to extend to three weeks their hold on the Old Mutual International Championship Challenge Cup. Next week the Wizards defend the Cup against Disciplined Services.
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments