‘Fairy-tale stuff’: Biarritz Gavekal score hat-trick at Hong Kong 10s
- Gavekal beat Samurai International to become first to win three in a row since New Zealand Metro in 2008
- Hong Kong-based Karetai Williams named Best and Fairest player of the tournament
Biarritz Gavekal secured a remarkable hat-trick of GFI HKFC 10s titles by coming from a try down to beat Samurai International 19-7 in the Cup final at Hong Kong Football Club on Thursday night.
Gavekal suffered a surprise 14-12 loss to Scotland’s Projecx Waterboys on day one and finished second in their pool, so they had to defeat last year’s runners-up, Tradition YCAC, 12-5 in an intense quarter-final before thrashing debutants Mourant Fiji Army 43-0 in the semis.
In the final, they were 7-0 down to Samurai before drawing level with a try by Penikolo Latu and an excellent conversion from out wide by captain Nick Smith, two of five New Zealanders to score their points in the final.
Glenn Preston scored Gavekal’s second try to put the top seeds 12-7 up before a try by Hong Kong-based Karetai Williams – named Best and Fairest player of the tournament – and a Jason Robertson conversion put them out of reach.
Vice-captain in 2017, Smith has captained the side for the last two years and couldn’t contain his excitement as Gavekal became the first side to win three titles in a row since New Zealand Metro from 2006-08.
