HK Scottish brush past Valley to maintain perfect start to Premiership
The wide open field at The Rock proved hard to defend for Societe Generale Valley as they went down 31-13 to Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish, who grabbed a valuable bonus point and stay unbeaten in the HKRFU Premiership.
The wide open field at The Rock proved hard to defend for Societe Generale Valley as they went down 31-13 to Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish, who grabbed a valuable bonus point and stay unbeaten in the HKRFU Premiership.
The home team's backline made the most of the extra space out wide - the Shek Kip Mei pitch being the widest in the city - with centres Lex Kaleca and Bryan Rennie, as well as wingers Alassandro Nardoni and Samuel Gourlay, scoring a try each to underline the problems the visitors faced in defending their line.
"We had a lot of difficulties adapting to this wider field. They were spreading the ball well, and were well drilled with a good structure and shape. They just outplayed us, not much else to it really," said Valley coach Jack Isaac. "We were just beaten by the better side on the day."
"We just missed out on it last week and I was a little bit worried but thankfully we got that right at the end with a couple of minutes left. This is really important," said Hong Kong Scottish coach Craig Hammond.
The win with a bonus point allowed Hong Kong Scottish to climb back to the top of the standings where they share the lead with Leighton Asia HKCC who grimly held on to score a 16-10 victory over Kowloon at King's Park last night and also remain unbeaten. Hong Kong Cricket Club and Hong Kong Scottish are now on 18 points. Valley are third on nine points.
A pleased Hammond said: "We still have a lot to work to do. It was a little frustrating watching for we dropped quite a bit of ball in the first half. But to get that bonus point was very important."
"We knew Valley would be our toughest challenge so far. Although they were missing players to sevens, they have got strength in depth and as such I'm pretty happy with the result," Hammond said. "We probably didn't finish in a great way but had a handy lead by then."
The boot of Jason Kjestrup, who knocked over three penalties and converted the try scored by Jamie Robinson, helped HKCC edge Kowloon in a tense encounter. Kowloon's points were scored by Tom Bury, who scored a try, and Chris McAdam, who converted it and kicked a penalty as well.
