French connection lifts ‘makeshift’ Valley to victory

The French connection at Societe Generale Valley came good as the defending Grand Champions geared up for their title defence with a stylish 30-5 victory over arch-rivals Natixis HKFC at Sports Road on Saturday.

Valley head coach Jack Isaac had voiced a few concerns about the absence of his sevens rugby stars - Hong Kong playing at the Darwin Sevens where they won two matches and lost one on the first day - for the big game against Hong Kong Football Club. But when you have a finisher like Dave Vainqueur and a set of dominating forwards, there is no need to sweat.

Winger Vainqueur, easily the most lethal try-scorer in the league, scored the opening two tries before fellow Frenchmen, fullback Jean-Baptiste Aldige and number eight Thomas Lamboley, added two more tries as Valley scored a vital bonus-point victory.

"We are playing a lot better rugby than before Christmas and I can't ask for more than a bonus-point victory at this stage," said Isaac. "We were missing our sevens boys today but the rest stepped up and all spots are up for grabs now."

Vainqueur's opening brace - the first picking up a lovely inside pass from flanker Andrew Bridle and then finishing off a blindside move by beating his opposite number Jonny Rees - all but sealed the match with the home team's lethargy at the breakdown giving Valley the run of the show.

"Chasing 20 points against Valley before half-time was always going to be difficult," said HKFC rugby director Kevin West. "It is disappointing but we are not far off the pace."