Toby Fenn ready to get thrown in the deep end in Fiji as Valley post commanding win
The reigning grand champions again stamp their authority on the Hong Kong Premiership, defeating Football Club 33-14
Valley back-rower Toby Fenn is looking forward to getting thrown in the “deep end” in Fiji after his side made a statement with a blistering 33-14 win over Football Club on Saturday.
Fenn found the try line in a win that ensured Societe Generale Valley remained on top of the table and is part of the 15-man Hong Kong squad who will train against the Fiji sevens side on Tuesday.
“You are obviously at the peak of everything there, so you throw yourself in the deep end and see what happens,” he said.
“The boys have just got to take as much on board as they can, it will be a big learning curve for everyone.”
Fenn said Hong Kong are looking forward to reuniting with their old coach Gareth Baber as part of the trip to Fiji that includes an appearance in the Coral Coast Sevens next weekend.
“That will be interesting, it will be a bit of a reunion,” he said. “It will be a good seven days and I’m sure we will enjoy ourselves.”
After playing in his first Hong Kong Sevens last year, Fenn is looking forward to the three-month build-up to this year’s event.
“There are two big goals at the moment – with the 15s you have the World Cup in Japan and with the sevens it’s the world series,” he said. “Playing a part in either of those would be awesome.”
A touch over four years into his stint in the city, the 29-year-old is part of Hong Kong’s 15s and sevens programmes.
After spending the first 10 years of his life in South Africa, it was after moving to England for secondary school and university that Fenn developed a Hong Kong connection.
“I had Hammo [HK Scottish coach Craig Hammond] coaching me at Nottingham at uni so I played a bit under him,” he said.
“I went to Singapore to play rugby for a bit and from there I came to Hong Kong.”
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Fenn heads to Fiji in top form after helping Valley to victory over HKFC, with the reigning grand champions showing there is no doubt they are the team to beat again this season.
“We were obviously under pressure after the last game so we had to come together, Football Club were in a bit of form so I think we can be pleased with that one,” he said.
“We always seem to try and turn it on a bit more in the second half of the season than the first, we’ve had a few glitches but we are at the business end now so we will see how we come together.”
After an even opening saw HKFC take a 7-0 lead, Valley put the game to bed with four tries in a 20-minute period either side of half-time.
“It’s up there [with some of the best rugby we have played this season], we are playing with a tempo that we want to play with and a power that we want to play with,” coach Andrew Kelly said.
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Prop Grant Kemp and winger Matthew Bell were among the tries as Valley put on 26 consecutive points before Ben Axten-Burrett crossed for Football Club late to rein in the margin slightly.
Elsewhere, Kowloon proved too strong for Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers, winning 24-12, while Bloomberg HK Scottish defeated Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC 45-29 in a free-flowing encounter.
In the KPMG Women’s Premiership, Tigers brushed aside Kowloon in a 61-10 victory, CPM Gai Wu Falcons thrashed Comvita City Sparkle 94-0 and SCAA First Pacific Causeway Bay Phoenix upset HKFC 12-5.
