Tigers and HKFC join Valley and Kowloon in HKRU Grand Championship semis

Catch up on the highlights from the weekend’s quarterfinal action.

Natixis HKFC and Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers have progressed to the semi-finals in the HKRU RugbyPass.com Men’s Premiership Grand Championships, with the Tigers providing the upset of the year to date against Bloomberg HK Scottish.

After only three wins in the minor round, Tigers fired when it mattered to win 38-28, while HKFC overcame a gallant Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC, 17-3. HKFC now play Societe Generale Valley in the semi-finals, while Tigers take on Kowloon.

Tigers jumped Scottish to lead 24-7 at half-time and continued to ram home their advantage after the break, leading 31-7 after 50 minutes.

“It is proof of what we are capable of,” Tigers coach Craig Stewart said. “We know that we have got some good individuals and that if we all apply ourselves we are a good side, it’s just that point of applying ourselves.

“We put them under the right type of pressure, made everything contestable and didn’t really give them too many free opportunities. We built quite good scoreboard pressure as well.”

Casey Stone, Robbie Keith, Braam Gerber, Cado Lee Ka-to and Sam Hocking where all in the tries for the Tigers.

Scottish came charging back, but left their run too late and will rue a missed opportunity in a season when they at times genuinely looked like the best team in the competition.

Despite what was by far Tigers best performance of the season, Stewart was disappointed that his side let Scottish bridge the gap late in the match.

“Unfortunately we stopped doing what was working for us and allowed them some pretty easy possession and they are a quality side They narrowed things right up in the second half and it worked for them,” he said.

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At Football Club, HKCC were the first to hit the scoreboard through a penalty to fullback James Love, however HKFC were the more attacking side in the opening 20 minutes. The hosts put a premium on ball retention and strung together multiple phases, spending an eternity camped on the HKCC line.

A lively Jamie Hood was the instigator of many of Football Club’s attacking thrusts and eventually at the 30-minute mark the HKCC defensive line broke, with Ben Willis finding the line.

Nate de Thierry was on target with the conversion to give the hosts a 7-3 lead and all the momentum with half-time approaching. De Thierry missed a chance to extend the lead in the 38th minute when he was offline with a penalty attempt, ensuring the score remained at 7-3 at the break.

The intensity lifted in the second half and it was clear each side knew their season was on the line.

De Thierry showed his brilliance from the tee, converting a tricky penalty from the sideline to stretch the margin to seven points. He was in the game again soon after, executing a perfect intercept in his side’s half and streaking away for what would have likely been the match-winning try.

However, Alex McQueen dragged him down on the line after an inspiring chase, an effort that stirred something in Cricket Club. For the next 10 minutes, they attacked with the most intent they had all match but it amounted to nothing, with HKFC soaking up the pressure.

“We were in the game,” HKCC coach Kevin West said. “We knew they would have a lot of ball; they always have a lot of ball. Their structure enables that, it’s not high risk so they can hold on to it.

“We defended really well, if we defended like that all season we’d be a lot higher up and in a better position. But because we didn’t have much ball, when we did get it we didn’t show enough patience with it and perhaps that speaks to our confidence levels.”

The home side struck the killer blow with 15 minutes remaining, with Will Munro crossing after some good work from Tom Isaacs and Charlie Higson-Smith. De Thierry’s conversion pushed the margin to 14 points, a scoreline that would remain until the final whistle.

“We built a lot of pressure,” HKFC coach Phil Bailey said. “We worked all week to play to a structure and we actually did it for the first time all year. We were strong defensively, we worked hard for each other and people stood up.

“We are coming good at the right end of the year,” warned Bailey. “We’ve got Valley, they are the form team and they are going to be hard to beat but finals footy is finals footy.”