Women’s 15s
Kowloon 7-17 CWB Phoenix
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 16:30
Tai Po Dragons 0-56 Valley Black
@ Shep Kip Mei, Kick-off: 16:30
Tigers 43-0 HKFC
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00
Gai Wu 89-0 HK Scottish
@ Shep Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00
Women’s 10s
CWB Phoenix 27-0 Gai Wu
@ Shep Kip Mei, Kick-off: 15:45
Police 22-29 SRC
@ Tai Hung Tang Recreation Ground, Kick-off: 16:30
Women’s 15s
HKFC 0-54 Valley Black
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 15:00
Tigers 30-0 Tai Po Dragons
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00
Kowloon 0-71 Gai Wu
@ Shep Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00
CWB Phoenix 52-12 HK Scottish
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 18:00
4 time Women’s Champions Valley Black were out to put a stop to Gai Wu’s winning streak while Gai Wu were out to prove that last year’s win wasn’t a fluke.
The conditions at Happy Valley were perfect for a fast attacking game with Wesley Feausi, Gai Wu’s influential coach looking for consistency from his team in play, game time and results. From the kick-off both forward packs showed they wanted to attack, whether in tight or lingering out wide. Gai Wu spent a lot of the first half on the back foot with some strong team defence as Valley enjoyed a lot of first half possession and displayed good ball retention. Strong attacking bursts from Valley’s Olivia Coady and Sarah Nash asked tough questions of Gai Wu’s tight defensive unit who held firm. When Gai Wu did receive clean ball from the forwards, they were able to score simply by going through the hands with Rainbow Leung crossing the line for the first try of the game. Valley got back in the game via a penalty after continuous Gai Wu infringements in the ruck. Half-time score 5-3 Gai Wu.
After the break, both teams were anxious to be the first to score, and early in the second half following a mis-directed kick, Gai Wu’s Rainbow pounced onto the loose ball and ran around 2 would-be defenders to score untouched making the score 10-3. Numerous attacks by the Valley backrow were met with staunch Gai Wu tackling. A mis-judged catch after a kick from Aggie Poon saw the ball make its way to Rainbow again, who after a clever draw and pass from prop Shun Lee, completed her hat-trick untouched and under the posts making the score 17-3. Feeling the pace Gai Wu missed a few tackles in the last 5 minutes, allowing Valley a consolation try. A great game of rugby and a superb advert for the quality of the women’s game in Hong Kong.
Gai Wu:
Tammy Lau (vc), Mang Li, Shun Lee, Yung Ching, Belsy Yuen, Sharon Tsang, Sum Sum, Melody Li, Kwan Tang, Emmy Chan, Rainbow Leung, Jay Ho (c), Candy Cheng, Aggie Poon, GMA Lau, Sharon Lui, BB Lee, Sum Chan, Kayan Chong
Tries: Rainbow Leung (3), Conversions: Aggie Poon
Gai Wu coach Wesley Feausi talks to bc about his team’s victory over CWB Pheonix
When you play a team for the second time in a season, as coach how does that affect your pre-matching planing?
Playing a team the second time round I find preparation a bit easier based on the feedback I give each player individually from the previous game with Causeway Bay, this helps me select the girls and gives me an idea of how to prepare. What do I change/keep in place etc.
Do you change your team practices based on perceived weakness in the opposition or to strengthen your team?
I train my team on weaknesses first, and think about the opposition later in the week.
It’s roughly the mid-point of the season, how do you think the team has improved/matured since the start of the season?
I would like to say that the Gai Wu girls are consistent, it has helped with Sai Lo Pang on board as a development coach for the up and coming girls whom are sitting at the top of their table, this is the foundation of Gai Wu rugby along with the unseen work that is done by Candy Cheng and Emmy Chan.
What are looking to see from the team in the second half of the season?
Again, we have been consistent with our performances, I would like this to continue, but plenty of work to do and both the girls and I know that the season can change with a loss so just take each game as it comes and the rest will fall into place hopefully.
How would you describe today’s game?
Having previously beaten Causeway Bay we knew that it wasn’t going to be the same team turning up on their home pitch and that scoring opportunities would be few and far between. As expected, we were defending in the opening stanza and were caught on the backfoot at times, but to our credit we withstood forward exchanges in the ruck areas and in general play around the pitch. We had a few key members of our squad out with injury and this offered me a chance to see what depth I have in this team and to make starting spots a challenge weekly.
The 19-0 half-time scoreline was flattering to us as Causeway Bay had defended staunchly in the first half. Some individual brilliance from our winger Aggie Poon – a chip and re-gather try – at the start of the second half provided the impetuous as both teams played with vigor and passion, attack on attack canceling each other out. The defense from both teams was of a very high standard, a few areas where we lost control caused some problems for us but in the end we were fortunate to dominate the later stages of the match, including a hat trick of tries to Aggie. Kwan, Yung, Sharon T, Melody and Po Kei were dominant in their positions and I’d like to give a special mention to Po Kei Man as she leaves our team on a high to pursue her career, we wish Po Kei all the best. Final score Gai WU 36-0 over Causeway Bay. Valley next week is our biggest challenge, again.
Gai Wu:
Tammy Lau (vc), Mang Li, Shun Lee, Yung Ching, Sharon Tsang, Belsy Yuen, Po Kei Man, Melody Li, Sum Wai Sham, Emmy Chan, Kwan Tang, Jay Ho (c), Candy Cheng, Aggie Poon, GMA Lau, Aying Ku, Sharon Lui, BB Lee, Rainbow Leung
Tries: Melody Li, Aggie Poon (3), GMA Lau, Kwan Tang, Conversions: Aggie Poon (3)
Wesley Feausi, coach of Gai Wu, reflects on their hard fought 20-5 victory over DEA “We always knew DEA were going to be a difficult prospect, and with home advantage, as such, this game was always going to come down to the team who made the least mistakes, defended well and scored points when down the right end of the pitch.
DEA started as expected, running hard and direct with their attack, stand-out performers were Ellie-May in the forwards and Natasha in the backs. We were able to defend well in the opening encounters and were lucky enough to come away a single try in the first half from winger GMA (Lau Sze Wa), who would add two more in the second-half to complete her 2nd hat-trick of the season. Half-time score 5-0 Gai Wu.
The second half proved to be no different to the first, both forward packs working hard cancelling each other out. It was a fantastic battle of two sides with excellent attacking weapons out wide as well as the hard nose grinders in the front row and ‘game breakers’ in the back row. DEA scored a try early in the second half giving them early momentum only for Captain Jay, Vice Captain Tammy and Christy to rev up the DEA girls to return the favour. GMA scored her second and third tries of the game bringing her try tally into double figures for the season and we were searching for that 4-try bonus point to make-up for the lapse in defence earlier. Rainbow Leung did exactly that, scoring our 4th try of the game. Full-time score 20-5 Gai Wu.”
Wesley continues “It was a great game for the fans and shows that women’s rugby in Hong Kong at club level is raising the bar each year complementing the HKSI who have initiated a professional program for elite women’s players. Gai Wu has many young girls new to rugby but they have stepped up this season and are playing hard and enjoying the games – although we have plenty of areas to improve the enthusiasm and commitment is there.”
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Gai Wu:
Tammy LAU (vc), Mang Li, Ka Wai Lam, Yung Ching, Sharon Tsang, Po Kei Man, Melody Li, Christy Cheng, Sum Wai Sham, Emmy Chan, Rainbow Leung, Jay Ho (c), Candy Cheng, GMA Lau, Aggie Poon, Shun Lee, Momo Lam, Belsy Yuen, Sharon Lui, Kwan Tang, BB Lee, Sum Chan
Tries: GMA (Lau Sze Wa) (3), Rainbow Leung
