HK Grand Championships Finals 2020 teams decided

The teams set to play in the finals of the Hong Kong Saxo Markets and KPMG Women’s Grand Championships were decided over the weekend. The matches were played behind closed doors as a precaution to prevent spreading the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

However, the games were streamed on the HKRU (Hong Kong Rugby Union’s) Facebook page so that the fans could still watch the games.

Saxo Markets Men’s Championship 2020

The finals of the men’s championships will be contested by HKFC and Valley after they won their semi-finals this weekend.

In the two-games on Saturday 1st February 2020, Valley beat Bloomberg HK Scottish 34-7, while HKFC won 21-6 over reigning Grand Championship winners, Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay.

In the Valley-Scottish game, although it started as an arm-wrestle, Valley was in a commanding lead of 22-0 by the third quarter and Scottish couldn’t recover. The win sees Valley return to a Grand Championship final for the first time since their five-time finals win streak was broken in 2018/19.

The semi-final between HKFC and Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay was also a nail biter with the eventual winners never comfortably pulling away with a big enough lead to feel like the job was done until the final whistle.

On the eventual loss, Sandy Bay coach Brett Wilkinson said “I’m proud of all of the players for their efforts today and throughout the season. It was a tough game that reflects the season we’ve had. The story of our season is in those missed opportunities.”

HKFC  will be looking to complete a treble after they had picked up the Premiership Challenge Trophy, and the Premiership title this season, in which they beat Valley in the final.

You can read the full match report here.

KPMG Women’s Championship 2020

The KPMG Women’s Premiership Semi-final was played between Societe Generale Valley Black Ladies and Natixis HKFC Ice, with the winner set to take on Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers in the grand championship final.

The Valley Black ladies had won all 12 of their regular-season games and dispatched Natixis HKFC Ice in the semi-final match 39-0 on Saturday.

The Tigers had already beaten Gai Wu Falcons before the Lunar New Year, setting themselves up with a chance to
defend their title, but with the form of Valley this season, the latter will be favourites.

Read more news from Asian Rugby

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• Rhino has signed a deal with Asia Rugby until 2024.
• The RWC 2021 Women’s Asia Qualifiers include Japan, HK and Kazakhstan.
• Malaysian national rugby stadium designed revealed.