Match Preview

Ben Davey in action against Valley last season. Photo courtesy of HKRU.

Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay are looking to build on their hard-fought win against the Tigers in round 2 by following up with one of the tougher assignments of the Premiership – Valley at Valley.

Valley slipped up last weekend, taking their eyes off the balls, and fell to Kowloon in a tough battle at King’s Park. The Bay can expect Valley to emerge hissing tomorrow and the Bay will hiss back.

Valley had the upper hand over Sandy Bay in the Challenge Trophy with a 27-17 win at the Valley but there was not much in that match and the Bay bombed a handful of opportunities which may have had a significant influence on the outcome.

Head Coach Brett Wilkinson will have taken close notice in how Kowloon unpicked Valley but will be mainly focussed on his own teams performance in getting the basics right, building pressure and taking the chances when they come.

Roommates Sunia Famietau and Alexis Brochet come back into the starting XV while Ben Davey swings around to open side flanker with Dean Rossouw out with a mild illness that prevented him from training.

Wilkinson has the luxury of persisting with a constant spine in Alex, Post, Luke Van Der Smit, Liam Slatem, Nik Cumming and Iwan Phillips in shirts 2, 8, 9, 10 and 15.

Brandon Bellamin returns to the squad and skipper Gair Currie starts from the bench but the rest of the matchday 23 looks fairly familiar except for the inclusion of impressive Canadian Cole Mosychuk who has fought his way to the bench via some very handy performances for the Vikings in the Premiership A League.

The mind games started early in the week when Valley Head Coach Andrew Kelly indicated a suspicion that Sandy Bay Seniors Chairman, Richard Cooke, had been spying on Valley’s training sessions from his Happy Valley apartment. Cooke refuted the inferences saying that the zoom on his iPhone 6 could hardly make out Dean Herewini at the tram stop.

With only ten rounds of the Saxo Capital Markets Premiership, both teams will be desperate for the ‘W’ and the four points. A win to the Bay would see them overtake Valley on the ladder, but a loss would see the gap grow at the bottom half of the copeitition.

Kick off is at 1pm. Get along to support the team.

And if you cannot attend that game, all other teams are in action as per the following:

9:30am@HV6 | Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay Marauders V Valley Griffins
2:30pm@HV6 | Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay Vikings V Valley Knights
4:30pm@Hv6 | Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay Raiders V Valley Mavericks
4:30pm@KGV | Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay Storm V Tsw Pandas

Up the Bay!

Sandy Bay in action against USRC Tigers in round 2. Photo courtesy of HKRU