It was a frenetic start for Valley who had the best of the early scoring opportunities as they dominated the territorial stakes in the opening quarter.

HKFC’s defence was up to the task as Georgia Cutt and Cheryl Gourley lead the charge with some committed tackling to stop the Valley power duo of No 8 Olivia Coady and player coach Bella Milo at the source.

Both sides generated chances in the first half, but ultimately the defences were too strong and it would take individual flair to unlock the match. That came first from Milo who produced a captain’s try to open the scoring on 20 minutes when she wove her way through four defenders before thundering across the line left of the posts. Zoe Smith’s conversion pushed the lead to 7-0.

Valley soon extended their lead to 12-0, and with the first half drawing to a close, Hong Kong Sevens star Anna Birkett muscled over in the right corner to close the gap to 12-5, and give Club the momentum heading into the second half.

Valley took that momentum away quickly after the restart, though, with their opening attack creating a penalty chance for Milo. She missed but the ball ended up in play and Club had a second clearance kick charged down. This time the ball took a Valley bounce, with winger Smith claiming the score in the corner to push Valley ahead 19-5 after the missed conversion.

Valley parked in Club’s 22 for most of the rest of the match, and Milo converted to push the lead to 22-5 after 50 minutes.

HKFC stood strong in front of the ball for the rest of the game, limiting further scoring to a final Milo penalty in the 70th minute to bring the final scoreline to 25-5.

Milo was proud that her side responded to what was a massive occasion for the women’s game, while stretching Valley’s win streak to five: “What an occasion,” said the delighted captain post-match. “This week we treated it like this was an opportunity we might never have again. We visualised walking in and playing in front of a crowd like this and taking advantage of having this unique opportunity amongst the women’s teams. We walked in a bit nervous but after that it was just back to rugby.

“It was a great opportunity for the women’s game and it was great for the girls in the team who were born here but have never played in the stadium. They had that opportunity tonight and it was just awesome to see them come out with their eyes wide.”

In the men’s Premiership the HKRU’s oldest rugby rivalry did not disappoint either as Hong Kong’s heavyweights traded blows in a quintessential game of two halves.

Valley dominated the opening half en route to a 14-3 lead, while Football Club stormed back with 17 unanswered second half points for the win.

Valley were rampant from kick-off with their first try coming after only five minutes when flanker Carl Marks finished an attack started up field by a half-break from Whiria Meltzer. Fly half Tom Smith added the conversion to make it 7-0.

Club stayed composed under the early duress and soon battled back up pitch to set up a long-range penalty for Niall Rowark who closed the gap to 7-3 after ten minutes.

That was the last positive movement for HFKC in the first half as Valley went right back to chipping away at the Club defence.

By the time the teams took on water at 20 minutes it was well and truly one-way traffic for Valley, who dominated territory and time of possession thereafter with HFKC lucky to only trail 7-3 at that stage.

Valley pressure finally told after 22 minutes when the pack bulled over for a forwards’ try in the far corner. Smith’s conversion was good as Valley pushed the margin to 14-3.

Club’s best scoring chance came in the final minutes of the first half with a jailbreak attack carrying the ball nearly to ten metres from the Valley line before the final pass went forward, and as the half-time hooter sounded, the defending league champions trailed 14-3.

The signals were reversed in the second half as HKFC came out firing, but when Tom Smith struck his first penalty of the night to bring the score to 17-3 to Valley with 23 minutes remaining it looked like it was over, but from that moment on it was all HKFC as the blue and whites stormed down the homestretch with 17 unanswered points to pip Valley at the post.

Inside the last ten minutes, the HKFC backline conjured up a final drive that saw every ball go to hand for seemingly the first time in the match. Hood again combined well with fullback Ben Smith whose quick hands found Axten-Burrett on an inside ball. Axten-Burrett took a perfectly chosen inside line to draw the defence across before slipping a beautiful offload to Higson-Smith for the score, closing Valley’s margin to four, 17-13, with six minutes left. Hood flubbed the conversion, but club were poised for a miracle comeback.

From the restart Valley bobbled a high searching ball and Axten-Burrett was again well placed to hack it ahead for the kick and chance. The defence could not control and HKFC reclaimed possession and a resulting penalty on the loose play. They took on Valley at its biggest strength, opting for the scrum five metres out from the posts. Club produced the ball at the back but reserve McCormack-Houston was stopped sharply by the defence.

The ball was slow to come from the ruck but Club regained possession and mounted seven phases to the line before Callum Hardie was interred beneath a half dozen Club and Valley forwards across the try line. The longhaired and bearded Hardie emerged from the bottom of the ruck carrying the game-winning ball as Club pushed by Valley 20-17 after the conversion.

“It was a game of two halves,” said a relieved Natixis HKFC coach Jack Wiggins. “We never got in the game in the first half. We made some unforced errors when we got into good areas and never got a foothold in it, and Valley were good in certain areas.

“There is no panic with this team. We can always come back into games and I think it’s a feature for us in this league. We put the first half to bed, but in the second half, our character came through and we snuck it in the end, which is always pleasing.

“Credit to the HKRU, Valley and Football Club that we managed to get this on. It has been a great day from start to finish and a great showcase for rugby in Hong Kong. Tonight is about as normal as it has felt in 18 months and we are so grateful to be here,” he added.