With two from two opening wins, the Societe Generale Valley RFC Mens Premiership have kicked off their season with a strong start. Defeating Kowloon RFC 57 - 8, followed by a 41-28 win over USRC Tigers, coach Augustine Leger has got just the start he was looking for.

With the team bolstered by captain Laurence May, and new comers in town, including Junior Springboks prop Keagan Glade, ex Samoan 7's winger Paul Eti Slater and former Newcastle Falcons Lock Toby Salmon, the team are building nicely.

It was perhaps appropriate that the first Valley RFC League fixture for the season - the first competitive fixture in celebration of Valley RFC’s 50th birthday - was against Kowloon RFC.

Valley RFC in 1975 - and Kowloon RFC in 1976 - were the first independent civilian clubs outside of the Hongkong Football Club (1886) to compete in the Hong Kong domestic rugby scene together with established teams from the Royal Hong Kong Police and the British Forces.

In 1978 the two fledgling clubs decided to mark the first match of each season between them as a special trophy match named as the “Clive Brockelbank Trophy” in memory of Clive Brockelbank - a Valley player who died while scuba diving in Cebu.

His last game for Valley was against Kowloon so his ‘Valley Moment” was marked by an annual ‘trophy match’ with Kowloon-whatever happened to be Valley’s first contested match with Kowloon each season.

The memorial match hasn’t been played for many years and the trophy has long disappeared but given it is Valley RFC 50th anniversary, it was revived for the first game of our match.

Valley RFC founding member, Jamie Scott - who has many fond memories of Clive Brockelbank both on and off the pitch had the pleasure of presenting the trophy to the winning captain of the day - Valley RFC fly half, Laurence May.