PUBLISHED ON 29 SEP 2025
The Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Women’s Premiership gets underway on Saturday 4 October 2025, featuring six women’s teams. We have caught up with all six clubs and their CCOs to find out what is new this season among the respective teams, their goals and which players to keep an eye on.
We've got you covered with all of the essential new season information you need.
What to Know This Season:
- Each team plays against each other three times across 15 rounds of action to determine the League Winner.
- The top four teams will advance to the knockout stage, where the 1st place team faces the 4th, and the 2nd plays against the 3rd.
- The Grand Championship final will take place on 14 March 2026.
- The league’s traditional women’s Super Saturday also returns, with all six teams together for back-to-back matches at King’s Park Sports Ground in round three on Saturday 18 October.
Societe Generale Valley RFC
The defending champions of the Women’s Prem Grand Final and perennial competitors for the title, the Societe Generale Valley RFC Women’s Premiership side has won the Grand Championship Prem title 13 times during the past 16 seasons, and has a firm target on their backs.
Bella Milo, the club's CCO and Head Coach (and former player), has recently returned from coaching with the Manusina (Samoa) women’s national team at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
She coached the team to the title last season, coming up against HKFC Natixis Ice in the final, and achieved a narrow win. Societe Generale Valley RFC is aiming to defend their title in a milestone year as the club celebrates its 50th anniversary, with the 50th Anniversary Valley Gala Ball taking place on the opening weekend of the season.
Bella has been in Hong Kong for a decade now, after what was meant to be a one-year stint after representing Samoa at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2014.
“After that World Cup, with the opportunities I had and the women's rugby game on the rise, and Hong Kong starting to invest a lot more in the rugby Premiership…. I just ended up getting a few more gigs coaching and have enjoyed the lifestyle and never really looked back.”
Home Ground: Happy Valley Recreation Ground
Head Coach: Bella Milo
Captain: Kea Herewini and Jayme Nuku will co-captain this season
Players to Watch:
Bella says the club has been fortunate to bring some quality players in over the years. “They installed some really cool things, and it's been beneficial for our players to experience those top-calibre players that give back to our game. Hopefully, the players take that on and continue to play for Valley and even make the representative squad as well and compete at the top level. We were fortunate to keep our imports from last year, and the return on investment to the club is awesome for us.”
Players to watch include:
- Crystal Mayes (this season as a player-coach), who was the club’s MVP last season and took part in the HKFC 10s with the NZ legends. Among others, she has represented Bay of Plenty Volcanix (Sarah Palmer Cup), Hurricanes (Super Rugby Aupiki), Melbourne Rebels, Nagato Blue Angels, and the Black Ferns 7s!
- Jayme Nuku was at Valley, but went to play at Hurricanes Poua during Super Rugby Aupiki and missed out on the Prem finals, but has returned this season.
- Hasting Leiataua is a Samoan International who has been with the club since 2023.
Bella said that there is a core in the team of local and representative team players who “continue to fly the flag for us and keep our standards high at training, which is cool.” They have several 7s and 15s HKCR players as well as age-grade and academy / HKCR Dragons players in the mix.
Season’s Goals
“We had a value session, and one of our biggest things was we're only as good as our last game, which was the finals. I think we left happy that we won, but disappointed in how we performed. The messaging around that is our goal for this year is to be better than before.
Off the back of the WRWC 2025, and South Africa coming in with a full 15 line out, I think we're just going to be a bit more innovative, and that just gives the girls some excitement.
We're going to play a different way, and I've been pretty bold this year. We don't usually talk about winning and the grand champs, because it's so far away, but this year I was pretty bold and said that our main goal is to win a Premiership, both Prem and our Prem A side.”
What else should you know?
“I think that rugby is growing in Hong Kong alongside the men's game. The women's game is starting to see more investment. Obviously, Sevens is a carrot for some of our players, but the women's game is a local game, which is awesome.
Last year was the first time we had a third senior team, and that just helped to build up our Prem squad.”
(Bella, like all of the CCOs, has been involved in the representative HKCR team setup this past season.)
“You're seeing that through the representative team, a lot of our players are local-based players. The youth game here is awesome too, but I think the biggest thing is to get them a lot earlier. And I think that's starting to happen, and hopefully we see the fruits of that, of our local players, and potentially more locally based players that go away and study, coming back and putting their hands up for selection.”
Website and Socials
HKFC Natixis Ice
The club has seen several changes in the management and coaching personnel, as former USA 7s player Andrew Durutalo signed on as the Director of Rugby Operations, and the Women’s section will be announcing a new CCO soon.
Hannah Edwards is the Head of Women’s Rugby at Hong Kong Football Club and Head Coach of HKFC Natixis Ice. She joined in mid-2024, bringing with her a wealth of experience after having worked with England Rugby for more than a decade in various roles.
The club has won two Premiership Leagues in the past three seasons and made three Grand Championship final appearances in a row, but has lost out to rivals Societe Generale Valley RFC in the Grand finals.
Of HKFC Natixis Ice, Hannah said they had several pre-season hit outs which “helped blow the cobwebs off in terms of rugby, and then an opportunity for us to obviously see how some of our new imports are looking and get a bit of a lay of the land in that sense.”
Of why she made the move to Hong Kong and its appeal, she added, “It is a really interesting time for Hong Kong China rugby; it's at a stage where it's growing, the union's investing in the setup, and there's not very many places in the world that have a playing model that's like this.
People sang its praises in terms of the actual environment, culture-wise, and what it offers when living in Asia and the experience of the combination of quite a unique rugby environment. In terms of intellectual property, there are not many places in the world that have so many rugby brains from so many different parts of the world, all together. That, for me, was really exciting.”
Home Ground: Hong Kong Football Club
Head Coach: Hannah Edwards
Captain: Zoe Teece
Players to Watch / New players signed:
HKFC has many Hong Kong China qualified players who are with the XV and 7s campaigns.
The club announced new signings, and Hannah said it's been important to get them to settle in and ensure that those new players are doing well and hitting the ground running, while from a team point of view, they're slotting in the connection pieces too.
- Georgina Tasker - A back rower who joins from Exeter Chiefs and brings international experience, having played for GB and England 7s. She has also represented Loughborough Lightning.
- Niamh Orchard - Also joins from Exeter Chiefs, where she has played since 2022, and was part of their 22/23 Allianz Cup Win. She has also represented England U20, and U18.
- Lauren Knowler - Another PWR campaigner, she has played for England U18 and U20 and can play 10 or 12 and has a good boot on her. She is Hong Kong China qualified.
- Hayley Glass - A prop who has played for Hunter Wildfires/Melbourne University/Melbourne Rebels.
- Anna Davies - A Hong Kong-qualified player, the prop has played in the BUCS Super Rugby and Celtic Rugby Competition.
*A special mention to Roshni Turner, who has joined Saracens Women from HKFC for this season!
Season’s Goals:
“We want us to be building on lessons learned. I think there was so much taken from the experience we had, especially in the Prem Grand final where it was a bit like nip and tuck, and there were opportunities on both sides and mistakes made on both sides. We played well, but we didn't take that next step, which I think as a squad is quite a good feeling to have, because it's you've got a belief set there that you can kick on from.
For me, going into the second year, there is some continuity there - now I have more of the language and we can build on themes, which I think will be really beneficial to us this year.”
What else should you know?
“The exposure and the experiences of the imported players are making the league much more visible. I think that's helping the level of the league go up within the women's space massively.
From a Prem point of view, it's exactly what you want, isn't it? You want it to be competitive, you want to be exciting, you want to be able to build on it week on week. It is also something that we're very aware of going into this season, that it's going to be more competitive than ever, which I think is obviously great.”
Website and Socials
Kowloon Rugby Club
Terry Sibanda joined Kowloon Rugby Club as a CCO at the start of last season, but previously had been the Head Coach in 2022. It's a milestone year for Kowloon as they celebrate their 50th anniversary, and Terry first arrived in Hong Kong a decade ago, and like so many, was initially meant to only stay for a year.
“I initially was called in to coach one of the Stingrays girls' teams for a one-off session. I went out there, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh, God, what is this coaching teenagers?’. But I enjoyed it and went back the following Friday, and that just carried on to the end of the season. I just never looked back since then.”
Of the coming season, he says that the club is fortunate not to be without too many players on representative team duty and some are on the sidelines making a recovery. “We've kind of become used to that over the years, where you're training without the HKCR Sevens players and having a plan for them not being around. We're kind of in a good place at the moment.”
Last year, they finished outside of the top four, but are bolstered by some strong signings, they are aiming for a top-four finish.
Home Ground: King's Park Sports Ground
Head Coach: Terry Sibanda
Captain: TBC
Players to Watch / New players signed:
Kowloon had a good response to recruitment, and Terry said of the approach. “We have quite a large local contingent in our squad, so I was looking particularly at players who were willing to come and assimilate into the culture, wanting to learn, wanting to get involved in the local culture a little bit more.
I was quite picky with the players who were going to be taken in. We told them straight up there would be challenges, local challenges, and we have multiple different backgrounds of people. If they were willing to be a part of that and embrace that and learn, we would welcome them.
The players that we've got put their hands up and said they wanted to be part of a growing team and put the hard work in to win games.”
By chance, the club has signed three players from the Tempest team that competed in the newly formed USA Women’s Elite Rugby competition. “I thought bringing in three players from the same club was pretty good as they bring some chemistry with them and they wouldn't feel alone here.”
Kowloon also have had some local stalwarts sign and return from injury who will be available when not representing the HKCR representative 7s and 15s teams.
- Julia Oyana - Back after a long-term injury recovery, her importance was shown when she made a return to the HKCR Women’s 7s team and scored the most tries in the first leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series, which included a hat-trick in the bronze place final.
- Yip Cho Kwan - Returns from a one-year hiatus in New Zealand.
- Alisi Qalo Wilson - The Fijian-born prop joins from Port Macquarie, Australia. She has represented Redlands, Southern Districts (Brisbane Premier Women’s), and Bay of Plenty (Farah Palmer Cup, NZ). She will fill a player-coach role with a particular focus on scrums.
- Ubaida Ahmed - One of a trio to join from the Chicago Tempest, she will cover the back row.
- Isla Alejandro - She brings with her PWR experience from Saracens and also spent last season with the Chicago Tempest.
- Sammy Spence - The kiwi played for New Brighton and Canterbury (Farah Palmer Cup) but has experience from stints in France and will play among the back row.
- Brooke Walklate - The third player to join from the Tempest, the Australian played her rugby for Newcastle Wanderers and NSW Country Corellas, winning the Australian championship in 2023.
- Lucia Bolton - The Hong Kong China representative player will play in the centres and joins from HKFC. Terry said she was “quite a big steal!”
- Gabby Rivers - Another representative team player is capped in 7s and 15s, and she is a former DB Pirates player who will team up in the midfield.
One player to keep an eye on, said Terry, is Lo Hoi Yan. “She was our hooker, and she played 80 minutes of every game, except the one game where we took her off in the 78th minute, just to give her a break. She's a great player, always smiling, but she works hard all the time.”
Season’s Goals:
Terry said in terms of goals for us this season, “We would definitely want to be in that top four so we can go to the semi-finals and finals. Last year, we missed out on that, but it was a bit of a tough season last year. This year, our first goal is just to get to that top four so we can actually compete for a spot in the finals.”
Last season, Kowloon merged with another club just before the season got underway, which made for a tough campaign. “We had to combine with another club just to make two squads, and I think the challenges of that were bringing two different, separate groups of people together to try and work as a team and to put out a Prem team that performed.”
“In hindsight, I think we were focused a lot more on performance than actually just getting the team culture going, and getting the players working well off the field, just having a bit of fun. Even though we finished the season with a couple of wins here and there, we didn't quite have that team togetherness.”
What else should you know?
“This year, a big point of it is just making players happy; game plays, attending socials, just being together as a team off the field, which we've already started. We had fun away from the pitch, and we've got plenty more of those events coming along this season.”
On the field, Terry added, “I think our forwards this year are going to be something to look at, and watch. As a group, I think they're really excited for the season, and they've been working hard.”
Website and Socials
- https://www.instagram.com/kowloon_rugby
- https://www.kowloon-rugby.com/rugby
- https://www.facebook.com/KowloonRFC/
Causeway Sandy Bay
Kevin Moggridge is hopeful of a more positive and less disrupted second season at Causeway Sandy Bay after they finished the last campaign with just a solitary win to finish bottom of the Women’s Prem.
Following last season’s merger between SCAA Causeway Bay Phoenix and HKU Sandy Bay RFC, the club are looking on track for the 2025/2026 Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership.
Moggridge (who has three decades of experience in the women’s game, including roles with England Women and the Women U20s coach), said, “I've been really passionate and privileged to have played a part in the development of the female game onto the world stage. I got a call about the opportunity in Hong Kong and saw it as another chance to get back into the female game and drive my passion, which is female rugby.
I thought I can go and put my stamp and my mark and help develop in an area that's rich with talent, rich with potential and hopefully help them fulfil their expectations of where they want to go.”
The club has had a good two months of preseason and added new recruits to the squad and Kevin says, “We've taken a year to build a culture. You can't just build it overnight. We have a 50-50 split in Cantonese and expat players.”
Home Ground: Aberdeen Sports Ground
Head Coach: Kevin Moggridge
Captain: Vincci Leung with Maddy Hughes as Vice-captain.
Players to Watch / New players signed:
“We've set the team some goals. We've set some challenges. We think they're smart goals. We think they're achievable goals. If we go beyond that, we'd be exceptionally happy.
Another big thing is the infrastructure around the coaching front. We've brought in some good coaches to support all three teams. There is more togetherness going into season two as the Bays project”.
Mikey Bray has joined as Assistant Coach.
Kevin said of player-coach Marlo, “She brings a fantastic amount of experience having played in the PWR for Bristol Bears, and she spent the last two and a bit seasons with Bath Rugby Club as their women's development officer.”
- Marlo Boyd New player (coach) for the Bays and joining from Bath, England. She has previously had a coaching role with the UK Armed Forces and the Royal Navy, as well as touring with the Ireland Exiles.
- Rebecca Mains - Joins from Glasgow and plays as a prop.
- Lieve Stallman - The Dutch international joins the backline this season in the centres. Kevin added, “She's a Dutch international at both sevens and fifteens, played in the WXV, played on the world stage in Sevens and has been playing in Spain for the last three years.”
- Amy Rothero - Hailing from Pembrokeshire, Wales, she joins as a flanker.
- Amber Lawless - Joins from Newcastle and has been the President of Northumbria University Women’s Rugby Team. She joins as flyhalf / inside centre.
- Becky Davidson - Joins from Canterbury, New Zealand and plays in the centres, she has represented New Zealand in Development Sevens and NZ University Sevens, and previously played in Japan with Yokohama TKM, Canterbury and Tasman Mako in the Farah Palmer Cup, and rugby league with the North Devils in Brisbane.
- Maddison Hughes - Has experience captaining Worcester in the championship, and plays in the ten jersey.
Season’s Goals
Kevin said of the challenges last season, “We had one week's worth of pre-season. That is the honest truth. My pre-match warm-up for the first game against Valley, who had nine internationals in their side, was "Can we introduce each other so we know each other's names, which would be a really good start on the pitch” (he said now laughing).
I think we're just probably a couple more steps up the rung of the ladder than we were last year. There's still always work to do on that, but we are enjoying the project. We call it The Project. I like it.
We can make a challenge and be more competitive together and challenge in the Prem league. Having two teams just run away with it every year is not good for the league. It's not good for the Hong Kong China side either.”
What else should you know?
“The Bays is what we are calling ourselves - that's the buzz around where we are. I think both clubs have come to accept that we're stronger together.”
Website and Socials
- https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/causewaybayrfc/ / https://www.hkusandybayrfc.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/scaacwbphoenixacr/ / https://www.instagram.com/hkusandybayrfc/
- https://www.facebook.com/CausewayBayRFC/ / https://www.facebook.com/hkusandybayrfc/
Kroll USRC Tigers Women
Conor Joyce heads into his second season as CCO and Head Coach of the Kroll USRC Tigers Women.
He is a former player for Ulster Rugby, Doncaster Knights RFC, and Jersey Reds RFC, and the former Head Coach of Jersey Reds RFC Women but notes that the whole time he was playing, he was coaching women throughout his career.
Of first making the move to Hong Kong, his first venture to Asia last year, he explained “It was a bit of a stab in the dark, a complete big change for me personally. But I've loved every minute of it so far. It's been a great experience, especially joining with Tigers as it's a very local team you're coaching.
He hopes to improve on the 4th place in the Prem last season and said, “I suppose there are less things to worry about, but I know there's always obstacles for any coach. But we're very, very attacking, and play with very, very strong backs, a very fast style, aggressive, really physical, and width to width, but we also have a strong kicking game.”
Home Ground: King’s Park Sports Ground
Head Coach: Conor Joyce
Captain: Bena Yu and Shaye Whareaorere as co-captains
Players to Watch / New players signed:
A club with a strong representation with the HKCR 7s and 15s teams, including Ng Ki Sum, Micayla Baltazar, Chloe Baltazar, Maggie Au Yeung, Nam Ka Man, Chong Ka Yan, Vivian Poon, Jessica Ho, Lo Wing Yin, Chan Sze Hang Sheryn, Chan Wing Kei Yami, and Natasha Olson-Thorne.
Conor explained that many don’t play much rugby at all for the club and it's something they have adapted too but have made new signings this season. “There's a lot more competition and we have a really good base of players now. That means people have to turn up to training. They have to play well - and that is a much better position to be in as a coach than we had last season.”
Conor said of Shaye, “She is a great player. She's really the gel between the local girls and some of the sprinkling of Western girls we have. She's always got a smile on her face, so knowledgeable of the game and just brings a tenacity. When she's switched on, she's really, really tough to play against.”
He also highlighted spoke about their co-captain, Bena Yu. “She is a try-scoring machine, breaking lines, tackling people, and a really tough player. She is a real tough competitor and epitomises everything about what it means to be a Tigers player.”
- Shandre Fouche - Joined from Sandy Bay and plays as a number 8
- Elitha Sylvester - Another player to make the move from Sandy Bay, who Conor calls “A really exciting back row and lock”
- Lok Tung Cheng - Conor called her a very, very athletic player and a great addition to the team.
- Tiyanah Joseph - A winger who is one of four to make the move from Sandy Bay
- Loramhel Mateo - She is a Philippines' International sevens and fifteens player.
Season’s Goals:
“It took me a while to get my feet on the ground, and last season was a great experience. I absolutely loved it. We're trying to grow the game, and we're trying to get as many people playing the sport as possible. I think that's one of the big achievements - getting more players and trying to develop them into playing Prem Rugby and Prem A Rugby.
It is a completely different headspace going into a second season - You know the players you've got, you've got the signings that you want, you've got the coaches that you want, you know how the Tigers operate, you know how the Union operates in terms of the rules and regulations. You've got the people you want in the right places, you know who to speak to to get things done.
Our aim is to try and get into the playoffs and then whatever happens in the playoffs happens.”
What else should you know?
Conor said, “I've developed so much as a coach, coaching girls that speak a different language and the different culture and everything else, but also being involved with the Union as well has been really positive for me. I've been surrounding myself with not only good women, but really positive men, good coaches, male mentors in the men's 15s game as well.”
Website and Socials
- https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/deatigersrugbyfootballclub/
- https://www.instagram.com/usrc_tigers/
- https://www.facebook.com/USRCTigers/
Clement Shield | VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons
Tumua Loane is responsible for the club’s performance programme, development pathway, player welfare having joined Gai Wu Falcons after being Director of Rugby with Dunedin RFC, coached their Premier Men’s and Women’s teams; and was a Referees Educator and Coach Developer at Otago & NZ Rugby.
He said of the reasons for joining the club when he did, “One was definitely the people involved and just the feeling that I got from them in terms of what the club was about. It was very much aligned with my values and the values of my club back home.”
Last season, the Women’s Prem team was 3rd in the regular season.
He added, “The club's name comes from a Mahjong term and it means the lowest winning hand. So in terms of the ethos of the club, we may not be asset-rich in terms of finances and things like that, but in terms of the attitude of making things work and growing people, we work hard together to provide great experiences within rugby for everyone involved.”
Home Ground: Happy Valley
Head Coach: Tumua Ioane
Captain: Wan Tsz Yau
Players to Watch / New players signed:
Tumua has strengthened his coaching team this season with some key additions.
- Jake Martin - The current Head Analyst for the HKCR Women’s programme, he has spent the last few years coaching women’s rugby.
- Mark Wright - The HKCR Hall of Famer has represented and captained both the 7s and 15s HKCR teams.
- Aggie Poon - Another HKCR Hall of Famer, Aggie played for Gai Wu from 2008-2019 and represented both the 7s and 15s HKCR teams.
Tumua said the Prem side used 44 players last season and they have built depth. “Those girls and those players were capable of performing at the premiership level and some have put their hands up for representative selection now as well.”
The squad has several HKCR players; Lee Ka Shun, Lau Nga Wun, Chow Mei Nam, Pun Wai Yan, Au King To, Wan Tsz Yau, Lo Wing Yin, Qian Jiayu.
In terms of players to watch, signing and development, the head coach explained “We are massively focused on player development and getting them through the pathway from youth all the way through to the premiership side. That aligns really well with me.”
One of the young rising stars is Pui Yee, who played at the Asia Rugby U20 Sevens and toured with the LIT 7s team to Fiji pre-season, competing against NZ, Australia, and Fiji.
Another one to keep an eye on is Au King To, who has been a member of the Hong Kong China Women’s XV team since 2019.
- Wai Choi Tung (‘Rainbow’) - Joining the Premiership side full-time this season is a young hooker who Tumua labels as an ‘Exciting young talent. She used to play in the backs, so her mobility is a big asset in her game, and she's got a nice soft skill set.”
Season’s Goals
“Last year still hurts if I'm honest. I'm very competitive, and a big thing for our group last year was just to drive belief in our club that there might be lots of great overseas players playing for other clubs, but it's nothing that we need and that they can achieve as well as the other teams.”
He says the club's pre-season started in June and focused on the fundamental focus and nothing really to do with team or system work, but “trying to knuckle down and build better individual rugby players over the pre-season.”
“Our goal is to have continual individual and team growth on our way to a Grand final. And we're not shy about that,” added Tumua.
What else should you know?
Tumua says, “Having that time to connect over food is really important for our group. So that's been great for me to be a part of. And understanding what we think back home are the challenges, but when you come here, it's just they're on a different end of the scale.
I always say that I was the luckiest CCO in terms of the values of the club and the people involved, who are so supportive. Everything they do is in the support and development of their people, whether that be players, coaches, or even players who are sort of transitioning into admin roles. I've loved my time so far. I am excited for the year ahead.”
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