Round two of the Old Mutual International Men’s Premiership sees three bumper matches across two days.The highlight of the round is the grand championship final rematch between Kowloon and SocieteGenerale Valley, with the much anticipated clash kicking off at 8pm on Friday night at King’s Park.

On Saturday, Bloomberg HK Scottish welcome Natixis HKFC to Shek Kip Mei whileBorrelli Walsh USRC Tigers and Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC face off at King’s Park, with both matches beginning at 4.30pm.

Kowloon head into their match with Valley chasing their first win of the season after a first-up loss to Natixis HKFC.

“I’m more concerned with the performance and how we attacked the game rather than this week being a must win,” said Kowloon coach James Scaysbrook, who looks set to select a relatively settled side after everyone got through round one unscathed.

“Our attack didn’t fire as well as we would have liked so that is something we’ll be looking to improve.We know Valley are a strong team, they have got a really strong forward pack and they have got some good, experienced backs to mix with the younger talent they are bringing in.”

HKFC’s 17-10 win over Kowloon was the biggest surprise of the round and coach Phil Bailey hopes his side can build on what he called a “gritty” win.

“It wasn’t very pretty. We dropped way too much ball, which put us under too much pressure,” he said.

“Scottish were pretty good on the weekend, they are loaded up with a lot of Hong Kong players.It’s always tough and to go out there [to Shek Kip Mei], which is a little bit of added adversity, but we will take it in our stride.”

London Welsh recruit Glyn Hughes was one of the stars of round one, with his booming boot on display from the tee.

“He’s got a fair cannon on him, that’s something we’ve lacked the last couple of years, a really consistent goal kicker, and he certainly fits that bill,” Bailey said.

Scottish are looking to build from their 43-35 win over HKCC, with coach Craig Hammond aware his club are far from the finished product this early in the season.

“It was a pretty frustrating game to be honest,” he said. “We started really well and then just switched off for a little bit and credit to them, they came back into the game.

“Our scrum wasn’t the best on the day and they put a bit of pressure on us and before we knew it, it was pretty tight.To come away with a win was a positive but if we get a lead like that we should be able to finish it off a lot better, there is plenty to work on.”

Hammond is expecting an improved Football Club side to the one they encountered last year and knows defence will be key against a side that loves to use the ball.

“They’ve recruited really well and we’re under no illusion that is going to be easy.They like to play and you only have to look at who is in their backline, I’m sure we will have our hands full,” Hammond said.

Hughes is one of the HKFC backs Hammond is most wary of: “He’s a great signing for them, he’s got a lot of experience back in the UK and if we allow anything within 50 [metres] or even a little bit out [he’s a chance to kick it]. We have got to be disciplined.”

Everyone from Scottish’s first-round 23 looks set to be available for selection, while winger Ben Cullen is a chance to play his first game for the season.

The final match of the round sees Tigers and HKCC each huntingfor their first win after narrow first-up losses and Tigers boss Sam Hocking likes where his side is heading.

“I think if you take away the 10 minutes where we kind of had a bit of a brain explosion [against Valley in round one], you can look at it and go ‘the boys actually played fairly well’,” Hocking said.

“We seemed to control the game for the majority of it and put Valley under pressure at the set piece.”

Hocking is preparing his forwards for the sternest of tests against a rejuvenated HKCC pack that showed their strength last weekend.

“They had a fair bit of forward dominance and that showed pretty early on,” he said. “They were a little bit unlucky, similar to us.I like to think [that we can match them up front]. The forwards especially have been working particularly hard in the off-season and it’s something we highlighted as an area we want to move forward in. We set a good platform on the weekend and it’s now about how we build on that.”

Championship battles commence

The new-look,nine-team Old Mutual International Championship begins its 2017/18 season this weekend. On the line each week, along with league standings, will be the Old Mutual International Championship Challenge Cup. This new trophy will be contested as part of the league match of the current holder. A lengthystring of league wins while in possession of the trophy will generate major bragging rights for the season.

This Saturday’s game between last year’s Grand Final runners-up Discovery Bay Pirates and SCAA First Pacific CWB Tempest will decide who takes first possession of the new trophy.Kick-off is at 2.30pm at Shek Kip Mei, on 30 September.