Hong Kong Sevens

The Hong Kong 7s are an amazing event each spring in HK. It is generally put together together by Cathay Pacific and Credit Suisse. I managed to get an invitation to the Cathay Pacific box. Tres chic! Below are Cathay employees as well as many of our oneworld colleagues.


Rugby teams from all over the world flock to this 3-day event for the matches. Unlike Union Rugby, these matches have 7 players per team, and the games have 2 7-minute halves, with a 1/2 minute "half time." Games are back-to-back all weekend long, beginning on Friday evening and going through Sunday. Mark and I were there for the very calm Friday evening.

It is somewhat like a Mardi Gras - people get dressed up to see and be seen.


USA was leading Scotland - for only a moment. Then Scotland stomped us. But I have the evidence of us on the map!

This is one of the most major beer events in Hong Kong....

BEER!!!



From Wikipedia - - -

Dressing Up/Party Atmosphere/The South Stand

The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is traditionally one of if not the biggest event on the Hong Kong sporting calendar. As such, there is a tremendous party atmosphere, with particular emphasis on the South Stand, where hordes of rugby fans dress up and dance for most of the duration. Activities that typically ensue as the weekend progresses include the throwing of empty beer jugs around the South Stand, Mexican waves, and streakers running across the pitch. Since 2007 the South Stand has been made officially accessible to over-18s only, due to its hyper and somewhat provocative atmosphere, although this rule is not strictly policed.

The Hong Kong Sevens typically draws the biggest crowd and is the biggest party on the IRB Seven's Calendar.

History

The Hong Kong Sevens were established in 1976 after a discussion between the chairman of the HKRFU, South African entrepreneur, A.D.C. "Tokkie" Smith, Duncan McTavish (HKRFC then captain) and Ian Gow, a Rothmans' Tobacco company executive. Gow wanted his firm to sponsor a rugby tournament with top teams from throughout the world. McTavish and Smith suggested that a Rugby sevens tournament would be logistically more feasible and be a better spectacle than a 15-a-side tournament. After an initial proposal was refused by the Rugby Football Union in England, the HKRFU changed focus and sent out invitations to Asian and Pacific sides.

On 1976-03-28, clubs from Indonesia, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Japan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Fiji participated in the first Hong Kong Sevens Tournament at the Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley sponsored by Rothmans' Tobacco and Cathay Pacific. This was an important step as this was one of the first rugby tournaments that attracted commercial sponsorship. Of the countries represented in the inaugural sevens tournament, only Australia and New Zealand did not send national sides, instead being represented by the Wallaroos and the Cantabrians respectively. These two clubs met in the final where the Cantabrians won 24-8.

The series then grew into a competition with national representative sevens sides competing, and with this growth, the tournament moved to the Hong Kong Government Stadium in 1982. In 1994, the venue was deemed too small for the tournament and was rebuilt into a 40,000 seat stadium now named the Hong Kong Stadium. Today, 24 national representative sides compete in the tournament.

In 1997 and 2005, the Hong Kong Sevens was not held; taking its place was the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens, which Hong Kong hosted in both years. Fiji won both World Cup Sevens tournaments held in Hong Kong.

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