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Robin Heymann

Everyone has their favourite childhood Hong Kong moments. My personal favourite is that iconic footage of the all conquering Fijians from 1990 and ‘that try’. A fresh faced 22 year old Waisale Serevi started it off with an overhead flick, before another Fijian sorcerer did his ‘under the legs bit’ (so wonderfully phrased by the dulcet tones of the late and great Bill McLaren) before Tomasi Cama Snr steamed in from 70 metres to beat New Zealand for the title.

It was classic Fiji, classic sevens, a moment that defines why Hong Kong is heralded as one of the best loved sporting events around and to coin that grossly over used cliché – the IRB Sevens World Series' ‘Jewel in the Crown’.

Best year yet?

The organisers, Hong Kong Rugby Football Club, must be licking their lips with anticipation at the timing of this event following the stellar season the sport is enjoying. Nestled around the half way point of the World Sevens Series, and with a potential booty of 30 points on the table, Hong Kong traditionally gives that extra edge for the players with seasons often mapped out on departure of So Kon Po.

Samoa are riding high, with New Zealand holding just a slim two point advantage on top of the overall Series log. Defending champs Fiji are smarting after a poor Adelaide with the Australia one of the in-form teams in town. The USA, Wales, and Argentina caused shocks in Adelaide - who will do the same here?

David regularly matching Goliath

The Hong Kong Sevens' role as a key development tool for Asian rugby has been reconfirmed this year with six Asian teams confirmed to line up against the heavyweights of Sevens rugby. China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Thailand and hosts Hong Kong join fellow invited nations like, Portugal, Russia Tonga, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe, all aiming for some high profiled casualties. If this season is anything to go by they might just have a shot of taking some victims down, such is the openness of international sevens currently. Never before has the game seen ‘smaller rugby nations’ continually denting the dreams and egos of the sport’s top echelon.

A load of pub chat?

So who's brainwave was it to create the world’s most original and revered sevens bonanza? Similar to Ned Haig’s brainwaive for Melrose RFC back in 1883, it seemed rugby sevens in Hong Kong offered the ideal business outlet. Now written into folklore the concept for an international competition was thought over some casual pre-luncheon drinks on a spring day in 1975.

The Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, a South African entrepreneur by the name, A.D.C. "Tokkie" Smith, was talking with tobacco company executive Ian Gow. It was Gow's proposal, as Promotions Manager for his firm, to sponsor a Rugby Tournament with top teams throughout the world competing. Similar to Melrose’s Ned Haig back in 1883, it seems rugby sevens was the ideal business outlet.

This was anything but ‘pub chat’. Just over a year later on March 28th 1976 clubs from Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Japan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Fiji made the pilgrimage to Hong Kong for a new and fresh tournament.

It was an astonishing accomplishment; in less than 12 months, a team of talented, dedicated volunteers had created a sporting event that would grow to tackle the imagination of the rugby world. The 70s and 80s brought hazy iconic memories and a spreading popularity that saw full international teams heading to Hong Kong to compete in what effectively was an unofficial ‘World Championships’ of rugby sevens.

As the Tournament grew throughout the 70's and 80's in both supporter popularity and the number of participating teams, which had now progressed from club sides to representative teams, the Tournament moved from its original home in the Hong Kong Football Club to the Hong Kong Government Stadium. By the beginning of the 90s, with demand for tickets having outstretched the capacity of the Stadium for over five years, it was time for a larger facility.

The Stadium that had been the Tournament's home for 12 years was re-built in 1994 and a 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium is now its current venue. Perhaps it’s not surprising that an event that was predominately instigated as a commercial vehicle, and as the first major rugby event to receive such sponsorship, has developed into one of the sport’s most lucrative showpieces.

Bankers keeping low profile

The event regularly attracts more than 100,000 spectators over the three days with tickets snapped up frighteningly quickly. As well as a major and lucrative sponsorship deal with Cathy Pacific and Credit Suisse, who possess naming rights for the event, the sevens has become a magnet for bankers in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond during its 33-year tenure. With 49 hospitality suites at Hong Kong Stadium costing HK$450,000 to HK$650,000 ($58,000- $84,000) annually over a two or three year period, it has enjoyed a healthy revenue stream.

But with a cataclysmic shift in the fortunes of the global economy the organisers have warned of a ‘low key’ approach by companies in an attempt to scale back entertainment budgets. Perhaps it’s not a surprise to see struggling giants AIG and Goldman Sachs pulling out of the event completely and expect to see less company logoed polo shirts and crisply pressed chino wearing businessmen in the hospitality areas. One revenue stream that I wouldn’t expect to feel the pinch is the amount of alcoholic beverage sold – quite simply the Hong Kong Sevens is the original sevens party.

A HK institution

It’s do or die both on and off the pitch for many of the 40,000 sevens fans. The legendary South Stand provides the epicentere for the gruelling three day carnival, awash with bawdy revelry, rugby clubs, veterans, scantily clad females, and superhuman power drinking endorsed by superhuman characters such as Batman, his mate Spiderman et al.

With a back-catalogue of essential sing-a-long belters such as ‘Sweet Caroline’, Dexy’s Midnight Runners' beauty ‘Come on Eileen’ and the melodious DJ Otzi reverberating around the South Stand year on year, anyone lucky to be there will bring back memorable anecdotes. Oh and if you’re French or Australian bring a stiff upper lip and a couple of extra layers of skin, so often are they the butt of remorseless banter as the tournament's official boo-boys.

The ‘Sevens Village’ is the perfect place to let the kids burn off some steam - all the action will be broadcast live on a 15-metre by 15-metre screen for free and everyone is welcome.

The Village Pub provides a haven for fans where they can sit out in the garden and watch the games over a pint. Food stalls mean you can grab a bite to eat.

Asia's most cosmopolitan metropolis

Hong Kong is no stranger to hustle and bustle and for those of you who have not had the pleasure, make it a priority to sample the delights.

Fully recovered from its handover hangover of 1997, it is steeped with a unique blend of Eastern and Western traditions. What’s more, it’s an ideal setting for a weekend of sevens action with the warm (humid!) climate, buzzing market places, efficient transportation and friendly locals. Lan Kwai Fong, the famous square mile of Central with the most ‘relaxed’ drinking hours (basically 24/7) offers the most intense after-partying, jammed to the rafters with your mates from the South Stand and is considered the place to be.

The blueprint and model that the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union have cultivated for their chef-d’oeuvre has been replicated throughout the IRB World Sevens Series, with Wellington and Dubai successfully offering a similar experience.

The only venue to host two World Cups, it seems any large-scale tournament whether it's sevens, tens, beach, or tag rugby will often use the gold standard approaches that have been carved out by Hong Kong over the last three decades to promote and bring the event to life.

I don’t know too many sports where a single event matches, and for some eclipses, a World Cup, but the mystique associated with the Hong Kong Sevens somehow manages that. HK really is Sevens’ HQ.