Curtain up on first-night Sevens revelry

The Fijians were cheered (and won), the Australians were booed (and won) and the fans danced and drank - a typical opening for the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.

A first-night crowd of about 15,500 rocked to the advertising jingles, while debutants West Indies took a hiding from crowd-favourites Fiji 47-0 in the opening game of the event, sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston. Organisers said the turnout was good for a Friday.

There were no fears a zealous first night of revelry would dampen the crowd's enthusiasm for an early start today. 'I don't think things ever kick off at a slow pace at the Sevens,' a tournament media officer said. 'People carry on partying after the matches on the first night, then have a hair-of-the-dog the next day and do it all again - and then try to get to work on Monday,' she said.

Police said there had been no official reports of ticket touts at the stadium and crowd-management arrangements were running smoothly.

Beth Coulter, tournament co-ordinator for the Rugby Football Union, said a distress call to corporates and sponsors to relinquish any excess tickets to the sell-out event yesterday had freed up a limited number - but some fans would still miss out. First through the gates at 3pm - two hours before the start of the first match - was a large contingent of Fijian supporters in hot pursuit of the best seats in the stadium.

'The party atmosphere is what you'd expect, especially the south stand,' the media officer said.