Opinion | Tim Noonan: England surging down the blind side
Many English fans had dismissed their team's chances before the event but things are starting to look up
So now what, England?
A whole stadium full of English folks were prepared to spend the weekend drowning their sorrows over their decidedly underwhelming sevens team.
While New Zealand, Australia and South Africa were fortifying their national sevens squads with some of the top union players in hopes of winning a medal at the upcoming summer Olympics in Rio, England added no one of note.
Sure there is a difference between 15-a-side rugby and sevens, but talent is still talent and while there is a promise of some of the better players coming out for England once their clubs release them, there is scant time left to indoctrinate them into sevens discipline.
Team England even imposed a media blackout all week in Hong Kong, which had more than a few Poms mumbling about the squad camouflaging their mediocrity.
But this year even the Yanks, who are two spots ahead of them and 19 points up in the Sevens World Series standings, are getting over on them. And this being an Olympic year it’s no time for a slip in form
They once ruled not only this fragrant harbour but this event as well, England did. Between 2002 and 2006 they won four of five titles and were finalists in 2011 and 2014.