HONG KONG are in the final week of preparations for the Sevens and they hope the home crowd at the 40,000 stadium will give them a tremendous reception when they take the field. With many new faces in this year's squad, it is a good time for people to get to know the 10 faces they will cheer on this weekend. However, four of the players, Rugby Post has decided, are ''boring''. They are captain Stuart Krohn, last year's captain Craig Pain, fly-half Vaughan Going and forward Will Wild. This is because they did not fill in the ''additional info'' section of personal information sheets they were given. It must be said here that Kowloon's Tim Leach did not receive a form, but he is believed to be an interesting person. Firstly, there is 28-year-old Justin Weston, a former Scottish Blue in cricket and a keen scuba diver. His proudest moment is scoring a try in the dying moments for St Andrews University against Edinburgh in the Scottish Universities championship final. It was their first win in 25 years. Weston was also voted Hong Kong Player of the Year last season, but there was obviously no room in the information sheet for him to write it. There is also 23-year-old Tongan Isileli Tu'ivai, who has played for Glenfield in the North Harbour area of New Zealand. He proudly writes that his nickname is ''Ice Man'' and that his hobby is Long Island ice tea-tasting. Friends say he is very good at his chosen hobby but most wish he would practise it after the game. We also have the gangly Ashley Billington, who complains about the number of times he is referred to in the press as ''lanky''. He suggests other adjectives such as fast, speedy, powerful and fit - who are we to suggest ortherwise. All these are fine. But when you are eight-foot tall and lean, what does he expect? The newest arrival in Hong Kong is Kiwi Rodney McIntosh, a 25-year-old physical education teacher who enjoys surfing and playing guitar. He has also written down ''Love Poetry and Classical Music''. It is not clear, though, whether he means he loves poetry or loves love AND poetry. Then there is Andy Fields, 23, who seems to think he can travel thousands of miles in a blink of an eye. He writes: ''Often to be found in Neptune and the Big Apple''. Big Apple (obviously referring to New York) is possible, but Neptune? . . . Always thought he was in another planet. NEW Zealander Neil Alton will replace Gary Cross as George Simpkin's side-kick at the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union. Cross has been helping Simpkin in the Union's development department for the last four years, but is moving on to further his career in management. Alton remembers being coached by then Waikato coach Simpkin during his school days in Cambridge High School. HOW many mini-rugby balls can you stuff into a Mazda 626? Well, if you know the answer, you can win a prize. The competition is part of the Union's Pacific Place Sevens promotion week. The car goes on display today and punters are asked to guess the number of balls in the car. The Union will also be pushing their Reebok Sevens souvenirs, there will be a ''video-wall'' and a model of the new Hong Kong Stadium will also be on display. The prizes for guessing the number of balls in the car include a tael of gold from Hongkong Bank and a return ticket to Cebu, the Philippines, courtesy of Cathay Pacific. The car, however, is not one of the prizes. The Union need it to transport the balls. A RUGBY ball autographed by the entire Western Samoa and Fiji teams of last year will be auctioned on the Sunday of the Sevens. Following a similar and successful auction last year, the Union will use the funds to help bolster their education trust. The trust helps to provided education opportunities for talented rugby players who otherwise might be deprived of good schooling. Brothers Chan Fuk-ping and Chan Wai-ping were the first recipients in 1992. QUIP of the week comes from Union chairman Stuart Leckie. After representing Club Vandals in their Knockout Cup final victory over Valley Knights, Leckie, having showered, emerged from the changing room to watch the final between Club's first team and Valley. The ball had gone out of play and Leckie was the only one willing to help Valley's Paul Welham retrieve it. ''I'll help you get it,'' Leckie said to Welham, chucking him the ball, ''you'll need all the help you can get''. Valley, of course, won. SPOTLIGHTISI Tu'ivai (Valley) Age: 23. One of the most exciting players Hong Kong has seen over the last few years and who can play at centre, wing or full-back. Tu'ivai represented Tonga at last year's Hong Kong Sevens and World Cup Sevens and this year, Hong Kong will benefit from his skills. A fitness consultant with Sportathlon, Tu'ivai turned down overtures from Tonga to represent them at the Hong Kong tournament. POST STARSHONG Kong Players of the Year, Stuart Krohn and Rambo Leung, and Coaches of the Year, Ian Brownlee and Chow Chor-hau. SINBINNEDJAMIE Scott, for the second time in Rugby Post. Having been ''sinbinned'' before for wearing a ridiculous green hat that resembles an upside-down flower pot, it was thought that nothing could be worse. But at Saturday's Knockout Cup finals at Mongkok, he turned up with a bulbous, bright pink number. Everyone was waiting for it to hatch.
