Hong Kong Sevens | Dedication’s what you need if you want to be a record breaker

The South Stand was filled by game three… 9:30am… something of a record, and certainly indicative of a certain amount of dedication, if not to drinking all night then at least to getting up in the morning.  In truth, it’s a strange site, the whole of the rest of the stadium was empty, but the South Stand was full.

The South Stand, as we all know, is an institution regardless of the sanitisation that’s taken place over the years, it’s still the party people place, no matter how anal the rules become.

The first big change was in ‘98 after the handover. The British Army used to do the security, these ‘squaddies’ knew how to deal with recalcitrant drunks, they just smiled, and maybe wagged a finger, but the smile was the important weapon in the armoury for defusing any situation.  Security now is slightly different, po-faced jobsworths who’re incapable of distinguishing between high jinks and hooliganism.  A smile goes a long way lads!

Next, out went smoking, closely followed by inflatable toys, which were deemed a safety hazard. Stop the press, man killed by exploding inflatable banana!

Next came the crackdown on streaking. Personally I’ve never had a problem with streakers, a legacy of a certain Erica Roe at Twickenham, many moons ago. Then again, I’m not really a fan of men’s dangly bits so it’s a double-edged sword, If only they could have banned male streakers only.

I think next to go were the U18’s from the South Stand, that was a game changer, but perhaps overdue, for older guys it was disconcerting realising in your drunken stupor the girl you were chatting to, though drunk, was actually still a ‘schoolie.’  That’s if you did realise in time!