The Sevens Deadly Sins
Hong Kong’s best weekend is upon us. Sarah Fung and Adam White wade into the sin… and then seek out their salvations.
Gluttony
The Sevens and excess go hand-in-hand. Whether it’s pints of beer and liters of Pimm’s, or pre-, mid- and post-match pies, fries and ice creams (check out p.22 for more), the weekend isn’t exactly easy on the gut. But you don’t have to wait to get into the stadium to start indulging—here are our favorite Sevens deals:
Fatty Crab’s appropriately named “Fatty Hour” is extended to an all-day-long event on Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28. Gorge on $35 selected beers, $50 house wines, $40 selected bar bites, $60 double-downs (that’s a shot followed by a beer chaser) and $65 cocktails from 11:30am-7pm. On Saturday and Sunday, the Fatty Brunch is on offer from 11:30am to 4pm, so you can line your stomach with Southeast Asian-inspired brunch staples. Upgrade to free-flow Bloody Marys, mimosas and prosecco for an extra $200.
Supersize your drinks at Café Deco Group restaurants citywide. Lovers of the metric system can pay $100 for a 1-liter official Hong Kong Sevens/Carlsberg souvenir glass full of beer, from March 28-30. It’s available at Stormies, Marlin and The Keg in LKF, Typhoon in Wan Chai and Wildfire on Knutsford Terrace. Not greedy enough for the sinner in you? Stormies is serving up 3-liter “Rugby Bowls” of sangria, grasshopper or blue Hawaii cocktails.
Atonement
Sloth
All that partying getting to you? Here are some tips for being a lazy bastard inside the stadium.
- Don’t have the energy to queue up for hours for the South Stand? Try charging past security by pretending to talk angrily on your phone and flashing a name tag on a lanyard. This technique is much less likely to work if you are dressed as a sumo wrestler.
- Too lazy to go to the bathroom? Simply pee into an empty cup. Bonus: It is super hilarious when you forget about it and try to drink it an hour later.
- Out of cash but don’t want to queue for the ATM? Pickpocketing your sleeping friends is an easy way to replenish your wallet. When they wake up, just tell them they spent it all on booze.
Top Napping Spots
- Under the seats right at the top of the East or West stands. Relatively clean, with space to stretch out and added sun shade from the folding chairs.
- The sick bay. Pretend to have a concussion and go lie down for a while. Alternatively, actually get a concussion and just fall where you may.
- Against the wall in a corner of the smoking area. Fresh air laced with tobacco, combined with a three-day hangover: a surefire tranquilizer.
- Sneak into the players’ area and have a lie down in the physiotherapy room. There are BEDS there. If anyone asks, tell them you are a member of the New Zealand rugby team and hope you don’t get called onto the pitch. If you do: streak, why not.
Atonement
If you love the Sevens so much, why not join a rugby club? There are 17 HKRU-affiliated rugby clubs in Hong Kong, with divisions suitable for all abilities. In addition to training sessions, league competitions and friendly matches, many also have an active social side, with dinners, parties and pub crawls. Oh, and as a registered club member, you also get first dibs on Sevens tickets each year, absolving two sins with one stone. Click here for a full list of clubs and contact details.
Greed
It wouldn’t be the Sevens without that insane scramble for tickets. Seems like year on year there are fewer and fewer Sevens tickets available to the Hong Kong public: the majority are swallowed up by the rugby clubs and corporate sponsors. This year just 3,000 places were freely available to the public: that’s 1,000 fewer than last year. A reformed ballot system meant that tickets were available for the first time on a single-day basis. What does this mean? Well, a) we’ve all been scrabbling around for tickets more than ever before, and b) the touting is off the chain. As we write this, single-day Saturday and Sunday tickets are on offer for a minimum of $2,000—that’s more than three times the list price. Expect it to leap by another $1K if you’re one of the poor saps hanging around the stadium day-of, trying to find a ticket from a tout. The HKRFU claims that the limited number of public tickets is due to the growth of Hong Kong rugby. Kind of hard to grow an event if the rest of us don’t get to watch it, isn’t it?
Atonement
Envy
No tickets? Don’t let your FOMO get you down. Here are a few places where you can watch the tournament that are (almost) as good as being inside the stadium itself.
Sevens Village
Located opposite the stadium inside the Indian Recreation Club, the Sevens Village is where you can go to chill out in the beer garden, catch the games on the big screen and listen to the roars of the crowd coming from the stadium next door. Beers and cocktails are available by the jug or cup, as is a good food menu.
This family-friendly weeklong festival outside the government headquarters will be screening the Rugby Sevens matches for free during the day, with ticketed live music events in the evening. Head down, soak up the atmosphere and tuck into some gourmet food. Sure, you’re not in the stadium: but with a harbor view like that, it’s hard to complain. Much. Tickets available at www.ticketflap.com.
Bars
A selection of places to watch the action: Frites (Two locations including 1/F, Causeway Center, 28 Harbour Rd., Wan Chai, 2877-2422), Inn Side Out (2/F, 88 Caroline Rd., Causeway Bay, 2895-2900), The Globe (45-53 Graham St., Central, 2543-1941), Delaney’s (G-1/F, One Capital Place, 18 Luard Rd., Wan Chai, 2804-2880), Bulldog’s Bar & Grill (UG/F, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, 66 Mody Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2311-6993), most of Wan Chai.