This year’s event, being held from Friday to Sunday, has seen renewed interest from international fans, with overseas ticket sales having returned to over 40 per cent of total capacity, supported by strong uptake from the UK, Australia and Fiji.

The share of fans coming from abroad had fallen to only 3 per cent at the 2022 Sevens, the first since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and recovered only partially to 23 per cent in 2023.

“Hong Kong China Rugby [HKCR] is delighted to once again welcome thousands of local fans and visitors from across the region and the rugby world back to the city,” HKCR chairman Chris Brooke said.

A full stadium will mark the full recovery of the tournament after the pandemic, which forced its cancellation in 2020 and 2021, with a considerable financial impact for HKCR and the wider local economy.

At a 2022 Sevens still partially in the shadow of Covid, with the city’s mask and vaccine regulations in place, and a resurgent 2023 edition dominated by local spectators, overseas fans were conspicuous by their absence.

Their return represents a significant boost for the tournament, and for the city as it strives to reassert itself as an event destination.

Brooke said the union was “overwhelmed at the response of the fans” and was “hopeful of recording our first full house since the pandemic”.

Sevens week is already well under way with a host of functions held by the city’s consulates, chambers of commerce and rugby clubs. The Tradition Hong Kong Football Club 10s and Kowloon RugbyFest 10s tournaments will take place before Friday’s big kick-off at Hong Kong Stadium.

Wednesday will bring the Hong Kong Sport & Sustainability Summit, while HKCR will hold the International Sports and Emergency Medicine Symposium together with Gleneagles Hospital on Wednesday and Thursday.

Besides men’s and women’s rugby, Sevens weekend itself will feature music from reggae legends The Wailers, Journey’s Arnel Pineda, DJing from former England player James Haskell, Hong Kong singer Celine Tam and all-female Cantopop group Lolly Talk.

Taiwanese cheerleading squad Rakuten Girls are also to send a team of eight for their tournament debut, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

News of the impending sell-out came on a day when HKCR also announced the appointment of James Farndon as its new chief executive officer to replace Robbie McRobbie, who had previously stated his plans to leave the union.

Currently director of sport strategy and performance at the Saudi Olympic Training Centre, Farndon previously held roles with government funding agency UK Sport, the English Institute for Sport, the Rugby Football Union and HKCR, where he worked as general manager of performance.

7 ideas to improve Hong Kong Sevens in 2024 and beyond

He has also been head coach of the England and Great Britain student 15-a-side and sevens teams.

Farndon will take over in June, initially working side by side with McRobbie, who has led HKCR since 2017.

“James will hit the ground running with a number of strategically important matters requiring close attention, including the move of the [Sevens] to Kai Tak Sports Park, the evolution of the Sevens product, the nurturing of rugby at both community and performance levels, and ongoing efforts to increase access to the social value of ‘rugby for good’ to as many people as possible in Hong Kong,” Brooke said.

The last remaining Sevens tickets are available exclusively from the official Hong Kong Sevens website.