Bring it on: March madness at the Sevens

Seasoned campaigners know Hong Kong Sevens week is a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s important to have built up a tolerance for the deluge of events.

First it was the 20th Country of Origin tournament, giving local players the chance to represent their countries of birth and throw aside club allegiances for the day. The final saw an impressive haka led by Otterbox NZ but it wasn’t enough to frighten off the DHL South African team who took the silverware with an intoxicating display of rugby led by former Sevens international Jimmy Richards. Is it a sign of things to come?

Many of the older players know that heading to the Manila 10s the weekend before the Sevens is akin to sevens suicide by the following Sunday, but that won’t stop about 300 of Hong Kong’s finest sports specimens heading down to the Nomads sports ground with strong representation from HKCC, HKFC, Valley and the Potbellied Pigs RFC to name a few.

For those left in Hong Kong, the Beach 5s in Repulse Bay will have plenty of action this weekend, featuring 16 men’s and eight women’s rugby teams, 32 netball teams and 32 dodgeball teams going head to head on the sand.

The week of the Sevens also has many lunches and dinners with various rugby legends as speakers and MCs. Various sevens and tens teams and corporate ambassadors also participate in a host of school and mini youth club visits.

Wednesday sees the annual Kowloon RugbyFest at King’s Park with 28 teams playing in a social 10s tournament. The RugbyFest dinner at Maxim’s will have famous personalities Scott Hastings, David Trick and Simon Shaw.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the world-famous HKFC Tens takes centre stage at Sports Road. Watch out for the Asia-Pacific Dragons coached by ex-All Black captain Tana Umaga and Justin Marshall. The team includes HKCC stars Angus Cameron and Dylan Rogers.