Blitzbokke in front by a nose in two-horse Sevens race
But South Africa will have to create history to stretch lead over Kiwis - and Fiji can never be ruled out
For a country with such a famous rugby pedigree, it is almost remiss of South Africa never to have won the Hong Kong Sevens. Neil Powell tried it on a number of occasions as a player and then captain. Now he is back as coach of the Blitzbokke, hoping to break the duck and confident the Cup is within reach.
South Africa head into the seventh leg of the IRB Sevens World Series this weekend on top of the overall standings with 116 points, leading the all-powerful New Zealand by two points. Fiji are a distant third on 95. But while winning World Series points matters, what matters more is winning the Hong Kong Sevens, the world's gold-standard tournament.
While it has turned out to be a two-horse race, as it has for most of the season, it doesn't mean Powell will only have to worry about the Kiwis, as Fiji always treat the Hong Kong Sevens as extra special - and will also be eager to pocket the US$100,000 purse that goes to the winner.
Ben Ryan, coach with England for the past seven years in Hong Kong but who now returns in charge of Fiji, captured it best when he said: "We can lose all our matches in the World Series and it wouldn't matter. But the fans will never forgive us if we lose the Hong Kong Sevens."
The Suva supporters have been kept happy for the past two years with Fiji defeating New Zealand in 2012 and then Wales last year. Now they are gunning for a hat-trick and an unprecedented 15 Cup wins in Hong Kong (including two World Cup victories in 1997 and 2005).
And Powell better beware of the English, who still regard Hong Kong as an outpost. It's almost a cliché for England coaches and captains to say Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday is a "home away from home". The only time the So Kon Po faithful booed England was during last year's Bowl final, but that was excusable as they were thumping Hong Kong.
In the musical chairs that took place at the start of the season, Simon Amor replaced Ryan as coach and the former England sevens captain is hopeful of breaking a seven-year drought with a young and exciting team featuring seven newcomers to Hong Kong.