Hong Kong Sevens

Opening Celebration 2008

The Hong Kong Sevens was originally the idea of the Marketing and Promotions Manager of Rothman's Export for a Pan Asia 15s Rugby Tournament.

Rodney Bentham-Wood wanted Rothmans to sponsor a pan Asia rugby Tournament. Leah May was considering Carlsberg as the main sponsor. However, after a discussion between him and the chairman of the HKRFU, South African entrepreneur, A.D.C. "Tokkie" Smith, it was decided that a Sevens Tournament would be cheaper and simpler to set up. The idea was then implemented by Duncan McTavish (HKRFC then captain), Trevor J. Bedford OBE (Chairman of Hong Kong Land, Jardine Matheson Limited, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Director of HSBC) and Ian Gow, the Rothmans' Tobacco company executive for Hong Kong. After an initial proposal was refused by the Rugby Football Union in England, the HKRFU changed its focus and sent out invitations to Asian and Pacific sides.

On 28 March 1976, clubs from Indonesia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Japan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Fiji participated in the first Hong Kong Sevens Tournament at the Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley sponsored by Rothmans' Tobacco and Cathay Pacific. This was an important step as this was one of the first rugby tournaments that attracted commercial sponsorship. Of the countries represented in the inaugural sevens tournament, only Australia and New Zealand did not send national sides, instead being represented by the Wallaroos and the Cantabrians respectively. These two clubs met in the final where the Cantabrians won 24–8.

The series then grew into a competition with national representative sevens sides competing, and with this growth, the tournament moved to the Hong Kong Stadium in 1982.

The Hong Kong Sevens were ahead of their time, and an influential force in the modernisation of rugby union, for example, the Hong Kong Sevens were one of the first rugby union tournaments to attract major sponsorship, when the airline Cathay Pacific sponsored the 1976 tournament.[3] They also provided a level of cosmopolitan international competition, which tended not to exist in rugby before the first Rugby World Cup in 1987,[4] especially since Hong Kong was not seen as one of the "Big Eight", and other than some involvement with France, the Commonwealth teams tended to be notoriously clannish. By 1986, the Hong Kong Sevens were held up as a positive example to others:

View from the South Stand at the Hong Kong Sevens, 2009.

"This Seven-a-Side international tournament is without a doubt the most spectacular, exotic, best organized Rugby competition of its kind in the world, and it has consistently produced the highest standard of Sevens Rugby seen anywhere.

"I was not surprised on my first visit to see quality play from the Australian, New Zealand, Fijian, and British players, but I was staggered at the amazingly high quality play produced by countries I never even knew played Rugby. South Korea and Western Samoa were every bit as good as Japan and Tonga. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore found their lack of sheer size and bulk an insuperable handicap, but against each other they displayed a range of running and handling skills which demanded unqualified praise. Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and the Solomon Islands were inevitably outgunned by the teams from the major Rugby-playing nations but they still have a remarkably high level of skill which promises well for the future of the game."

"The week of the Hong Kong tournament allows 24 Rugby-playing nations to intermingle for several days, and the huge cross-fertilisation of ideas can only be beneficial in the long term for the emerging nations. After the first day of the play when the top eight seeded teams meet the smaller fish in a pool system, the second day is divided into three different competitions... The strength of this great tournament is that on the opening day the most famous players in the world share a pitch with unknown opponents from countries where Rugby is a minority sport... While tournaments like the Hong Kong Sevens continue to be played, Rugby administrators can be confident that the game will continue to thrive in over 100 countries worldwide."[4]

Bill McLaren, in his autobiography Talking of Rugby writes at length about his Hong Kong Sevens experiences:

"I remember a big South Sea islander saying that, in his view, the Hong Kong sevens were really the Olympic games of Rugby Union. Certainly, the Hong Kong event encapsulates all the really good things that the game has to offer–splendid organisation, wonderful sporting spirit, universal camaraderie, admirable field behaviour, the most enjoyable crowd participation, the chance for emergent rugby nations to lock horns with the mighty men of New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Wales, Scotland and the Barbarians. There is, too, scintillating running and handling which is what the game is supposed to be all about."[5]

However, despite this apparent diversity, some of the same old problems which had dogged international rugby were still manifest in the Hong Kong Sevens in the 1980s - for example, in a photograph of the Hong Kong v Bahrain game at the tournament in 1984, the teams do not appear to include anyone who is ethnically Arabian or Chinese, instead both teams are quite clearly of northern European ethnic origin.[6]

In 1994, the venue was deemed too small for the tournament and was rebuilt into a 40,000-seat stadium now named the Hong Kong Stadium. New Zealand were the dominant team in the mid 1990s, winning three straight from 1994 to 1996, led by legends Eric Rush and Jonah Lomu.

Today, 24 national representative sides compete in the tournament. These include the 16 'core' members of the IRB Sevens World Series, plus eight further invited teams.

In 1997 and 2005, the Hong Kong Sevens was not held; taking its place was the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which Hong Kong hosted in both years. Fiji won both World Cup Sevens tournaments.

In 1998, the first tournament after the transfer of sovereignty to China, tickets were not sold internationally and the event was stricken with a bankrupt sponsor Peregrine. The Union's Organising Committee worked hard, and successfully implemented its marketing strategy to get the local population involved through "Friday Night is Party Night" and secured CSFB as sponsors "on a spur-of-the-moment",[7] the event was a comparatively huge success. In 2011, after HSBC negotiated title sponsorship to the entire World Sevens Series tournaments, it was no longer possible for Credit Suisse to sponsor the Hong Kong leg after 14 years.[7]

The Hong Kong Sevens is the sport's most prestigious annual rugby sevens event organised as part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. Historically, it had been contested by 24 teams; all other World Series tournaments had 16 teams participating until the 2012–13 edition. The teams are divided into six pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. The winning team of the tournament acquires 30 points towards its rankings in the World Series instead of the normal 22, and the runner-up earns 25 points instead of the normal 19. Through the 2008–09 World Series, the Hong Kong Sevens awarded 24 points to the runner-up, and 16-team events offered only 20 points for the winner and 16 for the runner-up.

The 2010 edition saw several significant changes to the tournament format. Foremost among these changes was the introduction of the fourth-level Shield trophy, which had not previously been awarded in Hong Kong. More important within the context of the World Series as a whole, the Cup and Plate are now contested in the same manner as in other competitions, with the losing quarter-finalists in the Cup parachuting into the Plate semifinals.

Football ground sectioned off for children's matches (2011)

The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is traditionally one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, on the Hong Kong sporting calendar. As such, there is a tremendous party atmosphere, with the involvement of the entire rugby-playing community.[13] A two-day women's tournament, Hong Kong Women's Rugby Sevens, precedes the men's contests.[14] Under the auspices of the Hong Kong Mini Rugby Football Union, children with local clubs aged between 6 and 12 years play tournaments before the main matches each day. They also take part in the March Past immediately before the semi-final round of the main tournament.

Gumby and Banana resting before the matches (2011)

For spectators, particular emphasis is placed on the South Stand, where hordes of fans dress up and dance for most of the duration of Saturday. Activities that typically ensue as the weekend progresses include the throwing of empty beer jugs (banned circa 2006) around the South Stand, Mexican waves, and streakers running across the pitch (prosecutable). Outside the stadium, the 'Sevens Village' at the Indian Recreation Club nearby is an alternative venue to gather and watch matches on giant screens, eat and drink to excess while matches are in progress; and after the match, partying continues with champagne and live music and DJs in the champagne tent.[15] An annual public awareness campaign called "Save Our Sevens" sponsored by KELY Support Group, Hong Kong Rugby Union and supported by Start JG Hong Kong Limited encourages responsible drinking among spectators and interventions among underage drinkers while at the three-day event.

Since 2007 the South Stand has been made officially accessible to over-18s only, due to its hyper and somewhat provocative atmosphere. Streakers were formerly a regular feature, and still occasionally make a showing on the pitch, to the acclamation of the crowd. Nonetheless, most pitch invaders are caught and arrested. Following an incident in 2010 when one spectator climbed onto the crossbars at the south end of the stadium before dodging back into the stands and disappearing, organisers stepped up security and announced a zero-tolerance policy of invaders.

Since 2014, the Hong Kong Sevens has also featured a qualifying competition where the winner is promoted to "core team" status for the World Rugby Sevens Series the following season.

Tournament	Winner (Qualified)	Final score	Runner-up	Semifinalists
2014	Japan	26–5	Italy	Russia  Hong Kong
2015	Russia	22–19	Zimbabwe	Spain  Papua New Guinea
2016	Japan	24–14	Hong Kong	Germany  Zimbabwe
2017	Spain	12–7	Germany	Papua New Guinea  Chile
2018	Japan	19–14	Germany	Ireland  Chile
2019	Ireland	28–7	Hong Kong	Germany  Chile

At each Hong Kong Sevens since 1980, the player who "most exemplifies the spirit and skills needed in rugby sevens" has received 'The Leslie Williams Award for Best and Fairest Player'. It is named for the late Leslie Williams, who lived in Hong Kong from 1955 to 1971 and played for Hong Kong Football Club and the national team. The trophy has been awarded every year since 1980 with the exception of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 1997 and 2005 when there was a different individual award. Fijian legend Waisale Serevi is the only player to have won the Leslie Williams Trophy three times and he was also named Player of the Tournament at both RWC events.[17]

• Hong Kong Women's Sevens
• Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Rugby 7's
• Rugby Sevens
• World Rugby Sevens Series
• World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
• Rugby World Cup Sevens

• Official website, with coverage
• Pictures From the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, About.com, Rory Boland
• "7 reasons to love the Hong Kong Sevens" CNNGO

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hong Kong Sevens.