Hong Kong celebrates 50 years of sevens as World Championship commences

The 50th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens will see 24 of the world’s best teams descend upon Kai Tak Stadium as the HSBC SVNS World Championship starts.

It will be the second year that Kai Tak Sports Park – after the tournament moved away from its original Hong Kong Stadium venue – has hosted the event across this half-century of historic rugby sevens action.

South Africa’s men and New Zealand’s women arrive in Hong Kong as newly crowned HSBC SVNS Series champions after their efforts across six tournaments this season.

All eight Series teams will be joined by the top four teams from HSBC SVNS 2. Men’s teams that qualified for the event are Germany, Kenya, Uruguay and USA. Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Spain were the top women’s qualifiers.

All 24 teams are competing to become world champions at events in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeuax. A top eight finish will secure teams with a place on the Series next season.

Santiago Alvarez, Argentina Men’s Sevens captain, said: “It’s very exciting to be here again for the 50th anniversary. There’s a lot of history in the previous stadium and now here in the new one which is incredible.

“Last year we had an incredible tournament and won it here. It was our first tournament here. We like playing here and are looking forward to the weekend and we’ll try to do our best.”

Risi Pouri-Lane, New Zealand captain, said: “There’s something special about being in Hong Kong, obviously knowing the history behind such an iconic tournament.

“It’s been awesome to come back to the stadium, get a feel for it again and we’re really excited for our girls that haven’t played here before to experience how electric and how alive the stadium gets to when it comes to game day. It’s going to be a huge weekend with our first championship round and 50 years of Hong Kong Sevens. I’m really looking forward to it!”

Men’s Pools

Pool A: South Africa, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay
Pool B: Fiji, France, Great Britain, Germany
Pool C: Australia, New Zealand, USA, Kenya

Women’s Pools

Pool A: New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, Brazil
Pool B: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa
Pool C: USA, France, Argentina, Spain

This weekend an additional six teams will compete in the Melrose Claymores. In the men’s competition Hong Kong China will play Japan and China, while in the women’s competition Hong Kong China take on Denmark and Thailand.