Hong Kong Sevens

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Hong Kong Sevens

Sport	Rugby sevens
Founded	1976
No. of teams	24
Country	22 countries
Current champions	Samoa
Official website	www.hksevens.com

The Hong Kong Sevens (香港七人欖球賽) (referred to as Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens for sponsorship reasons) is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby union. It is held annually at the last weekend of March in Hong Kong and is organised by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU). The tournament lasts 2 and a half days, commencing on a Friday afternoon, and concluding on the Sunday evening.

1 History
2 Past Champions
3 A developing ground for young players
4 See also
5 External links
6 Notes

[edit] History

The Hong Kong Sevens were established in 1976 after a discussion between the chairman of the HKRFU, South African entrepreneur, A.D.C. "Tokkie" Smith and Ian Gow, a Rothmans' Tobacco company executive. Gow wanted his firm to sponsor a rugby tournament with top teams from throughout the world. Smith suggested that a Rugby sevens tournament would be logistically more feasible and be a better spectacle than a 15-a-side tournament and that the scope. After an initial proposal was refused by the Rugby Football Union in England, the HKRFU changed focus and sent out invitations to Asian and Pacific sides.

On 1976-03-28, clubs from 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 Government Stadium in 1982. 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. Today, 24 national representative sides compete in the tournament.

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

[edit] Past Champions

1976 Cantabrians (provincial team from New Zealand)
1977 Fiji
1978 Fiji
1979 Australia
1980 Fiji
1981 Barbarians (mixed side from the United Kingdom)
1982 Australia
1983 Australia
1984 Fiji
1985 Australia
1986 New Zealand
1987 New Zealand
1988 Australia
1989 New Zealand
1990 Fiji
1991 Fiji
1992 Fiji
1993 Samoa
1994 New Zealand
1995 New Zealand
1996 New Zealand
1997 Not held – see Rugby World Cup Sevens
1998 Fiji
1999 Fiji
2000 New Zealand
2001 New Zealand
2002 England
2003 England
2004 England
2005 Not held – see Rugby World Cup Sevens
2006 England
2007 Samoa

[edit] A developing ground for young players

The Hong Kong Sevens has proved to be a very fertile ground for nurturing young players ^[1]. For New Zealand, Jonah Lomu ^[2] and Christian Cullen were first introduced to the international game at the Hong Kong Sevens. For Australia, former Australian captain George Gregan first demonstrated his ability at the Hong Kong Sevens. For England, Josh Lewsey, Mathew Tait, and David Strettle have developed their game at the Hong Kong Sevens. For Wales, James Hook has gone on to play at fly-half for his national team after playing in the Hong Kong Sevens ^[3]. South Africa, also, have seen Brent Russell showcase his variety of skills at the event

The game of Rugby sevens naturally encourages players to run at their opponents with ball in hand. These skills are crucial to the fifteen-a-side game, but are rarely experienced by young players in the fifteen-a-side game.