Tourists return as Hong Kong Sevens storms back

Fans cheer on their teams on the final day of Hong Kong Sevens (picture courtesy Hong Kong China Rugby)

More than 100,000 rugby fans packed Hong Kong Stadium this weekend as the city’s Hong Kong Rugby Sevens event returned to full capacity. Organisers announced a sell-out event for the first time since the pandemic.

“It’s been a fantastic weekend,” said Chris Brooke, chairman of Hong Kong China Rugby. “Obviously it is great to have sold out the event, and excellent to welcome so many of our international visitors back to Hong Kong.”

Sevens underwent a forced three-year hiatus from 2020 due to the global pandemic. It made a scaled-back return in the autumn of 2022 under Covid restrictions and was held again six months later in the spring of 2023.

This weekend marked the 30th year that the popular sporting event has been held at Hong Kong Stadium and also the last time it will be held at this iconic venue. Next year, Sevens moves over the harbour to the brand new Kai Tak Sports Park, which is currently under construction. 

Sevens is the highlight of Hong Kong’s sporting calendar and the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the global sevens tournament. Surplus profit generated by the event is used to fund rugby programmes across the city.

“It’s critical for us to have such a successful three days to reinvest into the game in Hong Kong,” said Brooke. “We now need to build on all of this for our anticipated move to Kai Tak Sports Park and our objective to create a bigger and better event that has more for everyone.”

New Zealand were the winners this year, the men’s team beating France 10-7 to claim their 13th Hong Kong Sevens title, while the New Zealand women’s team stormed to victory beating USA 36-7.

Hong Kong China won the Melrose Claymore tournament, an event for the top Asian teams and introduced for the first time this year, beating Japan 22-10. The women’s team lost in the final to China by 24-10.

“We’ve seen an amazing weekend,” said World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin. “Hong Kong is definitely back, the international fans are really back.”