Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: India, Malaysia and Qatar show interest but two big events is too much for Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Rugby Union says it is not practical to host two major tournaments in the same year
- World Rugby says record level of interest proves that sevens can help spread the rugby gospel in emerging countries
India, Jamaica, Malaysia and Qatar are among a record 11 countries expressing interest in staging the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens – but two-time hosts Hong Kong have decided against bidding for the event.
World Rugby hailed the unprecedented level of interest in the tournament, saying it was a strong endorsement of the sevens format – especially in emerging rugby markets.
For Hong Kong, though, being part of the HSBC World Sevens Series means the local union are unable to host two major international sevens tournaments in the same year.
“On the two occasions we hosted the World Cup we didn’t have a regular Hong Kong Sevens that year,” Hong Kong Rugby Union chief executive Robbie McRobbie said. “Nowadays there isn’t that option, so we’d need to run two sevens tournaments in a short space of time, which isn’t practical.”
Hong Kong hosted the second World Cup in 1997 and also the 2005 edition – both won by Fiji. The last Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in San Francisco, United States, and was hailed as a resounding success as New Zealand took the men’s and women’s titles.
