Hong Kong Sevens 2022: ‘Fiji will just come to a standstill’ – even more so with their fans stuck watching at home
- Fates have conspired against travelling fans, but most of 910,000 population will tune in to every moment – even church will take a back seat
- ‘During the Sevens even the police report no crimes because everybody is glued to Hong Kong,’ says veteran broadcast commentator
Fiji is the spiritual home of sevens rugby and for Fijian fans the Hong Kong Stadium is the pulpit before which they worship.
Success out on the field of play – 19 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens titles in total including the past five in a row – is matched only by the scores of fans who descend on the city each year, and help bring the tournament to life each day.
Not so in 2022, as the fates have conspired against Fiji’s travelling fans with the lingering effects of the global pandemic seeing routes cancelled or marked down at prohibitive costs.
But that’s not to say Fiji won’t be watching. Far from it. With live (and free) broadcasts reaching an estimated 99 per cent of the population, the safe bet is that most of the islands’ 910,000 inhabitants will be tuning in to every moment.
“You know in Fiji most of the population goes to church on a Sunday. If a Fiji match clashes with a church service, the church pastor, the church congregation, they will move that church service so that they will be free to watch. That’s how big the Hong Kong Sevens are.”
So says Satish Narain, the “voice of Fiji rugby” and a man who has broadcast more Hong Kong Sevens to fans back home than he cares to remember.
