Hong Kong Sevens: World Rugby boss Gilpin says city’s teams won’t be stuck on outside looking in, despite rule changes
- Next year’s tournament is likely to be the last at Hong Kong Stadium, but it will be the first of new era that might not include the home sides
- A new 50,000-seat venue in Kai Tak hints at a bright future for the sport in the city, says the governing body’s CEO
Next year’s Hong Kong Sevens will be the last as the city knows it, with an expected move to a new 50,000-seat facility in Kai Tak in 2025 leaving behind decades of memories in Causeway Bay.
But it will also be the first of a new era, one in which the city’s men and women could be on the outside looking in, as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is reduced to 12 teams in their respective competitions.
Both squads have an opportunity to make that core group, beginning at the Challenger Series in South Africa later this month, although in reality only the men have a serious shot at joining the elite of the game.
And even that is a slim one, with the Cape Town tournament just the first step on a journey that would take them to the London Sevens in May, where they would then need to see off the likes of Japan, Tonga, Kenya and potentially even Canada to make the dozen teams on the circuit.
A Hong Kong Sevens without Hong Kong would be in no one’s best interests, especially with a new stadium to fill and pay for, and Alan Gilpin, the World Rugby CEO, is under no illusions as to that fact.
But the need to find a space for those stuck outside the elite, in both the men’s and women’s game, goes beyond salvaging the unique atmosphere that makes Hong Kong Sevens “the destination on the series for a lot of the players”.
