From humble beginnings in 1976, the Hong Kong Sevens has grown into the city's leading sports event, famed throughout the world. This year, as the tournament celebrates 40 years, we're taking a ride through the SCMP archives to see how the event became the jewel in the sevens crown. 

And if you see yourself or a friend in any of the pictures in our eight-part series, click here to enter your best memories of the Sevens and the most original/entertaining answers could win a pair of three-day tickets to this year’s Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens from March 27-29. 

We begin part 2 in 1981, and already the SCMP's reporter was declaring the event "one of the world's most exhilarating sporting spectacles" and "the greatest rugby show on earth".

That might have been a slight exaggeration, but the tournament had certainly grabbed the attention of rugby lovers in Hong Kong and beyond. The SCMP devoted an entire page to the tournament for the first time.

In 1981, the tournament was expanded again, from 16 to 20 teams, and demand was outpacing the capacity of the Hong Kong Football Club stadium. 

DON'T MISS: Part 1 of our look through the archives

The Barbarians, with five British Lions in their team, won that year's tournament, while the SCMP hailed one of Hong Kong's "greatest ever displays" as they reached the Cup knock-out stage.