After the individual creativity of Art Week, the wonders of team creativity are on display as Rugby Week 2017 gets into full swing. The Women’s 7s gets long overdue recognition as it celebrates twenty years and the Sevens turn 42, remember to bring your towel.
The week starts, after a year’s absence, appropriately on 1 April with the Beach 5s in Repulse Bay which also features netball, football 5s and dodgeball. A relaxing and social way to spend a weekend on the beach.
Then it’s over to King’s Park on Wednesday for KowloonFest where the old and venerable rumble around the pitch and have a lot of fun as their brain sees them sprinting or crashing through the opposition line to score a fantastic try only to find their legs unable to keep up…
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While the 7s is all speed and patterns, perhaps the best rugby of the week is at the Hong Kong Tens. With proper scrums and brutal power forward play the Tens features, especially on Thursday night, perhaps the closest we in Hong Kong can get to seeing modern rugby up close and personal. Select teams packed with talent, new and old, from around the world put a physicality and rawness to images seen on television that really has to be experienced in person.
The wonderful HK Women’s Seven celebrates it’s Twentieth Anniversary with recognition by World Rugby and the HK Rugby Union as it becomes a qualifier for the Women’s World Series. If you can’t get a ticket to the Sevens then head to So Kon Po and see the Olympic sport live. Many of the Hong Kong squad will later in the year represent Hong Kong at the Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
The Sevens, amidst the partying a rugby tournament takes place. The quality of the other World Series tournaments has stumbled this year. Will the teams raise their game, or has HK just become another stop on the global money making merry-go-round?
Here are the dates for your diary for what promises to be a fantastic week of sport and fun.
The Hong Kong Beach 5s
When: 1-2 April, 2017
Where: Repulse Bay Beach
How much: Free
More info: www.facebook.com/beach5s
Kowloon Fest
When: 5 April, 2017
Where: Kings Park
How much: Free
More info: www.rugbyfest.org
Hong Kong Tens
When: 5-6 April, 2017
Where: Hong Kong Football Club
How much: $100 from Ticketflap
More info: www.hongkongtens.com
Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens
When: 6-7 April, 2017
Where: So Kon Po, Semi-final and Final-HK Stadium
How much: Free
More info: www.facebook.com/hkwr.sevens
Hong Kong 7s
When: 7-9 April, 2017
Where: HK Stadium
How much: $1800 (sold out)
More info: www.hksevens.com