In its final staging at the iconic Hong Kong Stadium before a move to the new Kai Tak Sports Park stadium next year, the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens returns to its roots in welcoming teams from across Asia from April 5-7.
With the shift to the new HSBC SVNS format, which focuses on the 12 men’s and 12 women’s international teams playing in the current World Series, Hong Kong China Rugby will host men’s and women’s triangular series involving Asian heavyweights in what are called Melrose Shield competitions.
The men’s competition will see Hong Kong take on Japan and China, while the women’s tournament will feature China, Hong Kong and Thailand.
The competitions will take the form of a six-match, round-robin tournament interspersed throughout the three days of the Hong Kong Sevens.
Hong Kong China Rugby and Melrose RFC, the birthplace of Sevens in Scotland, will exchange trophies for their respective tournaments. The Hong Kong Shield will be presented to the shield winner of the U18s Sevens competition at Melrose, with the Jim Telfer Cup already awarded to the tournament champions.
Phil Morris, tournament director of Melrose Rugby Limited, said the gesture is a show of their “support and gratitude to Hong Kong China Rugby, which has done so much to promote and grow our wonderful game of rugby sevens in Asia and beyond.”
Hong Kong and Japan are perennial Hong Kong Sevens participants dating back to the inaugural tournament in 1976, while China joined the party in 1998 and will be making their first appearance in the stadium since 2012.
In the women’s competition, Thailand will feature in a Hong Kong Sevens weekend for the first time in the tournament’s 47-year history.
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