Let the Games Begin! Looking Forward to the Hong Kong Sevens

Well the time has come for many, that time of the year where all focus for rugby in Asia turns to Hong Kong and the famed Hong Kong Sevens.

As mentioned in my earlier article on the event, this is THE event for many fans of rugby, and in particular the fast paced sevens version of the game. More than just one event though, the week leading up to the sevens has too become an event in itself, a super bowl week if you may.

Both the Hong Kong Tens and the Kwoloon Tens are great tournaments held in the week leading up to the sevens, catering to two really different playing standards, which is what the game of rugby is about after all.

The Hong Kong Tens, hosted by the Hong Kong Football Club on its beautiful artificial pitch, is great star studded tournament.

The tens format is less open than sevens, but still has less physical confrontations that in fifteen man rugby, giving the opportunity for world rugby greats such as Jonah Lomu and Brian Lima to occasionally pop up and have a run.

The teams come from across the globe to compete for the prize money, so you essentially have a semi professional tournament where the players and standard are pretty high in that regard.

To put it in a Gridiron context, its like having a seven on seven full contact tournament with the likes of Brett Farve just off his retirement tossing a down field bomb to a still in college wide out, with Jake long blocking for him.

Everyone has a great time partying, and while the competition on pitch is always fierce, there is no bruise beer and some good chat never cured.

The Kwoloon Tens on the other hand, focuses more on the social than on the competitive side of rugby. Almost all the club teams in the local Hong Kong league compete, in addition to sides from all corners of Asia, there for some rugby before the drinking at the sevens.

It's a social tournament where winning is a consolation, its the social and unique "brotherhood" spirit rugby brings to everyone who plays the game.

So with the stage almost set for the main event, and all comers coming from all parts of the world, the question is who will win it come Sunday evening.

New Zealand are looking for redemption in Hong Kong after their World Cup disappointment just two weekends ago in Dubai. The Yankees/Celtics/Patriots/Manchester United (chose one) of the IRB Sevens Circuit, they are looking to prove that they are still dominant on the circuit.

Coach Gordon Tietjens has called on a very experienced side to do this. Given that key players Victor Vito and Captain DJ Forbes are back to full fitness after playing injured in Dubai, expect some fire in the belly from the all black seven come opening game on Friday night.

Victor Vito especially will be one to watch, already carving a name for himself on the sevens circuit and in the Super 14s as a destructive runner of the ball. Gordon Tietjens is one of the shrewdest sevens minds around which will make the tournament all the more interesting, and for the top teams a true test of their mantle.