Week Ten - Personal

Hong Kong Stadium

Hong Kong is famous for many things.... the amazing Victoria Harbour skyline, some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and a booming economy with many of the top businesses and businessmen from around the world. Before coming to Hong Kong I had researched exactly what I wanted to do during my time here. Visiting the Peak with its amazing views of the city was obviously important, seeing the surrounding islands such as Lamma and Lantau Island was very high on the list, however number one was securing tickets to the most exciting and enthralling rugby weekend on the sporting calendar! When I told my close friends and relatives last year that I was coming to Hong Kong the vast majority of them told me the same thing: That I had to get tickets to see the Hong Kong Sevens! When I realised I was being given the unbelievable opportunity to study in Hong Kong for 5 months the weekend of the 25^th March was eagerly marked down in the diary as an extremely important time during my studies here! 

Superman and a priest on their way to this years sevens!

Fiji score yet again!

The Hong Kong Sevens is organised by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union and is held annually in the last weekend of March, commencing on Friday evening and finishing on Sunday. Twenty Four teams play in the sevens, ranging from the heavyweights of rugby such as New Zealand, Australia and Fiji to the minnows like Mexico, Malaysia and England!! Initially we had struggled to get tickets for the event, however after many phone calls and constant checking on EBay we thankfully managed to get our hands on two tickets. For spectators, the atmosphere is electric and as we found out the South Stand is the place to be. Hordes of rugby fans dress up in anything you can imagine and dance for the duration of the day. I decided to get involved by wearing a superman costume and Michael decided to go as an Irish priest!

The final between England and New Zealand!

The weekend was brilliant and the quality of rugby on show was superb. A brilliant tournament was rounded off by the fact that England were beaten in the final by New Zealand, which not only was great as I love to see the English lose but it also gave the opportunity to see the New Zealanders perform their famous HAKA. The atmosphere and the rugby certainly made this Hong Kong Sevens weekend one to remember!