Hong Kong Rugby Sevens

Today (Friday) was a very special day, the highest point in Hong Kong's rugby calendar: it is the opening day of the  annual Hong Kong Rugby Sevens Tournament at the Hong Kong Stadium. More importantly for me, the 'minis' were asked to play some matches before the opening games of the tournament. Duncan and I took the afternoon off school, and Papa took the afternoon off to take us there.

Playing against Vallet Fort RFC (me 3rd from the left)

When we got there, the place was already swarming with children from our club (DEA Tigers) and other clubs getting ready to play. When we got inside the stadium to where our team-mates were seated, Sai Gugu was already waiting for us. After some waiting and warming up, we went to the centre of this huge grass pitch. We played about four games of 10 minutes, eight players on each side.

It started to get really busy at around 5, and the proper matches started at about 6 pm. There were some people who took the afternoon off like us, and there were also many who came straight after work. There were many thinks to see and things to buy: hot dogs, cotton candy, rugby shirts. Gugu bought me pop corn and Coca Cola, and Duncan got his face painted. He told me he saw a lady with no clothes on.

The national teams play a knock-out tournament, and it was very exciting as we watched games where the two teams each made up of seven players covering the huge pitch. It's hard work, and no wonder the games are only 15 minutes each way. I'm really glad we only play on sections of the pitch.