In exactly four sleeps, our city will welcome the first international Hong Kong Sevens competition in more than three years, as loosening of COVID-19 restrictions will see the return of Asia’s biggest rugby event to Hong Kong shores.

Sixteen squads hailing from each corner of the world will battle it out in competition for the Plate, Cup, and Bowl during the finals held on Nov. 4 to 7.

To capture what the Sevens means for the post-COVID-19 recovery and resurgence of Hong Kong, The Beat Asia sat down with CEO and Executive Director of Hong Kong’s Rugby Union (HKRU), Robbie McRobbie, to get the lo-down of Hong Kong’s biggest sporting weekend in more than three years.

Morning Robbie, thank you for sitting with us to chat about this momentous rugby event. What are you looking forward to for the 7s?

Thank you, Rubin. For us, it’s a huge relief after more than three years to get back to doing what we love. The HKRU relies heavily on the Sevens for revenue, so it’s important for us to get things going again.

It’s also an important milestone on Hong Kong’s pathway back to normality. We are looking forward to seeing old friends and having our fans and teams back. We missed everybody.

What does the Sevens mean in large part to Hong Kong’s and Asia’s rugby community, the fans, and the teams? Is this a push for rugby’s growth in the community?

[The Sevens] is hugely important for grassroots development. For us, it’s not just the financial engine that powers our entire rugby community, but also to raise the profile of the game. On Friday, we will invite 6,000 local school children to the event, and another 1000 associated with charities and NGOs to attend for free. We hope these people will be the rugby fans and players of the future.

Hong Kong Sevens is the flagship event for rugby in the region. It is a very important market for the region’s rugby to get the Sevens up and running again.

As Hong Kong’s borders have now opened and restrictions loosened, this year’s Sevens will still present differently as former tournaments with fewer international visitors and some COVID-19 rules in place. What are some new event highlights being introduced for the first time?

With our live music proponent of the event, this year we wanted to look into our own community and profile the vibrancy of the Hong Kong local music scene and present an opportunity to local artists to showcase their talent. On Friday, we have local Cantonese rock band Tai Chi playing for fans and Chris Polanco singing too.

I think in accordance with the theme of our Sevens, we will represent the Hong Kong music scene across the spectrum, everything from Ska to Celtic rock, [from] Cantonese rock to acapella.

What does it mean for Hong Kong to host the Sevens in November and then repeat the event in April 2023?

It’s going to be double the fun! Our hope for November is to give the opportunity to locals to attend the event and convert them into lifelong rugby fans who will come back and enjoy in April.

What are your predictions for the titles this weekend?

I think it's interesting to see how Great Britain performs, playing for the first time as a combined team, with the forces of Scotland, England, and Wales being a threat for the Cup. Australia will be threatening to come in as a World Series champion, and of course Fiji, who won the recent Rugby World Cup in South Africa. I think South Africa is going to pinch awards this November.

Hong Kong has a tough group with Australia, New Zealand, and Samoa. Wouldn’t it be fantastic that the last game on Friday, Hong Kong versus Australia, if we could see our hometown heroes pull off an upset and beat the reigning World Series champions?

And my final question, will you be in the South Stand and what are you going to be wearing?

I will visit the South Stand at some point, as I always do, but will do my rounds. Unfortunately, my fancy dress won’t get any more exciting than the Hong Kong rugby shirt [laughs].

Thank you for catching up with us Robbie!

Thanks Rubin.