Your guide to the Hong Kong Sevens 2022
The 2022 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens kicks off this Friday for the first time since the pandemic began. From November 4-6, 15 of the world’s top rugby sevens nations will battle it out with the hosts for one of world rugby’s most coveted crowns, the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens Cup at the Hong Kong Stadium.
More than 30,000 fans are set to welcome the return of Asia’s top sporting weekend. The 2022 edition will be a special one with Hong Kong given the honour of opening the 2022/23 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, and hosting the first multi-day mass sports event locally since the onset of the pandemic.
What you need to know
- On each day of attendance, spectators must show a photograph of a same-day negative rapid antigen test result.
- Group gatherings are capped at 12 people. Face masks must be worn at all times, except when eating and drinking.
- The stadium will have an 85 per cent cap, meaning that up to 34,000 spectators can attend. Tickets are still available via the Hong Kong Rugby Union ticketing website.
- Uber Taxi is offering promotional discounts exclusively for ticket holders. Ticket holders who are new Uber Taxi riders can enjoy five 50% off Uber Taxi rides while existing Uber users can enjoy a 20% discount.
What’s happening across the weekend
One of the biggest lures of the tournament is a rare chance to enjoy live music in an outdoor setting. The typical full calendar of music and entertainment will run across the three-day event. Here’s what to expect:
- RTHK jock Simon Willson and veteran Sevens DJ Simon Southgate will spin discs from the North Stand throughout the weekend. Local music impresario Chris Polanco, who has helped churn out hits for Cantopop legends like Eason Chan, Coco Lee and Joey Yung, will be on hand to field karaoke requests from fans.
- Friday night headliners Tai Chi will get blood pumping with some of the biggest local rock anthems of the past decades. Founded in 1985, Tai Chi cemented their reputation as one of Hong Kong’s most successful acts in the city’s “Band Boom” era in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Ska band The Red Stripes will treat the audience to their island grooves on Saturday night, followed by The Naggin Eejits!, popular for their mix of trad music, Celtic rock, folk and contemporary covers.
- On Sunday, South African born singer-songwriter Eli Zeolo and the United Band will take to the stage. Eli shot to fame after landing the role of Nala in the The Lion King musical and has gone on to record soul, hip-hop to blues and rock hits in English and Chinese. Helium3 will round off the tournament on Sunday night, perhaps the perfect accompaniment to the event, given they love the Sevens so much they wrote a song about it, fittingly entitled, “South Stand”.
After three years, the Hong Kong Rugby Union is delighted to be able to once again say to rugby fans from around the corner and around the world, ‘See you at the Sevens in 2022.’
