Kai Tak Stadium officials opened the roof for the first time at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on Saturday and it’s a good thing they did, given the noise that greeted two more wins from the local sides likely would have threatened to raise the thing anyway.
Captain James Christie was one player who loved the reaction, especially when he cut left and crossed as Hong Kong raced away to a 43-21 victory over Japan in the afternoon.
“Honestly, it means the world to us, everyone coming out,” he said. “It's like an eighth man. It always helps us keep going, having lots of family and friends in the crowd, too. You don't get many chances to play in front of your home crowd, let alone friends and family. So, it’s just very special.”
The win made it two from two for the SAR and a place in Sunday’s Melrose Claymores final against whomever wins the final group game in the morning between Japan and China.
Again, Hong Kong were slow to begin but turned on the afterburners in the second half, much as they had done in Friday night’s 31-7 win over China.
“Obviously, we had a slow start again,” said Christie. “China scored against us yesterday early on, so, you know, that's just something we can fix for sure. But composure got us there in the end again. There’s the Japan-China game tomorrow morning, and we'll definitely have eyes on that.
"Obviously, the tournament's not won yet. We lost at this stage last year against Japan and then turned it around. So, you know, anything can happen. We just have to be at our best.”
Hong Kong have shared the spoils across the weekend so far - Harry Sayers, Shiven Dukhande, Max Denmark and Bryn Phillips also got a taste on Saturday, as did Rory Stewart-Cox on his Hong Kong Sevens debut.
“My eyes kind of lit up when I saw we had a break,” he said. “It's so special for me. Growing up in Hong Kong, coming here to this tournament so many times, watching the players, watching the Hong Kong team. To be able to be on the pitch, it's pretty surreal, and to score was really like a dream coming true.”
The women will also have to wait to see who their opponents are on Sunday, with Kazakhstan and Thailand meeting in the morning. On Saturday they ran riot over Thailand in winning 47-0 and the love was shared, too, with four players scoring.
Sabay Lynam set the wheels in motion in the first half with two gems – one from a busting run, the second from a mazy dance into space down the left. She is another making her Hong Kong Sevens debut, and she was happy to have the skies open above her.
“I'm feeling great,” she said. “Just the feeling of going over the line was amazing. There's a couple of new girls so everybody's just been buzzing. We'll review this game, look back at the Kazakhstan game, and then we'll just go forward.
"It's pretty cool having the roof open. It's definitely a bit colder. A bit windier. But it doesn't change how we played. I think we just focused on ourselves and just stuck to our strengths, and that’s what we have to keep doing.”
