‘Once people come in they’ll be blown away’ – HK7s set for exciting new era

Bryan Rennie, the Executive Director of the Cathay /HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, believes this year’s event will be the launchpad for a fantastic new era of top-class rugby in the region.

The 2025 Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens has moved over the water and will be held at the state-of-the-art, 50,000-capacity Kai Tak Stadium, located on the waterfront at Victoria Harbour, from March 28-30.

Organisers are promising that a bigger house will make for a bigger party, with fans enjoying the comforts of a stadium designed specifically for rugby. Amongst its many features, it has a retractable roof, air conditioning inside the arena, amazing views, and a wide range of food and drinks outlets.

Whilst he is counting down the days to one of sport’s bucket-list events, Rennie is confident the Kai Tak Sports Park development, which incorporates a smaller 5,000-seater stadium and a 10,000-seater indoor arena, will have a lasting impact beyond the three days of fun and frivolity associated with the Sevens.

“We’re really excited about the move and you can’t help but be impressed when you walk into this brand-new, shiny state-of-the-art stadium,” said Rennie.

“What this will do for Hong Kong and more widely for China will be incredibly significant. The old stadium, as brilliant as it was, was open and there were issues with noise complaints in the residential area. Now we can close the roof and have concerts and that is evident already with the likes of DJ Pete Tong and the Kaiser Chiefs playing as the headline act over the weekend of the Sevens and also the move to bring in Coldplay the week after, which sold out very quickly.

“Overall, we’ve got a lot more space to utilise. We have 10,000 more seats to fill; we’ve got a roof; we’ve got a Fan Village in a huge area outside of the stadium; we’ve got the youth sports ground which is perfect for the players to train on and to warm up on; we’ve got 20 changing rooms for the players as opposed to just four at the old stadium.”

As well as attracting headline music acts, Rennie is hopeful that Hong Kong China Rugby will be able to host more major Test Matches and rugby events outside of the Sevens.

On the eve of their last tour to Australia in 2013, the British and Irish Lions enjoyed a 59-8 victory over the Barbarians in an intensely humid affair in Hong Kong. At times, the humidity inside the old Hong Kong Stadium reached 96% but those problems will be a thing of the past following the construction of  Kai Tak Sports Park.

“All-round it is a pretty exciting time for rugby in Hong Kong. There’s a load of opportunities and it is something our commercial team is looking into,” said Rennie, the former Scotland A international, who’s lived in Hong Kong since 2014.

“We have hosted Test Matches in the past – we’ve had Bledisloe Cup games, British and Irish Lions games, and the Barbarians. We are very keen to utilise the stadium as much as possible.

“The smaller stadium hosted Hong Kong China vs Brazil back in November and 3,000 people attended that game. It was a brilliant experience for the team and for the fans to come out there and get on the precinct and experience Kai Tak, and get used to travelling on public transport to the new stadium.

“We’ll be looking to play more games there and we are very open to playing matches in the main stadium should the fixtures make commercial sense.

“For us, having a roof is great because it means if we have any weather issues – we’re getting into the rainy season – we can shut it, and likewise, in the depths of summer there is incredible air flow and air conditioning inside the stadium so you can control the temperature. So we won’t be shackled to different timelines. One thing we found when we hosted the Lions versus the Barbarians was that it was really hot for the players and spectators.

“We’ve got an exciting time coming up with the Asia Rugby Men’s Championship (in July) and the opportunities that come off the back of that.

“There is a huge support from the government and the various bureaus to ensure that Hong Kong China Rugby is hosting international tournaments and events. So as a punter and as a fan, it is pretty exciting to think that we’ll start to have some big matches coming through.”

First up, though, is the event that Hong Kong has been renowned for since the 1970s.

While the surroundings might be different, Rennie is confident that the Hong Kong Sevens will have the same fun-loving vibe that it’s always had.

A series of test events have been successfully held since it was confirmed back in September that the most prestigious stop on the HSBC SVNS circuit would be played at Kai Tak, and even with 10,000 people inside the ground under the closed roof for a university sevens tournament, Rennie says the atmosphere was incredible.

“I think once people come in they’ll be blown away, and that’s the overall message we’ve received after the test events,” he predicted.

“We want to continue doing all the good things that the event is famous for like fancy dress in the South Stand and we’re picking them up and moving them into the new stadium. The tagline ‘Where the world comes to play’ is back and we’re excited to welcome local and overseas visitors to our new home.

“One pretty cool thing is they’ve incorporated keg rooms for the beers so the beers are ice cold and they get piped in around the stadium, I had one of the coldest Carlsbergs I’ve ever had during a test event in the Champions Bar, so a lot of pretty detailed operational thought has gone into the stadium design.

“The architects, Populous have done an amazing job. The back of the South Stand is made of huge glass panes that look through onto Victoria Harbour, and I’m sure that some truly iconic fan photos will come out of it.”

New Zealand are the reigning Hong Kong Sevens champions in both the men’s and women’s competitions. New Zealand’s men won a tense final 10-7 against France 12 months ago to defend their Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens title and complete a tournament double after the Black Ferns Sevens showed them the way with a 36-7 victory over the USA in the women’s final.

Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens kicks off the Asia leg of HSBC SVNS 2025 on 28-30th March at the brand new Kai Tak Stadium. Experience a new era of Hong Kong Sevens; book tickets now at https://hksevens.com/