Festival Fever: Sevens Dreams, Local Roots!

In the lead up to the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, Sam Agars sits down with four Discovery Bay residents who have made it onto the game’s biggest stage

PHOTOS COURTESY OF

Alessandro Nardoni

Hong Kong China Rugby Club

Pam Mirabella & Tim Alexander

There are few Hong Kong sporting events as iconic as the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens and the three-day festival of rugby holds a special place in the hearts of many Discovery Bay residents.

In a place where rugby is such a big part of the community through the DB Pirates and beyond, the path from DB to Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po was well-trodden. That path now leads, of course, to the new stadium in Kai Tak and this year’s pilgrimage will be extra special as the Sevens, on from April 17 to 19, celebrates its 50th anniversary.

While most DBers will be going as fans, some will actually get to grace the turf of Kai Tak Stadium, whether as part of the mini and youth rugby games and march past which gives youngsters the chance to soak up the atmosphere of the crowd, or – in the case of Alessandro Nardoni – actually representing Hong Kong.

Af ter first living in DB way back in 2009 and starting his rugby career with the DB Pirates, Alessandro is back living in the community and, all going as expected, will be playing in his sixth Sevens come April.

While Hong Kong teams are no longer in the main draw of the Sevens and play in the Melrose Claymores competition – in which Hong Kong’s men and women were both victorious last year – Alessandro has been lucky enough to play in the main event. He considers victor y in the 2023 Shield – the award given to 13th place of the 16 teams –as his standout Sevens’ moment.

“Three years ago in the old stadium, we won the Shield, beating Canada in the final. That hadn’t been done by Hong Kong for over 10 years. Beating two circuit teams, that was definitely the highlight for me,” he says.

“As players, we want to inspire the next generation and show them there is the opportunity to become a professional in Hong Kong,” Alessandro adds. “The opportunity is there.”

While Alessandro has been blown away by the new stadium, he’ll never forget the buzz of running out at the old venue. “The atmosphere of Hong Kong Stadium was amazing,” he says. “Not many people get the support we do from the home crowd when we’re playing for Hong Kong. Just thinking about it now gives me goosebumps. There is a big change going to Kai Tak. The technology, the laser show, the atmosphere of a closed stadium and the music – it’s also amazing,” he says with a grin.

Alessandro has experienced every facet of the Sevens, playing in the mornings as a youth, living it up in the famed South Stand and competing against the best.

“I also went to the Sevens as a fan and spent time in the South Stand. That part is just unreal,” he says. “It just feels like a three-day festival. I enjoy rugby so I was actually watching some of the rugby but some of my mates had no idea what was happening on the pitch and they were just having a good time.

“The Sevens is special because there’s such a big buy in from people that live in Hong Kong – everyone looks forward to it. It’s a big party; people are dressing up, people enjoy a drink and the city comes alive during the weekend. There are a lot of events going on outside the stadium as well and that adds to the enjoyment.”

Like most, Alessandro is rather circumspect when asked for his best South Stand memory: “It is very good fun. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Another DBer who was lucky enough to play in the Sevens is Tim Alexander, stepping out for Hong Kong at the tournament on two occasions and experiencing Shield success in 2010.

“We beat Wales [in the pool stage], who were the world champs at the time,” says Tim. “The last try we scored [in the final], we got a turnover and it went through four or five sets of hands to score. It was almost a length-of-the-field ef for t.

“The crowd was ridiculous. To be playing deep into day three on the Sunday when everyone was just topping themselves up from the Friday and Saturday, it was very loud. It was the first silverware Hong Kong had won at the Sevens for a long time.”

Tim, who has lived in DB for almost 10 years, is a Sevens regular as a fan these days and he’s under no illusion as to what makes the event so special: “The atmosphere is amazing and it’s truly global. It’s not just people from Hong Kong but people from every corner of the globe and they’re all there for the one reason and that’s to have a party.”

A raft of DB youngsters will again make the trek to Kai Tak this year to ply their trade on the pitch before the main event begins, including the McLeay brothers – 12-year-old Raph and nine-year-old Teddy. The boys have been to the Sevens twice, playing for the first time last year, with both brothers winning their games.

“It was cool because a lot of people were watching and it felt like you were actually playing in the Sevens,” says Teddy. “Being seen on the big screen was really cool.”

“The stadium is just so big. Playing and then getting to watch the rugby too was great. We won and at the end of the match there was a bit of a fight – a player threw the ball at one of our player’s heads and things got a bit heated,” adds Raph.

While the crowd was still building when they played, Raph and Teddy enjoyed being able to soak up the atmosphere during the march past later that af ternoon. “Around 3pm we walked around the pitch before the next teams played and it was cool because everyone was there by that stage,” says Teddy.

While the players will be leaving no stone unturned to ensure they perform at their best at the world’s most-loved Sevens tournament, there will be plenty putting almost as much time into a different sort of preparation – costume selection.

While most subscribe to the mantra of ‘what happens in the South Stand stays in the South Stand,’ plenty also like to keep a lid on their costume ideas until the big weekend. If history is anything to go by it should be easy to spot the likes of Darth Vader, Wonder Woman, Superman, Ronald McDonald and the Harlem Globetrotters in the South Stand.

If you look hard enough, you might even find Wally.

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