Sunday at the Stadium, HK7s

Promised to tell you about Sunday. Don't really feel up to it since it's all one giant swirl, but the good thing about having so many photographs is that I don't have to say a lot, so it's really time-saving and, best of all, I don't have to hunt for words to describe things I don't clearly remember.

First up, here's HK Stadium: Gorgeous, huh!; purpose-built for the HK7s in 1997 as a goodwill gesture before the Handover, and as a promise by China that things in HK weren't going to change now they were in control.

It seats 42,000 ...... but word now is that it's too small to accommodate the many zillions who want to attend, so they're thinking of rebuilding it so it holds twice as many.

HK7s lasts 3 days, and it's now part of a series of IRB 7s tournaments that happen all over the world, because everyone wants to get in on the action, although none of the other competitions, everyone says, comes close to the fun and fabulousness of what goes down here. There's a big-time sociologist currently studying why that should be so, and I think, when I give it some thought, I may try to beat him to the punch.

OK, that's my challenge: why is HK7s genuinely "the greatest party on earth"? Will let you know when I actually get it.

But back to the game. The first two days are the play-offs for rankings, and then, on Sunday, it divides into three different competitions.

Here's the explanation:

Nepali guards the scoreboard.

So, the Big Guys play for the Cup, the Middle Guys play for the Plate, and the Little Guys play for the Bowl, which means everyone plays in their own league, so they're all even matches and thus so much more fun to watch.

And this is how it went down with the Bowl:

Double click to see the scores.

And here's what happened with the Plate:


Notice how the final box isn't yet filled in? The winners were TONGA!!!

Tongan Coach Peter Tanginoa
drinks from his winners cup to
Victory for Fiji in the Cup!

And finally, the Big Men for the Cup:

And since we're being wildly partisan here, let's show you how Fiji went:

So those were our games for the day: First we were up against England and, in a fabulously close match, we beat them ... ... and then we were up against "The Giant Killers" Kenya who'd already wiped NZ off the board ... and we soooo wiped them off the board ...... with 24 to 7, which meant we were in the Finals against South Africa ...

... and we soooo got it! YES!!!.

FIJI WON THE CUP!!!

Fabulous, amazing gorgeous day, although Hong Kong is now talking loud about "Sweet Saturday" when they/we Hong Kongers won all those games.

I think you've got the idea; it's a wonderful event and more fun than you can ever imagine, so do, at least once in your live, come to HK the last weekend in March, for our wonderful HONG KONG 7s.

POST SCRIPT

But let me start solving this puzzle of the elements that go into making this tournament "the greatest party on earth".

It's most likely our friendly big-time sociologist will discover this is actually Asia's version of Rio's yearly Carnivale, given the amount of alcohol, goodwill and fancy dress involved.


It's undoubtedly also something to do with the fact that everyone goes tribal and wildly partisan, but that you don't have to go for it along national lines. You can be any nationality you wish during "HK's Very Own Carnivale":

And perhaps it's got something to do with how little kiddies are always involved, so it's never "too much"! No matter how silly or raucous things get, it's never enough to frighten the little ones.

Kiddy 7s players
march the field during Half-Time.
"Crowd Blooding" is my guess since
40,ooo people cheer.

You can spot the little ones who love it!

And there's also the element of downright Puckish Naughtiness.

Fiji doesn't notice the ringer in their midst!

And then there's all that meeting interesting people, and how the players always come out into the stadium to mingle after they're knocked out of competition.

Fiji's legendary Tomasi Cama Sr
with the Taiwanese team.

And best of all, and I bet this features large in our Sociologist's assessment, is that the Chinese "just don't get it!" and so police and security are really unnecessarily brutal.

Here's me getting my various goods confiscated:

Marched over to naughty zone!


My goods confiscated!
Can pick them up at the end of the day,
only I forgot!

However, HK public has asked the police and security guards to lighten up during 7s weekend, and so now they actually smile when they needlessly harass you in their strange passive-aggressive manner!

But whatever it's all about, no one wants the weekend to end, so there's all sorts of parties everyplace, including this one half-way down Stadium Hill.


There are also parties in Lan Kwai Fong and on Lockhart Road in Wan Chai, but that's hardly surprising since they have parties there every single day of the week.

POST POST SCRIPT

You want to know something sad. I took nearly 1000 photographs on Sunday, and absolutely my favourite photo of the day - the one that really 'pops' the most - is this one that has nothing to do with any of the action; just a young Scots boy rolling a cigarette on the smokers concourse.


Most of these photographs are available for download here: http://picasaweb.google.com/denisellmurphy1/FijiansAtTheHK7s2009#

Hong Kong's Riot Gear!

Thought Fiji may like to see our new and seldom-used riot gear in these photos I took during our WTO Riots right here in Wan Chai two years ago.


Cool, huh!

I really should post my letters about our adventures during these riots. All sorts of interesting stuff happened over that week of street-fighting with the Koreans through the streets of Wan Chai. In fact, it really wasn't clever of our Fijian supporters to bring "Your Typical Friday Night at the Metropole Hotel" into Wan Chai because this is exactly where the Riot Squad had a full week of perfecting their technique of handling rioters. This same Riot Squad! These same streets! Gosh, those police guys must have laughed that they just had to use the same game plan and techniques!

Oh, and here's a photo that's really cute. The old Korean guy asking for Hong Kong Police to draw "first blood". Have a look; he's bowing his head and saying "Hit me! Hit me!" because the Koreans didn't want to be the first to hurt anyone. And the police are saying "No! Go away! You have to be the ones in the wrong!" and for several days it turned into this really cute riot that simply consisted of chasing each other through the streets, but no one actually attacking each other.

Wait a sec. I could have a photo of one of these early confrontations.

I think this is one where the two groups met and the Koreans ran away:

And here's one where they got cornered and just lay down refusing to fight, and then they got really silly with it.

Playing "Dying Beetles"

Oh, and all these lovely Cantonese grandmas bringing the rioters soup because they were worried they hadn't eaten for days, so, really, given all the goodwill on both sides, how could things turn really nasty.

Fun times, I tell you!

Flag-Waving at the HK7s!

I'm telling you, the Cantonese are absolutely the canniest entrepreneurs on the planet. In this city, when it starts raining, instantly every HK grandpa who lives somewhere around the poverty line is out on the street to sell you an umbrella. Hot day? He's got hats, water and fans! Cold day? Scarves, shawls, woollen hats, cardigan and jumpers!

And when it's the last week of March, you find he's there on the hill up to the stadium with his flags-of-many-nations ...

... wigs of every colour ... ... feather boas in the colours of national flags ...

Go Fiji Blue!

... cheap copies of national hats ...

Australian Sombrero?

"Luck of the Irish"
One's French, the other's Australian!
Who said "tribal" had to be your own!

Like, Fijian Irish!

... in fact anything and everything our Chinese grandpa's thought of ...

... that tribal-minded party-minded folks may buy from him that day.

So, one thing you can count on at the HK7s is to be able to find yourself your own flag to wave about whenever your team plays.

What they cost? Well, obviously you bargain, but you should expect to pay about ...

HK$20. for these little ones:

Media bias? What Media bias!

HK$50. for the next size up:

HK$120. for the medium size:
HK$200. for the big ones:

And the really, really big ones? I have no idea since I've never seen them on the hill myself. Guess you have to be there early.


And what should you do with your flag when you buy it?

Obviously, lots of things:

You Can Wear It.

In fact, why not wear several.


You Can Get the Team to Sign it.



You Can Drape it over your clothes
when you Switch your Alligences.

Go Fiji!

Go Tonga!

You Can Hide Behind It!



You Can Wave It!
Obviously!

But Mostly It's So Your
Team Knows You're There!

Tongan coach Peter Tanginoa notices something in the uppermost stand:

Thanks for being here for us, guys!

All photos available for free download at http://picasaweb.google.com/denisellmurphy1/FijiansAtTheHK7s2009?feat=directlink