Preview - Hong Kong

Who will be champions of the South China Sea?

In a weekend satiated with international and top-class provincial rugby, 24 countries head to Hong Kong for the premier tournament on the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens circuit. The three-day tournament, which kicks-off on Friday, March 26, is the fifth leg of the 2003/04 IRB Sevens and carries with it the added significance of extra points in a series that has already produced four different winners in the first four rounds.

Established in 1976, the Hong Kong Sevens was originally contested by teams in the Asian-Pacific region. Since the late 1980s the tournament has featured 24 teams from all over the world.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, consists of a small peninsula and hundreds of islands in the South China Sea. But every year around Easter it becomes the focus point of Rugby Union.

This year, however, the Hong Kong Sevens have to compete for attention with the decisive round of Six Nations fixtures and a series of high-profile derby matches in the Super 12.

But for the Sevens players it is about winning the most prestigious event on the calendar, with England going for a hat-trick of titles in Hong Kong and New Zealand, winners in 2001 and 2002, looking to cement their place at the top of the 2003/04 standings.

The Kiwis currently head the IRB Sevens standings, with England in second place, which suggests they must be the favourites.

But Fiji will be looking to regain the crown they once regarded as their own, having won at Hong Kong 10 times since 1977 - including twice recording hat-tricks in the 1990s. Fiji's fourth place on the current standings suggest they are not yet a spent force.

The list of contenders, however, does not stop with those three countries - Argentina (fifth on the standings) emerged as the people's favourites, after winning their first-ever IRB Sevens title in the ground-breaking Los Angeles tournament in February.

Then there is Samoa (sixth), who went down to an extra-time try by Argentina's Juan Ignacio Gauthier in the Los Angeles event, and South Africa (third), who won the opening round in Dubai in December. But the South Africans - without their coach Chester Williams - appear to have gone into a steep decline, exiting in the quarter-finals in LA.

While the 2003/04 series has produced four different winners from four different continents, when it comes to Hong Kong you have to go with consistency and here the Kiwis certainly have the edge. They have played in all four Finals this season - losing to South African in Dubai, to England in George, winning in Wellington, and losing to Argentina in Los Angeles.

And you cannot replace the experience of players like Eric Rush, back as captain, Matua Parkinson, Amasio Valence and Anthony Tuitavake.

It is also testimony to the wealth of talent, and to the shrewd selections and know-how of coach Gordon Tietjens, that teenagers like Rudi Wulf and Tanirau Latimer - thrown into the fray in the last two tournaments - have come to the fore this year.

England's arrival in Hong Kong has been overshadowed by the 'club-versus-country' row surrounding star player Henry Paul, who will not take part in the defence of England's Hong Kong tile, after his club, Gloucester, refused to release the player.

With no compromise reached between the club and the national body, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced on Tuesday that NEC Harlequins and England Under-21 squad member Tom Williams would travel to the Far East as Paul's replacement.

It is now up to captain Simon Amor and his team to put all the controversy behind them and live up to their billing as one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Apart from the big guns, there are also those minnows that are capable of a big upset - as Kenya reminded us all with their victory over Australia in Wellington.

For South Africa the encounter with their fellow Africans in the final fixture in the pool phases could be the deciding game.

Springbok coach Paul Treu has made numerous changes, including a change of captaincy, to his team. They have further been hit by some crippling injuries.

Apart from Marc de Marigny taking over from Kevin Foote as captain, the squad will be without key playmakers such as Earl Rose - second on the IRB 2003/04 points-scoring list - and Marius Schoeman - fifth on the try-scoring list - who are both absent from the team for the next two rounds.

Fiji will also be without their captain Isireli Naqelevuki in Hong Kong, but his replacement Simoni Rokini has reportedly been in outstanding form on the domestic Fijian circuit.

Samoa remain the dark-horses of Hong Kong. Like in Los Angeles they often come within a whisker of upsetting the top seeds. This could be the year when they fulfill their dream of winning the title for the first time since 1993.