The Hong Kong Sevens is the biggest rugby event in the SAR, and arguably among the biggest in the world: every year, people from around the globe fly in for the occasion. Demand for tickets is so frantic, scalpers can price them as high as $5,000 and otherwise normally generous companies hold giveaway contests for a miserly single. But who can blame them? It’s the Hong Kong Sevens!

Started in 1976, the Sevens were meant for more than just entertainment. The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union had made a commitment to foster rugby in Asia and the Sevens was a way to fulfill that obligation – though the union probably didn’t anticipate how spectacularly it would do so. The best of Asian and Pacific rugby showed up to compete – Cantabrians from New Zealand, Walleroos from Australia, and powerful sides from Fiji, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Tonga. The Hong Kong side was no slouch either: the team was “one of the finest ever assembled” according to team manager Peter Duncan. Led by Bob Lloyd, the line-up of players such as former captain Gus Cunningham, Ian Duncan and Jules Guerassimoff, lost only once – to Fiji – on its way to win the Plate in that first Sevens contest.
Thirty one years on, Bob Lloyd is still part of the excitement, although now only as a member of the stands. “I have been to every Sevens except one,” he says with a smile. “In 2004, I was on a boat trip back to the UK. I tried my best to make it; I did facetiously ask the union to send a plane to pick me up just for the event, and then fly me back to the boat afterwards.” As we laugh and settle for a chat over a cup of coffee one thing has become immediately obvious – Bob is still very much in shape. Once an athlete, as they say, always an athlete. But then as the conversation progresses, it becomes clear there is much more to the man than merely athletics.

Bob Lloyd was already an established rugby player before he arrived in Hong Kong in August of 1973. “I had a good rugby career with Harlequins, Surrey, Barbarians and England. I had five caps for England, my first against New Zealand. I was fortunate to score two tries on my first international tournament game.” Until 1995, only two Englishmen – Bob being one – had accomplished such a feat. “Eventually,
I wanted to put my career first and, anyway, the level of play at London was only amateur.” A qualified civil engineer, Bob looked for work outside his home country. Hong Kong wasn’t his first choice, however. “I applied for an engineering job in Singapore. I had taken an interest in the place while playing tour rugby; I felt it would be an interesting place to be.” Luckily for Hong Kong, another timely advertisement in early 1973 convinced Bob to relocate to here instead. “I worked
for the Public Works Department and the Highway Department and was involved in much of Hong Kong’s transport infrastructure development in that period,” he recalls.

He was also a player in the updating and electrification of the Kowloon Canton Railway British Section, now known as the KCR East. “I was involved in the roads and tunnels, Eastern Harbour, Western Harbour, the road to the airport, you know, things like that,” he says matter-of-factly.

Outside of work, Bob briefly played for the Hong Kong Football Club in October of 1973. “I was injured in that season but then played for the club over the next two years.” But he was more than just a club player. “I captained Hong Kong against the Wales touring side with the likes of JPR Williams, Gareth Edwards, and JJ Williams in 1975…” then came the big one “…which led me to captain Hong Kong in the inaugural Sevens.”

The first year of the Sevens was invitational only, with no participation from national teams. The Hong Kong team didn’t measure up in speed and strength to the powerhouse Walleroos and Cantabrians from the antipodes, but Hong Kong had their own advantage – familiarity. The adjustment from the 15-man format to sevens is tough, and the Aussies and Kiwis were unused to the new configuration, which was mostly played in the UK at the time. “The techniques were primitive early on for most of the teams, but we as the HK team were a bit more advanced because many of our guys had played sevens in England,” says Bob referring to Ian Duncan and Drew Lamont, who’d had sevens experience in UK and Scotland, respectively.

Take sixteen men off the field in a normal rugby game, and suddenly the field of play becomes enormous. That is exactly what happened in Sevens but not many players knew what to do with all that extra dirt. “People just didn’t take advantage of the space, there was a lot of ruck and maul, which to me, is anathema,” says Bob with a laugh. “I didn’t just avoid contact, I ran away from it.” Which helped Hong Kong team win the Plate downing Tonga 19-16 in a nail-biter. The inaugural Hong Kong Sevens was a success, and that was only the beginning…

Word got around and in the second year the HK Sevens created a real buzz in the rugby world. “I was interviewed by a radio station, people were flying in from other countries to attend the event, the stadium was packed on both days,” says Bob. “There was a feeling this was something unique.” But it also caused a few unforeseen problems with the establishment. “I think the International Rugby Board were jealous that little Hong Kong was putting together an event that was so popular, an event of such magnitude. I think the success of the Sevens is what influenced them to launch the Rugby World Cup,” says Bob, though he was no longer a player. “I retired after 1976. Honestly, I had enough of rugby, the physical toll it was taking on my body, it was too much.” But he just couldn’t stay away – Bob Lloyd was the coach of the Hong Kong team that year.

The popularity of the game continued to rise and by 1982 the event was forced from the Hong Kong Football Club grounds to the larger Government Stadium in So Kon Po. “Most of the players were sceptical about the move, because they had grown to love the unique, intimate atmosphere of the smaller venue,” Bob says. “But in the end, it would prove to be a wise decision because the event was growing more and more by the year. The Sevens is just very special, it almost doubles as a family reunion. The colour, the excitement, people are really enjoying themselves and there’s rugby as well. There’s such a real buzz about the whole thing – and the players react to that as well. You wouldn’t miss it for the world.”