Hong Kong will bid again for the Rugby World Cup Sevens. While a decision has still not been made by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, a senior official hinted that the SAR will put its name into the hat to host the 2009 tournament.

"The International Rugby Board will put a tender out for bids later this year. While it is up to the directors of the union to take a decision, I think we will put forward a bid again," revealed Allan Payne, HKRFU executive director.

Hong Kong hosted the second and fourth Rugby World Cups Sevens in 1997 and 2005 respectively. Both were played in front of a sold-out stadium and were a financial success for the IRB.

"I'm pretty sure there will be a number of other countries making a bid for 2009. And Hong Kong is likely to do so again, although I stress that no official decision has been taken and it is up to the directors to do so," Payne said.

There have been calls made in the past to make Hong Kong the permanent home for the Rugby World Cup Sevens which is held every four years. This has been backed up by the financial benefits accruing to the IRB who lost out both times the tournament was played elsewhere - the inaugural event in 1993 at Murrayfield, Scotland, and the 2001 tournament in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Among the candidates to host the next World Cup will be Wellington and Dubai, both of which host a leg of the IRB Sevens series, like Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, top rugby officials from all over the world will fly to Los Angeles this weekend - when the fourth leg of this season's IRB Sevens is played - for a meeting with the IRB over the future of the annual IRB Sevens series.

Hong Kong will press its claims - once again - to be the last leg of the series which presently has eight stops.

The HKRFU originally wanted the Hong Kong Sevens to be the climax to the series, but those hopes did not materialize when the IRB put in place the annual event back in 1999.

"We will have discussions with everyone concerned about the future shape of the IRB series," said Payne who will represent Hong Kong at the meeting.

It is believed that the IRB wants to condense the series into a shorter time frame. At the moment, the eight-leg series begins in December in Dubai and ends in June (the following year) in London.

"There is a feeling that this is too long, and possibly eight tournaments are a bit too much. While there are three key tournaments in the series - ours, Dubai and Wellington - the IRB will need to raise the profile of the others. This meeting in LA will decide what the future is going to be," said Payne.

"We are happy with the IRB series in that it guarantees us that we will get the big teams. But now we must also ensure that these teams get the players they want," added Payne.

The long drawn out IRB Sevens series has made it more and more difficult for the big teams like England and New Zealand to get players released from club duties. A season which begins around October or November and ends with the Hong Kong Sevens in March could help teams in the northern as well as southern hemispheres get their best players.

(SCMP February 6, 2006)