Speed thrills: The fastest players at this year’s Hong Kong Sevens
Why nothing lifts the crowd at Hong Kong Stadium more than the game’s pace merchants
The mantra is that no one player is above the team, but it’s the individual flashes of sheer genius that the crowds take home with them and remember forever.
Think Serevi. Lomu. And, ok, even Campese, too.
What strikes us now, looking back at the tapes, is the speed these stars all possessed – of movement and of thought – and how, in an instant, they could put it to use, and leave befuddled opponents trailing in their wake.
Dan Norton has over the years joined these human highlight reels at the very top of the game with his exploits for England and history is there for the making for the winger at the 2017 edition of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
The 29-year-old comes to town having scored his 244th try at the Vancouver Sevens, putting him level on the all-time list with Kenya’s Collins Injera, and with the smart money suggesting Norton will grab the record all for himself – for a while at least – on Friday night when the English face South Korea (at 6.22pm).
Norton reached the mark in a way befitting his stature in the game, as his poise and pace left South African opponents flapping at air; his try sealed the Vancouver tournament for England (19-7) and put them well and truly back in the race for this year’s HSBC Sevens World Series.