‘Prestige and history’ put Hong Kong Sevens on pedestal, says Ireland icon Brian O’Driscoll
- A 15s Test debut for Ireland in 1999 prevented Brian O’Driscoll from playing at the Hong Kong Sevens
- Former British & Irish Lion in city for tournament, and notes return of ‘international energy’
Ireland icon Brian O’Driscoll said the “prestige” of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens elevated the tournament above its counterparts on the world series circuit.
O’Driscoll, who sensed a return of the event’s “international energy”, when he travelled to Hong Kong on Thursday, won a 141 Test caps, eight of them for the British & Irish Lions.
His Ireland debut, in Australia in 1999, which O’Driscoll said “came before my time”, scuppered the centre’s proposed involvement in that year’s Hong Kong Sevens.
“In those days, once you were capped, you never went back to sevens,” he said.
The shorter code has grown in popularity and professionalism since the, and 10 years after retiring, O’Driscoll circles the globe for world series events, in his role as a Global Brand Ambassador for sponsors HSBC.
According to the 45-year-old, the Hong Kong leg remains top of the tree.
