Hong Kong Sevens: All Blacks get title defence off to winning start ...

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Part celebration, part fond farewell, part rugby tournament, the Hong Kong Sevens returns to the city that made the sport famous this week, with more subplots than Game of Thrones.

Defending champions New Zealand made a strong start to the defence of their title, Australia’s most capped Test player Michael Hooper made his sevens debut in a win over perennial finalists and fan favourites Fiji, who are are weeks removed from sacking coach Ben Gollings, and that’s just in the men’s competition.

For the women, New Zealand and Australia are locked in a battle for the top spot, the United States arrive in the city on the back of a third-place finish in Las Vegas, their best performance of the series, and Great Britain are fighting to avoid being dragged into a promotion-relegation battle.

Hong Kong’s men and women might not be among the world’s elite, but the latter have taken the roof off the stadium, beating China in their opening Melrose Claymore encounter.

There is plenty happening on and off the field, so follow us for live coverage on the first day from Hong Kong Stadium.

Reporting by Josh Ball, Tom Bell, Paul McNamara, Lars Hamer and Mike Chan