Rugby's biggest party has had a glamorous makeover as the weird and wonderful Hong Kong Sevens returns

HONG KONG: It has always been a case of expect the unexpected at the Hong Kong Sevens, both on and off the field.

Fiji wizard Waisale Serevi is regarded as the tournament's king and the small island nation has lifted the trophy a record 19 times since little known Australian Stephen Streeter scored the first try in 1976.

Hong Kong provided the launching pad to superstardom for the likes of Jonah Lomu, David Campese, Christian Cullen and George Gregan while the action has been just as compelling in the stands.

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David Hasselhoff stunned a heaving South Stand in 2016 when he grabbed the microphone and started belting out Delilah and the Baywatch theme song.

Hasselhoff had been in doubt earlier on game day, as former Wallabies loose forward Stephen Hoiles recounted to now Stan Sport commentator Sean Maloney.

Hasselhoff had been dining next to Hoiles at their hotel restaurant.

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"The Hoff is right behind me and all of a sudden he starts screaming 'the spice, ooohhh the spice!' OOOHHH! People come running from everywhere with ice packs and milk for him," Hoiles recalled.

"It was really weird. I finished my three quarter latte and left just as he turned red."

Expect the unexpected.

Ex-France hardman Sebastien Chabal continued the theme in 2019 when he took the field dressed as a caveman and started belting out The Proclaimers' classic I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).

"It's amazing the amount of atmosphere it's able to keep over multiple days, long term," Morgan Turinui, who played in Hong Kong and remembers getting "schooled" by Serevi, said on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts.

"We see lots of tournaments where certain spectators will duck out the back and go away, but somehow Hong Kong just buzzes along, it just goes and goes and goes. The longest, biggest, most impressive beer snakes, the cups. It's the best and I think that's a signifier of how serious this party is.

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"David Hasselhoff, Sebastien Chabal - and that's just at the matches, not even what happens after dark."

There is added intrigue this year as the tournament shifts from Hong Kong Stadium to the brand new, state of the art Kai Tak Sports Park.

The stadium seats 50,000 and the noise and colourful, multicultural atmosphere should be immense under the roof when the three day tournament kicks off on Friday.

"The new stadium has come up with a brilliant idea of a six hour drinks package in one of the stands," Turinui said.

"But there is not a fight, not a drama - it's a happy crowd with every country from around the world that plays rugby there to celebrate.

"It's amazing how many business conferences are on this weekend in Hong Kong. I reckon the new stadium could be huge for Australia, especially the women, because remember how wet (humid) it always is in Hong Kong. So with the roof - the point of difference for our women's team is the speed and fitness."

Lethal try-scorer Maddison Levi will make a much needed return for Australia.

Levi, the reigning world women's sevens player of the year, has been sidelined since January when she fractured a thumb playing in Perth.

Australia (70 points) sits second behind arch-rivals New Zealand (76) with just two tournaments to go.

The returns of Levi and Sariah Paki (calf) help offset the big losses of Charlotte Caslick, Bienne Terita, Demi Hayes and Heidi Dennis.

"I think we shouldn't have anything to fear, considering we do have such a young team and that's something that we've spoken about," the injured Hayes told Between Two Posts.

"We don't have the likes of Charlotte to follow, and we know how much she does on the field every single game to cover our bums a lot of the time. It gives some girls a good chance to step up and just have no fear in everything that we do, every game that we play.

"We know it's going to be tough, especially with the inexperience of the team."

Meanwhile, Australia men's coach Liam Barry has recalled teenager Hadley Tonga to his squad with Michael Icely (knee) ruled out.

The Aussie men, who sit sixth on the standings, have been drawn in Pool B with matches against New Zealand, South Africa and Uruguay.

Australia's women meet Spain and Canada on the opening day in Pool C before a clash against Japan on day two.

WOMEN'S DRAW

• Friday March 28: Australia vs Spain – 1.53pm AEDT
• Friday March 28: Australia vs Canada – 4.57pm AEDT
• Saturday, March 29: Australia vs Japan – 12.53pm AEDT

MEN'S DRAW

• Friday, March 28: Australia vs New Zealand – 8.30pm AEDT
• Friday, March 28: Australia vs South Africa – 11.39pm AEDT
• Saturday, March 29: Australia vs Uruguay – 4.20pm AEDT

Sam Worthington travelled to the Hong Kong Sevens thanks to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Cathay Pacific and The Langham