The highly-anticipated rugby tournament will take place for the first time at the new venue from March 28 to 30, having moved away from Hong Kong Stadium.
The New Zealand men’s squad kicks off their campaign on Friday, facing off Australia in their first pool match.
“We managed to win the last one in the old stadium. We’re trying to create history again and win the first one in the new stadium,” men’s squad captain Dylan Collier said.
“It should be awesome. Looking around it at the moment, it looks unbelievable. The pitch looks good as well, so it’s going to be an awesome tournament coming.”
On the women’s side, captain Sarah Hirini highlighted the importance of balancing fierce competition and camaraderie.
She was seen handing out friendship bracelets to fellow captains during a photo shoot in the stadium on Wednesday.
“We love it. We love what Hong Kong’s all about. It’s a party atmosphere. It’s the home of Sevens, and we can’t wait to get amongst it this weekend. Hopefully the South Stand will be rocking for us,” Hirini said.
“Everyone’s pretty competitive at the moment in the way teams are going, and improving over the series has been really awesome for our game. We hope that we do well, but we hope that the games itself are exciting as well.”
Hirini’s squad opens their tournament against China, which will be joining the main event this year.
The national women’s team won the Melrose Claymores – a tournament featuring Asian teams that runs alongside the Sevens – last year.
Meanwhile the SAR squads say they are also looking forward to feeding off the home crowd’s energy.
Hong Kong, China team co-captain, Natasha Olson-Thorne, said her squad always gets an extra boost while playing at home, and they look to build on their success from last year when they were the runners-up in the Melrose Claymores competition.
“It’s great playing in front of a home crowd. They always got your back, so I think one of the special feelings to be running out of that tunnel and hearing the cheers from the crowds, and that’s definitely motivational,” she said.
“It’s not pressure, it’s just we want to embrace the pressure and play and have a good time.”
On the men’s side, Hong Kong, China will be looking to defend their Claymores title after last year’s triumph over Japan.
“There’s always pressure being the winners from last year. I think some of us are used to it, but some of us are new in the team. So we help each other out and then just have to figure it out on the pitch together,” captain James Christie said.
