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Hong Kong Sevens: New Zealand stunned, food shortages frustrate fans – as it happened

France end All Blacks’ hopes of a three-peat in the men’s competition, on a day when food and drink availability is the talk of Kai Tak

France’s Liam Delamare (right) celebrates with a teammate after the beat New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: Elson Li

Published: 9:00am, 29 Mar 2025Updated: 11:04pm, 31 Mar 2025

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Introduction

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Saturday at the Sevens can only mean one thing – fancy dress and lots of it.

If Friday is the gentle introduction to the weekend, then Saturday is no holds barred, no turning back, a day when you go all in, both on and off the pitch.

For the teams it’s about making the quarter-finals, or at least limiting the damage, and everything suggested New Zealand’s men and women were on course for their three-peat. By the day’s end, the men were out of the running.

And the fans, well, entertainment today included Italian singer Gala of “Freed from Desire” fame, and DJ Pete Tong. It was day 2 at Kai Tak Stadium, and we kept you updated every step of the way.

More from our reporting:

– Kai Tak Stadium heralds start of ‘exciting new chapter’ in Sevens history

– Hong Kong Sevens: hosts savour double joy as fans ‘blow lid off’ Kai Tak Stadium

Reporting by Lars Hamer, Mike Chan, Paul McNamara, Harvey Kong, Wynna Wong, Connor Mycroft, Josh Ball, Tom Bell, Andrew Cesare Richardson and Shah Sahari.