24-Hour Party People: the ultimate drinking challenge of the Sevens

More than any other day of the crazy annual rugby blowout, Sevens Saturday shows just how small a place Hong Kong is.

Perhaps no other global sporting nirvana sees such casual mingling between players, coaches, celebrities, fans and pundits once they have emptied out of the stadium into the streets to sample the local nightlife.

It would likely be a once-in-a-lifetime chance encounter to run into a Rugby World Cup-winning former England star in the streets of London, bar the concourses at Twickenham.

But to see his imposing frame wander into the sozzled crowd spilling outside the White Stag in Lockhart Road, before again seeing him several hours later clambering past you up the cobbles on Pottinger Street into Central watering hole Sapphire – better known as the Bar With No Name – is a fairly impressive freak experience.

Throw in the fact my older brother from London, visiting for the Sevens, also flew out on the same flight as him from Heathrow, and it is just plain spooky.