(This article originally appeared on BlitzBokke.com)

The annual Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens is a big huge date on the calendars of South Africans who call Hong Kong their home or even home-away-from-home.

The Southern African Association of Hong Kong (SAAHK) plays a pivotal part in Sevens-week because they organise the annual SAAHK Sevens Dinner.

The popular event serves as the official welcome for the Springbok Sevens team to the SAR as well as providing Saffas in the City with an opportunity for a good-ol’ Op-skop!

Woop! Woop! Here come the green and gold train again!

Following high on the heels of previous Sevens Dinner speakers Kobus Wiese, Bob Skinstad, and Hugh Bladen, the Association today announced that the Springbok legend Morne Du Plessis has been confirmed as the guest-speaker at this year’s Dinner.

“We are pleased to announce that Morne du Plessis has accepted our invitation to speak at the Sevens Dinner 2011.” said the SAAHK’s Bruce Fowler.

“Morne is a rugby legend in SA and is often described as one of the Springbok’s most successful captains. Playing at number 8, his national career spanned ten years, five of which he was captain.

He was also the manager of the 1995 Springboks which won the famous 1995 Rugby World Cup final. He is the co-founder with Tim Noakes of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town and the co-founder of Bioenergetics of Exercise Research Unit of the University of Cape Town.

His father was also a Springbok captain, and to date, they are the only father-son combination to both captain the Springboks.

We feel truly honoured to have Morne in Hong Kong as our guest over the 2011 Sevens week and trust that this will enhance even more the success of our Sevens rugby dinner.”

The 2011 SAAHK Sevens Dinner takes place on Wednesday 23 March 2011 (6:30pm) at the Hong Kong Fotball Club in Happy Valley.

Stay tuned to Howzit-HongKong.com or our sister-site BlitzBokke.com for more news on the Sevens Dinner.

Here are some images from the 2007 Sevens Dinners:

As well as the 2008 Dinner:

China will make a historic appearance at the Karp Group & PC Jeweller Hong Kong Cricket Sixes at the Kowloon Cricket Club on November 6-7.

The mainland’s Asian Games squad will appear in an exhibition match on the Sunday of the popular tournament, and will be watched by millions of fans during the live television broadcast worldwide.

“We are really excited at the opportunity of appearing at the Hong Kong Sixes,” said China’s Pakistan coach Rashid Khan. “This will be a huge experience for the guys and one which should help them as they prepare for the Asian Games in November.”

Khan, who has been at the helm of developing the mainland’s elite team for the past two years, is hopeful that China would one day be able to take full part in the Hong Kong Sixes.

“This time we are coming to play in an exhibition match but I hope that one day China can play at the Hong Kong Sixes. There are some boys in this team who are more than capable of playing this type of game,” Khan said.

Khan’s hopes of China playing at the Hong Kong Sixes was given a boost by Dinesh Tandon, Hong Kong Cricket Association chairman, who said this was the first step in integrating the mainland into the annual tournament.

“I believe the day is not too far away when China will play at the Hong Kong Sixes. This is just the first step and we want to give them a flavour of playing in an international tournament,” Tandon said, adding: “Our long-term aim is to get China involved in the Hong Kong Sixes so that in this way, they will have a regular international tournament to look forward to every year. We will do our bit to help China develop as an international side.”

HKCA president Captain Shahzada Saleem Ahmed said: “ We are extremeley honoured to have China coming for the Sixes, especially as it comes just one week before the Asian Games. Although they will not be playing in the main event, they will take part in many other activities to promote cricket to all walks of life in Hong Kong.”

Cricket is just starting to take root in the mainland. But Khan has stated that the biggest obstacle facing China is the lack of opportunities to play against foreign opposition.

“This visit will not only give us much-needed opposition, but the players can also learn from watching the international stars in action,” Khan added.

Eight teams will vie for the US$150,000 prize money in the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes. They are Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

China will come up against a Hong Kong Development team during the lunch break on the Sunday of the tournament. The squad will feature eight players who will be part of the team which will take part in the twenty20 competition at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November.

“We will also arrange a Twenty20 match for China against a local team on the Friday before the Hong Kong Sixes,” Tandon said. “They will also take part in a number of clinics and training stints during their visit.”

The mainland squad is currently based in Guangzhou preparing for the Asian Games where cricket will make its debut.

Mr Glyn Davies, Tournament Director, Captain Shahzada Saleem Ahmed, President of the HKCA, Mr Dinesh Tandon, Chairman of the HKCA

A challenge awaits

If there was ever a challenge set for a brand-new skipper of a Springbok team, the recent call to duty for Kyle Brown is it. His side already decimated due to injury and SuperRugby call-up, the new Springbok Sevens Skipper will be leading what will be a Sevens team made up of primarily young, inexperienced players.

To add to the challenge, coach Paul Treu did not travel with his charges to Australia, choosing instead to remain behind to be by his sick mother’s bedside in hospital.

The senior players, guided by the rest of the BlitzBokke management team will be called upon to lead the preparations for Adelaide with the full knowledge that South Africa is the defending champions in Adelaide while woefully trailing the rest of the top teams on the IRB Sevens World Series log.

Thankfully, the young University of Cape Town player will have in his side one remaining former Bok skipper in Mpho Mbiyozo, ably supported by the other senior players in Frankie Horne, Rayno Benjamin, Chase Minnaar and Cecil Afrika.

Thanks to Treu’s mission of preparing all of his players to be leaders, Brown’s baptism as skipper of the 2008/2009 Series Champions will be less of a baptism of fire. Instead it will be but the next step in his development as a well-rounded international Sevens player.

We wish him and the Boys well in Adelaide and Hong Kong.

Bokke Bo!

(“Kaptein” is an Afrikaans song sung by popular Afrikaans artist Kurt Darren. “Kaptein, span die seile” translated into English means: “Captain, set the sails” While the song is primarily about a bloke and his girl, we chose to use it in this clip because it’s just such a lekker song about a captain getting ready for a challenge!)