As the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens 2015 kicked off, a competition of another sort was getting underway in the cushy confines of the VIP boxes circling the stadium.
At this late March rite, global finance houses and those that vie to do their due diligence are the prime tenants of these choice seats, and, like all alpha industries, there's a good bit of one-upmanship going on to see who's got the tastiest spread, the hippest theme, the most actionable box in town. See our gallery for pictures.
Goldman Sachs opted for a Japanese theme for its skybox replete with lanterns, a shimmering wall mural of Mt. Fuji and sake served in dainty masu wooden box cups. On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Sevens, which drew forty international teams from five continents to this financial centre in the South China Sea, the US investment bank used the occasion to mark its fourth decade of dealmaking in the Land of the Rising Sun.
From the mountains to sea, next up was Credit Suisse, which counterintuitively stepped off the Alps and onto the beachhead with a seashore motif that featured a surf board bar and floor-to-ceiling photos of a sun-drenched coastline. Nary a yodel was heard.
Whoops and hollers produced by thousands of fans periodically flooded into the boxes as one probed deeper and deeper into this exclusive sideshow.
To be sure, there were other reminders that this was indeed a major sporting event, founded in 1976 and organised by the Hong Kong Football Rugby Union, and not just an elaborate pretext to party and dress up like faeries and bumble bees.
Société Générale, proud sponsor of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, used the occasion to pay homage to the early days of the game, recreating a vintage rugby locker room littered with retro leather boots, jerseys and jackets. Citi followed suit with a box theme that celebrated of the origins of rugby (the game dates back to the 1870s when it was first played at its namesake school in the UK and assessed a more genteel pastime than violent Cornish hurling) and recapped great moments in the sport's lore.
While Citi took an ecumenical view of the game, not focusing on any one national team in particular, Société Générale gave a preferential deal to the French squads of yore. Sepia-toned photographs of legendary French rugby teams adorned the walls of the box, and former French union rugby player Thomas Castaignede mingled with bankers, clients and fans.
