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HSBC Cape Town 7s ready for kick-off – The inaugural HSBC Cape Town Sevens begins on Saturday 12th December, and with a sell-out crowd of 110,000 spectators expected over the two days, the South African Rugby Union hopes the tournament will become one of the most popular on the revamped HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

The Cape Town Sevens marks the second leg of the 2015/2016 Sevens World Series, and follows on the Dubai Sevens hosted at 7he Sevens Stadium last week.

With Cape Town having earned a reputation world-wide as one of the top tourist destinations, the tournament will be a treat for the players, media, and spectators.

“Our preparations for the Cape Town have gone smoothly and we are excited to host the 16 teams and their fans in one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.

“The last four tournaments were hosted in Port Elizabeth, and they were fantastic events ; but Cape Town is widely regarded as one of the iconic cities in the world, which fitted in perfectly with World Rugby’s vision to host the new 10-event Series in some of the most popular cities worldwide.

The decision to move the tournament to Cape Town has already paid off as all the tickets are sold out, which will see 110,000 spectators support their teams over the two-day event.”

Some of the teams have already had the opportunity to explore Cape Town with sight-seeing tours on the popular Red Bus, which took them to one of the best lookout spots in the city, Signal Hill, which boasts fantastic views of Table Mountain, as well as along the beach front through Camps Bay and Sea Point.

The tournament may not yet have kicked-off, but Roux was confident that the Cape Town Sevens could fast establish itself as one of the top tournaments on the World Series, similarly to the Hong Kong and Wellington Sevens.

“The Hong Kong Sevens is where everything began, and it took them 40 years to develop the tournament into the brand that it is now,” said Roux.

“This may be our first event in Cape Town, but we are looking forward to developing it into a one of the key destinations for the players and spectators.

Cape Town has so much to offer, including good weather, Table Mountain, some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, sight-seeing opportunities, friendly people and so much more. This will not only put South Africa on the map, but the African continent as a whole.”

The USA will take on Wales in the opening match of the HSBC Cape Town Sevens at 10h15 on Saturday, with hosts, the Blitzboks meeting their African neighbours Zimbabwe in their first match at 12h49.

Kenya, who qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in November by winning the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens Olympic Qualifier in Johannesburg, will meet Dubai finalists, England, in their first clash at 12h27.

The tournament will conclude with the Cup presentation at 20h00 on Sunday evening.