HKRFU Names Eric Rush as Fourth Member of Hong Kong Magnificent Seven

The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union has named New Zealand sevens specialist Eric Rush as the fourth member of its all-time international team, ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’.

In a glittering sevens career, Rush, alongside Fiji’s Waisale Serevi, was the face of the Hong Kong Sevens throughout the 1990s, playing in Hong Kong on an amazing 16 occasions and claiming the cup on nearly one-third of those outings.

His five tournament wins in Hong Kong include a purple patch of three straight Hong Kong Sevens titles from 1994 to 1996 as well as victories in 1989 and 2000.

He won the Leslie Williams Award for the Best & Fairest Player of the Hong Kong Sevens in 1991.

Overshadowing his nine test caps for the All Blacks and participation in nearly 30 matches with New Zealand, Eric Rush’s reputation as a rugby great is built on his career as one of the world’s foremost practitioners of modern sevens. Rush played in nearly 60 international sevens tournaments, and helped New Zealand win gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002 and at the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

With pace to burn, superb conditioning and unique pitch vision arising from his fifteen-aside experience as both a flanker and a wing, Rush brought an exceptional level of leadership to the New Zealand Sevens teams as a captain, helping to maintain New Zealand’s commitment to excellence through several generations of players.

Rush also distinguished himself as a member of the New Zealand Maori sides, playing in the 1988 tour of France and Argentina and in a total of 14 matches to 1991. After his move to the wing in 1992, Rush represented the New Zealand Maori on another 14 occasions including a fixture against the British & Irish Lions in 1993.

A qualified lawyer, Rush’s natural wit, intelligence and bright personality has seen him in high demand as an after-dinner speaker and in rugby circles he is nearly as well regarded for his role officiating the Hong Kong Sevens Long Lunch as for his exploits on the pitch at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Rush's sevens fame has seen him acclaimed as an international star and over many seasons Rush has been invited to play for the British Barbarians in high profile festival games in the United Kingdom.

Rush will no doubt go down as one of the seminal players in sevens rugby and Hong Kong Sevens history and his inclusion in ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’ was always assured.

The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven

‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’ campaign is part of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union’s celebration of 40 Years of Sevens in Hong Kong surrounding the 2015 Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.

The HKRFU is announcing its top seven international players to have taken the pitch at the Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po over the past four decades.

An additional player is revealed each week in the build-up to the Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens from 27 to 29 March 2015 when the entire Magnificent Seven will be assembled on the pitch that they helped make synonymous with world-class sevens to the approbation of the 40,000 strong crowd.

See also: Pictures from the 2014 Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.