Tradition has it that in 1883 the Melrose rugby club in Scotland was casting around for ideas to help the club's finances when the suggestion of a rugby football tournament was put forward by the now legendary "Ned" Haig.
Realizing that it was hopeless to think of having several games in one afternoon with 15 players on each side, the teams were reduced to seven men.
One hundred and twenty years later and seven-a-side rugby has developed into a worldwide game. There is now an international professional circuit that visits 11 countries -- the blue riband event of which is the Hong Kong Sevens -- and the sport has proved so popular that there are plans for it to replace baseball in the 2008 Olympic Games.