“Oh my god, I was thinking ‘just run, just run’ and I saw the space in front of us I just ran,” Tse said. “My teammates always have my back and try so hard. I’m just lucky that I’m that one to get a try.”

Hong Kong ended up losing 22-5, but that was of little concern. In this game, and earlier in a 50-0 loss to New Zealand, they had stood tall against the world’s best.

“Physically they’re very strong, but I think the strength in the Hong Kong women’s team is we have got speed, we have strong defence and keep attacking,” Tse said.

“I think that’s amazing. We feel very excited and I think this is a moment where we can challenge ourselves, and showcase our team in our hometown.”

It was a moment that was never going to be lost on Natasha Olson-Thorne, either, as she led Hong Kong out for their first taste of life at the top.

The Hong Kong co-captain is 30 years old and had come up through the local ranks thinking this day might just never come.

But here it was, in drizzling rain on the opening afternoon and against a New Zealand side who are arguably the best we have ever seen. And even the uneven scoreline couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

Hong Kong Sevens kick-off times, TV, tickets – all you need to know for day 2

“It’s just an amazing moment,” Olson-Thorne said. “To finally be able to play alongside the men’s team in the same stadium – it’s incredible. I’ve been playing a long time and this is a really, really big moment for me. It feels like we’ve come such a long way, and really this is just the beginning.”

That the kick-off came around 2.16pm meant the stadium was still filling up, but it lifted as one when Hong Kong ran out and, later, when there was a period of ascendancy in the second half after Rosie Wright had come off the bench to added some extra grunt down the middle, and Hong Kong found a groove, with co-captain Melody Li and Chloe Chan looking for gaps.

That the Kiwis were unfazed didn’t really matter. This match was only ever going to go one way, and with Stacey Waaka, three tries, and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, two tries, using their superior power to bust the game open, for Hong Kong it was mostly about damage limitation and gaining experience of playing among the game’s elite.

“That was so exciting,” Olson-Thorne said. “It’s such a nice feeling running out on the home pitch, hearing those cheers and we are just all really happy to be here and happy to play. We were really happy with our kick receipts and we executed our kick-off.

“We were just really happy to get our first kick off caught and get our receipts going. Then we just had to get that first game over and soak it all up.”

Hong Kong has not hosted women’s and men’s legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series simultaneously before and Friday’s opening exchanges were proof positive of how far the women’s game has come.

There are superstars on display here and the Hong Kong squad are out there looking to play hard, and learn fast.

Ahead now, Hong Kong face Great Britain at 10.18am on Saturday and then play-offs. Then it will be back to reflect on the experience and to look forward to tournaments ahead such as the Asian Games in Hangzhou, which are looming in September.

“These games for us are about resetting a little bit at half-time, talking about doing the basics, getting everyone to just calm down and try to do what we can,” Olson-Thorne said.

“We started out saying we just want to work over the weekend and just keep getting better. Today is our starting point. We’re going to keep getting better.”