Rugby has been very good to Agustín Pichot and that is something that the former Puma XV's and Sevens captain never forgets to acknowledge.

And it is because of his wish to repay all that rugby has given him that he finds himself in Hong Kong this weekend, as Team Manager of the Argentine team competing in the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens.

It is not Pichot's first time in Hong Kong. In 1996, a few months after arriving on the international stage and already owner of Los Pumas' number 9 jersey - which he would wear until 2007 - he played in the then British Colony.

"Hong Kong was a very special moment in my career. They are all good memories when you are really young and you come to play in Hong Kong. I really had this expectation coming here and it was fulfilled," said Pichot on arrival, after travelling 36 hours from Buenos Aires, his home city.

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"Together with Rugby World Cup Sevens 2001 and Punta del Este in 1995, it was one of my greatest moments in Sevens." Argentina reached the semi final in Mar del Plata 2001 and won Punta del Este.

That Argentine team of 1996 reached the semi finals of the Plate in Hong Kong after beating Scotland (29-19) and Singapore (58-7), losing against England (7-24), beating USA (48-12) and ending its campaign with a loss against home side Hong Kong, 21-28. It was captained by Diego Albanese and included players who gave great service to the game either in fifteens or Sevens, such as Rolando Martin, Gonzalo García, Pablo Camerlinckx, Duncan Forrester, Fernando del Castillo o Pedro Baraldi.

"That trip in 1996 gave me unique moments. The biggest names in world rugby were here. I was 20 years old and starting my career. Everything was happening for me," Pichot recalled.

"A spectacular place"

Fourteen years have gone by before Pichot's return to Hong Kong, but his feelings remain the same. "Orient and Occident clash here in every sense - the people, the architecture. It is a spectacular place."

Besides giving him a chance to relive old memories, though, there is a concrete reason for this trip, which he explains: "I am a member of the High Performance Committee at the Argentine Rugby Union and we are 16 months into a 10-year plan. We need to address our Sevens Strategic Plan in a different way; looking at it on a 10-year basis.

"It was decided that I would come to see and speak with players, coaches, the people involved. Also with coaches and managers from other teams, the IRB, everyone involved in sevens. I need a lot of information to be as accurate as I can be. I am already learning a lot."

Argentine rugby owes a lot to Sevens rugby. More than 130 players have come through Sevens before playing for Los Pumas - 11 of the 13 backs and six of the forwards in the RWC 2007 squad had played Sevens rugby for their nation, mostly on the IRB Sevens World Series.

Pichot took part in the welcome press conference in Hong Kong, together with three other members of the tournament's coaching fraternity to have played in Hong Kong: Frenchman Thierry Janeczek, Kiwi Gordon Tiejtens and Al Caravelli, the USA coach who played in Hong Kong in 1981 for Argentina, the country where his father was born.

"A great moment for Rugby"

Of the three, however, only Pichot was also involved in rugby's bid process and presentation to the International Olympic Committee last October, a process which resulted in rugby being accepted back into the Olympic Games from 2016. It is something that Pichot holds dear.

"It was a great moment for rugby; an historic moment. It came after a big effort of more than two years. We had a great team for the presentation, with IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset and Chief Executive Mike Miller, Kenya captain Humphrey Kayange, Australia Sevens captain Cheryl Soon, Kazakhstan player and match official Anastassiya Khamova and Jonah Lomu.

"We really bonded there and it showed that when you do things with passion and commitment you can achieve great things. At the end in Copenhagen there was joy because we achieved what we wanted and by a great margin, with everybody accepting rugby in the Olympics. That was the greatest feeling; that everybody wanted rugby in the Olympics and it showed that the rugby family was accepted. We can now look forward to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016 when we can be part of something special."

In his new role as team manager, Pichot was close to the team at practice sessions as they prepare to play in Pool A with Russia (on Friday), Italy and the champion of the last two tournaments of the IRB Sevens, Samoa.

"I was looking at the rugby balls but had to say: 'no, I am no longer a player'. I really miss the rugby ball. I miss playing rugby. But it is life and I have to get on with it. I am now a Board Member; it happened sooner than what I thought it would, but it is my way of giving back to rugby."