The most prestigious prize in European club rugby will be decided over almost seven months of gruelling cross-border competition. Pool matches will be played from November to January, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals in April before the final the following month at Twickenham.

Irish side Leinster will be defending their title but will face strong competition from Northampton Saints – the team they beat in last season’s thrilling final – plus the likes of Bath, Leicester Tigers, Saracens, Toulouse, Biarritz, Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Munster and Edinburgh. Matches will be televised live throughout Asia on the Eurosport channel.

Club teams from the heartlands of European basketball, including Greece, Spain, Lithuania and Italy, will go toe to toe over five energy-sapping months to find the next Eurocup Basketball champions. The teams will be divided into eight pools of four for the opening rounds with the goal of making it to the Eurocup Finals – the “final four” – in mid-April.

Benetton Basket Treviso from Italy will be one of the favourites after signing veteran forward Brian Scalabrine – an NBA title winner with the Boston Celtics in 2008 – while Germany’s Fraport Skyliners have high hopes for rookie point guard Michael “Juice” Thompson, who has joined on his first professional contract after an impressive US college career at Northwestern University. Games will be televised live throughout Asia on the Eurosport channel.

The only way is up! That is the theme for Hong Kong as they aim to kick off a new era under recently appointed national head coach Ernie Merrick. The team have fallen to 169 in the FIFA world rankings and Merrick – a serial winner in his previous job as coach of Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory – is determined to turn fortunes around.

Merrick’s appointment is part of a Government-backed initiative to improve Hong Kong football and comes after Gordon McKie, previously with the Scottish Rugby Union, was recruited as new CEO of the HKFA. The match against Chinese Taipei is Hong Kong’s first since the duo took up their roles.

Organised by the Hong Kong School Sports Federation, the annual All Hong Kong Schools Jing Ying Football Tournament is the most eagerly awaited soccer competition of the year among students. It is played on a knockout basis over a six-week period at a variety of venues around the territory.

This year, the new senior management staff at the Hong Kong Football Association have stepped in with support and have arranged for the final to be played at the refurbished Mongkok Stadium. With free admission for students, parents and football fans alike, organisers expect a crowd of several thousand to create a special atmosphere for what promises to be the game of these young players’ lives.

Rugby has really taken off in Rwanda since the national team, the Silverbacks, made their first tour to Hong Kong in 2010. The domestic game is booming, coaching and refereeing structures are being put in place with the assistance of developed rugby nations, and kit and equipment has been donated from overseas to aid the country’s rugby development.

What the Silverbacks really want now is some silverware. Their last visit to the Altus Kowloon RugbyFest in 2011 saw them reach the Cup semi-finals and they are returning with their eyes on the trophy. In addition, the players will undergo further coaching courses and attend the famous Hong Kong Sevens as spectators.

First played in 1976, the Sevens has grown into a global sporting and cultural phenomenon – a world class sports tournament and a carnival of noise, colour and camaraderie. As the saying goes: “If you get bored, turn around and watch the rugby!” Defending champions New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and crowd favourites England will all be strong contenders.

For the eighth year in a row, Two Up Front will be publishing the official souvenir programme and pocket guide, the lavish dual publication that sets the standard in the World Series. Teams, timetables, facts, stats, features, fun, interviews and much, much more, we give fans all the information they need for a sensational Sevens experience.

English Premier League aces Gabriel Agbonlahor, Glen Johnson, Anton Ferdinand and David Bentley, plus Scotland internationals Shaun Maloney, Craig Beattie and Chris Burke, are just some of the young players who first made a name for themselves at the Soccer Sevens, the tournament that has become famous for unearthing “the stars of tomorrow”.

Sixteen teams will compete in the Main competition, with top clubs from England and Scotland looking to dislodge last year’s champions, Hong Kong team Kitchee, who beat Scottish giants Celtic in the final. A further 12 teams will take part in the Masters, an event that has previously drawn legends such as Jurgen Klinsmann, John Barnes, Andy Cole, Matt Le Tissier and Des Walker.

The action will be fast and furious as youngsters and adults alike compete in a two-day tournament that is the talk of Hong Kong’s basketball community. Teams are grouped into categories that include an open event, age group (for both boys and girls) and a corporate competition.

The tournament is organised by Love Neighbor Services Association, a voluntary body providing social services support to Hong Kong residents, and part of the proceeds will go towards Hear Talk Foundation, a registered charity helping underprivileged children and elderly in Hong Kong and mainland China who suffer from hearing and speech communicative disorders.