Record interest in hosting Rugby World Cup Sevens
October 2, 2006

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced today that a record number of countries have officially confirmed their intention to tender for the right to host the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in 2009.

IRB Member Unions Arabian Gulf, Australia, Kenya, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa and USA all confirmed their commitment to host the Tournament by the deadline of Friday, September 29.

"This is extremely exciting news for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009," said International Rugby Board Chairman, Dr Syd Millar. "The fact that seven Unions have signalled their intention to host the tournament is significant as it represents an unprecedented level of interest for a Rugby World Cup event. This strong response also reflects the importance of this tournament on the world sporting calendar while further highlighting Rugby Sevens growing global appeal."

"The last Rugby World Cup Sevens Tournament, held in Hong Kong last year, was a massive success. The tournament broke all previous attendance and broadcast records with a capacity crowd of 120,000 fans attending the three competition days, while television coverage of the event reached over 450 million homes. In addition, over 10 million hits were recorded on the tournament's official website and we anticipate Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 being even more successful."

"Rugby World Cup Sevens' record breaking growth is underpinned by the IRB Sevens World Series, which has experienced record breaking figures year on year. Television coverage of the 2005/06 Series' eight tournaments experienced a record 1147 hours of airtime, reaching 187 million homes in 136 countries," added Dr Millar.

With Scotland, Argentina and Hong Kong having hosted the three previous Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments, the 2009 event is guaranteed to be played at a new venue by a Union that has a strong association with Rugby Sevens. Australia, hosts of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, attracted a record 50,000 spectators to the Rugby Sevens finals day and will host a leg of the 2006/07 IRB Sevens World Series, while Arabian Gulf, South Africa and USA also feature as hosts on the Series calendar.

Russia, a regular competitor on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit, hosted the final of the FIRA-AER supported European Sevens Series in July. Kenya, another IRB Sevens World Series regular, hosts the annual Safari Sevens event while Netherlands are regular competitors on the FIRA-AER European Sevens circuit.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 will be the first to include a women's competition, taking place alongside the men's event. The tournament will consist of 24 men's and 16 women's teams.

"The concept of two Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments - the men's and for the first time a women's tournament - taking place side-by-side in the same host city is a very exciting prospect. The selected Host Union will have a wonderful opportunity to deliver the most successful and memorable Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament to date," added Dr Millar.

The next important date in the tender process is November 30 this year when the seven Unions will have to submit their detailed tournament tenders to Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL). Each tender response will be comprehensively reviewed before the IRB Council selects the Host Union for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 at its April 2007 meeting.

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