The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced that a record number of countries have tendered for the right to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009. IRB Member Unions Arabian Gulf, Australia, Netherlands, Russia and USA all submitted detailed tender documents by the deadline of Thursday, November 30 outlining their bid to host the Tournament.

"The IRB is delighted that five Unions have tendered for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009. This strong response is significant as it represents an unprecedented level of tender submissions for a Rugby World Cup event and clearly reflects the importance of the Tournament on the world sporting calendar while further emphasizing Rugby Sevens growing global appeal," said IRB Chairman, Dr Syd Millar.

"Rugby World Cup Sevens 2005, held in Hong Kong, was a massive success. The Tournament smashed all previous broadcast and attendance records, attracting a capacity 120,000 attendance for three highly entertaining competition days, while television coverage of the event reached over 450 million homes. We anticipate Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 will be even more successful."

"This record-breaking growth is clearly underpinned by the tremendous success of the IRB Sevens World Series which continues to experience considerable global growth. The eight 2005/06 Series tournaments attained record broadcast and attendance figures with an unprecedented 1147 hours of coverage being televised."

"The 2006/07 Series, which will climax in Scotland in June, is already on course to set new standards. A record 70,000 fans braved the rain to watch the Dubai Tournament last weekend, the Wellington event sold out within 20 minutes and the famous Hong Kong Sevens will again be played in front of capacity crowds. Considerable interest has also been generated surrounding the two new Tournaments on the Series in Australia and Scotland and also the USA Tournament, which has switched this year to San Diego," added Dr Millar.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 will be the first to include a women's Tournament that will run alongside the men's competition and will consist of 24 men's and 19 women's teams. The inclusion of a women's Tournament for the first time is a significant and exciting development for the women's Game which is currently experiencing unprecedented interest as a result of a highly-successful Women's Rugby World Cup.

"The concept of two Rugby World Cup Sevens Tournaments - for men and women - taking place side-by-side in the same host city is a fantastic prospect. The selected Host Union for the 2009 event has a tremendous opportunity to deliver the most successful and memorable Rugby World Cup Sevens Tournament to date and further push Rugby Sevens claims for inclusion in the Olympic Games sports program," added Dr Millar.

Each Union has a strong affiliation with Rugby Sevens. Australia hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Games, attracting 50,000 fans to Rugby Sevens finals day and will host the sixth Tournament of the current IRB Sevens World Series in Adelaide, while Arabian Gulf and USA also feature as Series Tournament hosts. Russia, hosted the final of the FIRA-AER supported European Sevens Series and the Netherlands is a regular competitor on the European circuit.

Each tender response will be comprehensively reviewed by Rugby World Cup Limited before the IRB Council selects the Host Union for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 at its May 2007 meeting.