The Eagles' Chris Wyles celebrates scoring against England in the Adelaide Sevens earlier this year © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

Sites: Other countries

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced that the USA will play in all eight events of the 2008/09 IRB Sevens World Series.

The new season, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Series, offers the USA a first outing as a core team, having replaced Canada to join the other ever-presents on the Series: Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Kenya, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Wales and reigning champions New Zealand.

"Being able to grant USA Sevens core team status is testament to the growth of Rugby that is taking place in their country following strong performances in the tournaments they have participated in over the last couple of years. Now they will be aiming to build further on their success and move up the Sevens rankings to put more pressure on the other core teams," said IRB Sevens World Series Manager Beth Coalter.

At each tournament four additional Unions will be invited to compete alongside the 12 core teams, except in Hong Kong, where 12 extra teams are invited to participate in the larger 24-team, three-day format. The additional countries qualify for invitation by competing in satellite Sevens tournaments that run in each of the continents alongside the IRB Sevens World Series, a structure that allows each rugby playing nation the opportunity to compete on the biggest stage, while adding to the unique global flavour of international Sevens.

The IRB Sevens World Series' 10th anniversary season follows the successful format of packing the tournaments into pairs. Dubai (United Arab Emirates) will kick off the celebrations on 28-29 November at Emirates Airline's new purpose-built 'The Sevens' venue, which will also host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in March. George (South Africa) follows on 5-6 December.

The second pair of tournaments are in February, Wellington hosting the New Zealand leg on 6-7 February and San Diego staging the USA event on 14-15 February. The famous Hong Kong Sevens takes place over three days on 27-29 March, ahead of the third Adelaide Sevens in Australia on 4-5 April. The Series will again draw to a climax in Europe at the end of May, Twickenham staging the London leg on 23-24 May and Murrayfield providing a fitting finale in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 30-31 May.

"The eight tournaments spread across six continents gives the Series a unique global appeal. Four tournaments were at capacity last year, while the other four registered strong crowds in another record season. Support for the Series continues to grow across the globe and tickets for the New Zealand Sevens in Wellington in February sold out within 10 minutes recently," said Coalter.

The IRB Sevens World Series, along with Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009, is an integral part of the promotion of Sevens Rugby to the world's sporting community, including the International Olympic Committee as the IRB continues its campaign to have Rugby re-introduced into the Olympic Games.