And for the first time, women will have their own Rugby World Cup Sevens, taking place alongside the men’s event in the same host city.
IRB chairman Dr Syd Millar said: “A capacity 120,000 fans attended over the three competition days during the last event in Hong Kong in 2005, while the event was broadcast to over 450 million homes, breaking all previous Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament records.
“Over 10 million hits were recorded on the tournament’s official website and these figures highlight the global growth in Rugby Sevens.”
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 will consist of 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams and IRB member unions have until May 30 to express their intention to tender for the tournament. The tender process will replicate that used for RWC 2011 with the IRB Council selecting the host union for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 at its April 2007 meeting.
The International Rugby Board has unveiled the hosting criteria and tender process details for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009.
