Ireland To Host Women’s Sevens

Ireland will host the World Rugby women’s sevens tournament for the first time on the 22nd and 23rd August in University College Dublin.

The IRFU have been selected to host the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series Qualifier 2015, which will see 12 teams, including Olympic qualified Brazil and Columbia, compete for the two remaining places on the coveted 2015-16 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

UCD will host over 200 visiting players and management with games taking place at the UCD Bowl, which has a capacity of up to 3,000 supporters. A family friendly carnival atmosphere will provide the perfect backdrop to this important event in the women's sevens calendar.

The announcement is yet another step forward for women's sport in Ireland as it comes just weeks after World Rugby awarded the Irish Rugby Football Union the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 which will be held at in Dublin and Belfast in August 2017.

Speaking on behalf of World Rugby, Chairman Bernard Lapasset said "With the 2016 Olympic Games looming large on the horizon and the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series now an important and popular fixture on the international rugby calendar, this qualifying tournament in Dublin is extremely important for World Rugby and of course the individual teams involved.”

"Competition is fierce at this level and it is very encouraging to see that the overall standard of the women's game is rising all the time. There have never been so many exciting opportunities for women's sevens players as there are today. The series, the Olympics and of course Rugby World Cup Sevens mean the world's best female players are in the public eye more than ever before. This in turn is attracting more players, spectators and commercial partners into the game, which is having a significant, beneficial effect.”

"I would like to thank the IRFU for hosting this tournament and I've no doubt all the teams will be working hard in preparation as they seek to qualify for next season's series. For two teams that effort will bear fruit and for the rest I'm sure they will benefit from the experience of competing in an elite, high-intensity, two-day sevens event.”

Following the announcement of their selection, IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne said "We are delighted with today's announcement that Ireland is going to host the Women's Sevens Dublin Tournament. UCD is a world class facility and it is a great opportunity to build the women's game on an international stage.

This gives us a great opportunity to showcase the game and we look forward to welcoming the International teams to Ireland for what is sure to be a great event.”