Qantas Women's Sevens Captain and Coach welcome new Women's Series

Qantas Women’s Sevens Captain, Rebecca Tavo and coach, Chris Lane, today welcomed the announcement of the first ever IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, which is set to kick-off later this year.

The announcement of the Series was made overnight by the IRB and is set to take place in four global destinations.

The creation of the new series underscores the IRB's commitment to the ongoing growth and development of Women's Rugby around the world and is another significant step in the journey to Rio 2016.

In a ground-breaking move, the inaugural global Series for the world's top Women's Sevens players will feature rounds in UAE (Dubai), USA (Houston), China (Guangzhou) and Netherlands (Amsterdam).

The system mirrors the men's Series, with each 12-team event featuring six core teams who will play across all four events and six teams who will be invited based on regional tournament rankings.

The six core teams for the inaugural Series are Australia, Canada, England, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA.

Qantas Women’s Sevens Captain, Rebecca Tavo welcomed the new series and said it was another sign that Rugby Sevens was continuing to grow.

“Ever since Rugby Sevens was included as an Olympic sport the game has experienced amazing growth,” Tavo said.

“The creation of the World Series is great news and something all the girls in Australia are looking forward to competing in.

“Not only will it allow us to have more competition against the best teams in the world, it will also provide more opportunities to promote the game at home and oversees.

“In Australia we’ve been running talent identification camps for our future stars and we’ve seen a huge number of young women try out.

“Having the ability to play on a regular basis will help further promote the game to the next generation of stars.”

Qantas Women’s Sevens Coach, Chris Lane, said providing the Women with a regular competition will help to strengthen Women’s Rugby on and off the field.

“The two new destinations of Houston and China certainly highlights the growth of Rugby Sevens World Wide,” Lane said.

“Being able to take our squad to a number of different destinations with different environments will be invaluable in our preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games.

“I also think that having both the men and women touring the world as part of a regular World Series will further assist in promoting the game to a broader audience.

“It’s certainly an exciting time to be involved in Women’s Rugby Sevens and I’ve got no doubts with these new destinations plus the lure of an Olympic Games more women will be enticed into the sport at both the elite and grassroots level.”

Women's Rugby is one of the fastest-growing team sports in the world and in 2016, the finest female players in the world will take their place alongside their male counterparts in Rio de Janeiro when Rugby returns to the Olympic Games programme.

The inception of an international series is a key milestone in the ongoing development of both the competitive standards and the professionalism of the women’s Game.

IRB Women’s Sevens World Series

Round 1 – UAE: Dubai, November 30 – December 1, 2012 – 7he Sevens Stadium
Round 2 – USA: Houston, Texas, 1-2 February, 2013 - BBVA Compass Stadium
Round 3 – China: Guangzhou, 30-31 March 2013 - Guangzhou University Town Stadium
Round 4 – Netherlands: Amsterdam, 17-18 May 2013 - NRCA Stadium

Rugby World Cup Sevens, Moscow, June 28-30 2013