Twickenham & The Stoop to host IRB Women’s Sevens 2014/15

Danielle Waterman in Sevens action

The international women’s event will run in conjunction with the Marriott London Sevens held at Twickenham next May.

The majority of the matches will be played at the Harlequins’ home ground on Friday 15 May with the final and third and fourth playoffs hosted at Twickenham on Saturday 16 May.

RFU Head of Performance (Women) Nicky Ponsford said: "We are really excited to be hosting a World Sevens Series round next season. The series is going from strength to strength and we are sure that from previous experiences of hosting international Sevens tournaments that London will be a superb addition to the calendar. The Stoop and Twickenham are world-class venues which are fitting for such a tournament, and from a team perspective we can't wait to play at home again."

Twelve teams will take part in each round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series with seven teams having qualified as core teams from last season’s series. Hong Kong will host a qualifying competition in September that will see an extra four teams qualify. The 12th team will be invited for each round of the series.

England have been nominated by the British Unions as the lead nation to attempt to qualify, on behalf of Team GB, for the sevens competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The England women’s side will need to finish in the top four of the IRB series to gain entry into the Olympic event. This will be the first time rugby sevens has been played at The Games.

 IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “The level of competition in the Women’s Sevens World Series is at an all-time high, and has been helped by the prospect of taking part in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.”

“We now have Canada and London added to the bill for the coming season and given the appetite for quality Rugby and the Sevens Game, I have no doubt that they will be excellent hosts when they welcome the women's series to their shores next year."

 In keeping with the last two seasons, the 2014/15 series will kick off in Dubai on December 4 and 5 alongside the men’s series.

IRB Women's Sevens World Series 20114/15:

First round: Dubai, United Arab Emirates – December 4-5, 2014
Second round: São Paulo, Brazil -February 7-8, 2015
Third round: Atlanta, Georgia, USA –March 14-15, 2015
Fourth round: Langford, British Columbia, Canada - April 18-19, 2015
Fifth round: London, UK - May 15-16 2015
Sixth round: Amsterdam, Netherlands -May 22-23 2015

Ticket details will be announced in due course.