Scotland bid for continued involvement in IRB Sevens World Series

Scottish Rugby can confirm today that it will put forward a formal bid to continue their involvement in the IRB Sevens World Series beyond 2015, when the current schedule concludes, as well as a bid for the 2018 Rugby World Cup 7s.In the World Series tender process, Scotland are joined by USA, England, South Africa, France, Germany, Japan, Chile, Canada, United Arab Emirates, China, Australia, Russia, Wales, Portugal, Singapore, New Zealand, Spain, Kenya, Netherlands, Argentina, Fiji, Hong Kong and Switzerland.The deadline for formal tender submissions for hosting a Sevens World Series tournament is set for Friday 27 June and the 2015/16 Series hosts will be selected by the IRB EXCO in October 2014.Scottish Rugby’s director of commercial operations, communications and public affairs, Dominic McKay, said: “We’re looking forward to working with the IRB and our partners, including Event Scotland and the Scottish Government, to extend our hosting of the successful IRB World Series.We hope to build on the seven years of success with the Edinburgh and Glasgow  IRB Emirates 7s events that have proved to be very popular.”Paul Bush OBE, chief operating officer for EventScotland said: “Scotland is the perfect stage for events and as the home of rugby sevens we have enjoyed hosting a leg of the IRB Sevens World Series since 2007. The sevens discipline continues to grow in popularity and we look forward to working with Scottish Rugby and other partners on proposals to attract future major events to Scotland.”Scotland are joined by USA, England, South Africa, Wales, Portugal, Singapore, New Zealand, Spain, Netherlands, Fiji and Hong Kong in expressing interest in the glittering global knockout sevens tournament.The deadline for tender submissions for unions interested in hosting Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 is Friday 5 December with the IRB Council selecting the winning bid at its May 2015 meeting.If Scotland are successful with their bid it will be the second time the country has welcomed the world to the birthplace of the abbreviated game, having hosted the inaugural Rugby World Cup 7s at Murrayfield in 1993.Scotland 7s head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “Putting forward our interest for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens adds another exciting element to this massive year for the sport.We look forward to working with the IRB in this process and hope that we will be successful in our bid, to bring sevens back to its home, as we grow our vision for the abbreviated game beyond 2014 and this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.”IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “This unprecedented response truly reflects the enormous prestige and appeal of Rugby Sevens in the global sporting market place ahead of our Rio 2016 Olympic Games debut.””The submission features a blend of interest from every continent and includes existing and emerging rugby markets, reaffirms Rugby Sevens as a young, exciting and thriving sport that is reaching out, engaging and inspiring new audiences around the world.”