History
The Rugby World Cup Sevens originated with a proposal by the Scottish Rugby Union to the International Rugby Football Board. The inaugural tournament was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in April 1993, and has been held every four years since.
Hong Kong, which had played a major role in the international development of the Sevens game, hosted the 1997 event. The final was won by Fiji over South Africa. The 2001 tournament, held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The 2005 event returned to Hong Kong.
The IRB made a submission to the International Olympic Committee in 2005 for Sevens to become an Olympic sport. However, the submission failed because committee members felt IRB needed to improve promotion of the women's game. To that end, the IRB implemented the first women's Sevens Rugby World Cup tournament in 2009.
The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Dubai during the first weekend of March 2009 and included a separate women's tournament. Cumulative attendance of 78,000 was reported.
Prior to the inclusion of Rugby Sevens into the Olympic Games, the IRB stated that their intention would be to end the World Cup Sevens so that the Olympic Games would be the one pinnacle in a four year cycle for Rugby Sevens.
The adoption of rugby sevens and golf was recommended to the full IOC council by its executive board ahead of squash, karate, roller sports, baseball and softball in August 2009. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 in Copenhagen for sevens to become a medal sport at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The IRB had said the 2013 World Cup in Moscow – featuring 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams – would be the last one. However, following feedback from its member unions, the IRB's general assembly in October may vote on whether the tournament should continue. The principal concern is the inequity that Sevens at the Olympics would accommodate only 12 teams.
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