History will be made today when women’s rugby sevens makes its Commonwealth Games debut at a sell-out Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast.
The action gets underway at 16:30 local time (GMT+10), kicking off an exhilarating three days of world-class sevens featuring some of the best teams on the planet and players from all six medal-winning teams at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The landmark women’s competition features Rio 2016 gold medallists and current HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series leaders Australia, Rio 2016 silver medallists New Zealand and bronze medallists Canada all competing in a stellar field.
The last four recipients of the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year are competing in Emilee Cherry (Australia – 2014), Portia Woodman (New Zealand – 2015), Charlotte Caslick (Australia – 2016), and Michaela Blyde (New Zealand – 2017).
The 16-team men’s competition is set to be highly-competitive with Rio 2016 gold medallists Fiji, fresh from winning the Hong Kong Sevens, Rio 2016 bronze medallists and reigning Commonwealth Games champions South Africa, New Zealand, Kenya, England and Scotland among the contenders.
For World Rugby, the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games forms part of a stellar season of sevens, which culminates with Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco on 20-22 July.
World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont points to the special relationship between rugby sevens and the Commonwealth Games as being a major driving force behind the global rugby sevens success story.
Fans can join the conversation via @worldrugby7s using the #GC2018RugbySevens #Rugby7s and #TeamCommonwealth
Further information can be found at www.gc2018.com Source: www.worldrugby.org
Source: www.worldrugby.org
