NEWS & MEDIA

"RB Sevens goes to Hollywood "

29 SEPTEMBER 2003

Los Angeles will host an IRB Sevens tournament for the first time. The event will be held at the magnificent Home Depot Center stadium in Carson City, LA on 14 and 15 February 2004. It will be staged a week after the long established and immensely successful Wellington tournament.

Mark Egan, IRB Sevens Manager, said, "It is the ideal arena for Sevens and is sure to generate a superb atmosphere. Bringing the event to Los Angeles is a milestone for Sevens and for the promotion of rugby in the USA.

"There is huge enthusiasm for Sevens rugby in the USA, with over 100 Sevens tournaments taking place annually thorughout the country, and I am sure that this superb stadium will prove to be an extremely popular venue for players and spectators alike".

The eight venues selected for the 2003/04 season will remain in place for the next three years and include Bordeaux, France in the penultimate round on 28 and 29 May, with Twickenham staging the final tournament the following week.

New Zealand will open the defence of their title at the Dubai Tournament on 3-5 December.

40 nations will compete in the 2003/04 IRB Sevens season, taking in eight countries on five continents. The 2004 title will most likely be fiercely contested between New Zealand, England, Fiji, South Africa, Australia, Argentina and Samoa.

Meanwhile, there will be much interest in the progress of the ever-improving and exciting Kenyans, as well as and the likes of Georgia, Zambia and Morocco, who all produced outstanding sevens rugby on the 2002/03 circuit.

Full 2003/04 schedule:

Dec 4-5 Dubai
Dec 12-13 George (South Africa)
Feb 6-7 Wellington
Feb 14-15 Los Angeles
Mar 26-28 Hong Kong
Apr 3-4 Singapore
May 28-29 Bordeaux
Jun 5-6 London