At the end of the month, Ireland are to send their first ever International Sevens team to compete on the European stage when a select squad, yet to be announced, will travel to France to play in the FIRA European Women's Sevens competition in Limoges. Sixteen European teams will take part.

IWRFU PRO Alison Donnelly said:

“Any move by the IRB to promote women's rugby has to be welcomed. Introducing players to the International rugby scene on the Sevens circuit will be a fantastic means of developing new talent. Ensuring that both the men’s and women’s competitions will be held together will also help add to the growing profile of women’s rugby.”

International Rugby Board Chairman, Dr Syd Millar, said: “Rugby World Cup Sevens 2005, held in Hong Kong, was the fourth RWC Sevens and its outstanding success underlined the importance of this tournament in world Rugby and the continuing global participation and support for Rugby Sevens.

“To highlight the growth of Sevens, one of the of the key recommendations of the IRB Strategic Plan for Women’s Rugby developed last year was the introduction of a Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens with the aim of providing an elite level of women’s Sevens tournament which will raise the profile of the Women’s Game on a global scale.

"It is the first time that there has been a major focus on the Women’s Game and the introduction of an integrated tournament is not just an exciting development for Women’s rugby, but also Rugby Sevens.”

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 will consist of 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams and IRB Member Unions have until May 30 to express their intention to tender for the tournament.

The tender process will replicate that used for RWC 2011 with the IRB Council selecting the Host Union for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 at its April 2007 meeting.