Now in its 46th year, the organisers of the long-awaited three-day annual rugby event have announced the 16 teams taking part in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and the 12 teams in the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, as part of the annual Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens tournament from 3rd-5th December at The Sevens Stadium.

The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2015 carries added significance this year, with teams competing in the series having either already qualified, or playing to qualify for the Sevens debut at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

The 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series teams are the 2014-15 World Series Champions, Fiji, the 2014-15 Dubai Champions, South Africa, and recently qualified Russia, along with Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, France, Kenya, New Zealand, Portugal, Samoa, Scotland, USA, Wales and one other team yet to be confirmed following the Asian Rugby Sevens Series.

The Dubai event is the first leg of the extended ten-leg HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with Cape Town, Sydney, Singapore, Vancouver and Paris as new additions to the circuit and Wellington, Hong Kong and Las Vegas continuing on from the previous four-year series, with the final round being played in London on 21st-22nd May 2016.

With the event achieving year-on-year record attendances, this year is set to be the biggest action-packed rugby festival Dubai has ever seen. Over 100,000 fans and 4,000 players, including some of the world's best, are expected to compete as excitement for the Rio Olympic Games builds. An array of top-of-the-range international fifteens players will participate in this year's tournament in a bid to realise their Olympic dream.

Dubai will be hosting the first round of the six-leg HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series again, with the defending series champions and Dubai winners, New Zealand, along with recently qualified Ireland being joined by Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Japan, Russia, Spain and USA for this exciting Dubai event.

In addition, over 250 teams will be taking part in the Invitation Tournament, attracting a number of international men and women players as well as under 19s, Emiratis, social and veteran teams. Brand new to this year's Invitation Tournament is the launch of the Netball Tournament, and with over 32 teams confirmed from the Gulf region battling it out on the netball courts, this will make it the biggest Invitation Tournament to date.

As part of the celebration, a range of new and exciting concepts will be on offer at the event to ensure the greatest three-day festival to date. Spectators are encouraged to come in fancy dress and enjoy all the entertainment on offer at the Rugby Village. With provisions made for families, such as the dedicated DNATA family stand, child care services and activities, the Rugby Sevens is a fantastic family day out.

"As the sporting event of the year we continually strive to make the Dubai Rugby Sevens bigger and better each year and the 2015 tournament will see some of the most exciting concepts to date. The Netball Tournament has already created a real stir and we believe this is something we can build on internationally next year. We have seen a huge rise in levels of players taking part year-on-year and this is something that attracts fans from all over the world making this one of the greatest sporting events in the country", said Donal Kilalea, Tournament Commercial and Operations Manager.

Source: WAM