Women’s Sevens gets Clermont boost

World Rugby have officially added a fifth stop to the 2015-16 HSBC Women’s World Sevens Series, confirming what was already announced a week ago in the introduction to the opening round of the series in Dubai. Clermont-Ferrand will play hosts on May 28-29, the first official stop in France on the women’s circuit since its inaugural run in 2012-13.

The new tournament brings the total number of stops to five. World Rugby had come under significant criticism for its reduction of stops on the women’s tour from six in 2014-15 to only four in 2015-16. A fifth leg is an improvement from the initial offering but the question still remains why the total number has gone down from a year ago, particularly when the profile of the women’s game has been rising steadily after a successful 2014 World Cup and heading towards the 2016 Olympics.

While the dates have been confirmed, the exact location of the tournament has yet to be finalised, with an announcement to be made in the new year.

2015-16 HSBC WOMEN’S WORLD SEVENS SERIES

2015 Dec 3-4 – The Sevens, Dubai
2016 Feb 20-21 – Arena Barueri, São Paulo
2016 Apr 8-9 – Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Kennesaw
2016 Apr 16-17 – Westhills Stadium, Langford
2016 May 28-29 – t.b.d., Clermont-Ferrand

CORE TEAMS

Australia
Canada
England
Fiji
France
Ireland
Japan
New Zealand
Russia
Spain
USA