The International Rugby Board ( IRB ) has formally announced that The Bahamas Rugby Football Union (BRFU) has won the bid to host the IRB World Championship (2009) Qualifier.


The event will be held in Nassau on October 25th & 26th, 2008.


The Bahamas outbid Trinidad & Tobago to win the right to host this major regional tournament, due in part to the success of the 2007 North America & West Indies (NAWIRA) Sevens that were hosted by the BRFU in November of this year.


The top two teams in the region will go on to represent NAWIRA in the World Championships which will be held in Dubai in February 2009.


The World Championship Qualifier is bigger than the NAWIRA Sevens in that every team in the region will attend and there is much more at stake. As well as the NAWIRA teams that played in November, we should also see women's teams from Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman, Bermuda, Barbados and The Bahamas, wile the USA & Canada will send a full strength squad and not development teams.
In the Men's competition, we can expect Mexico, Cayman, Barbados, Guyana, Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and The Bahamas to be joined by the British Virgin Islands and St. Lucia, while the USA and Canada will also be sending their strongest possible squads.

Martinique, Guadeloupe and Turks & Caicos will not be represented because although they are members of NAWIRA, they do not have full IRB status.


Being awarded this prestigious event is another indication that Bahamian Rugby is gaining respect within the region. Its now down to our players to ensure they play their part.....

The 2009 World Cup Sevens will take place in Dubai from 5-7 March, the International Rugby Board has announced.


The event will have a women's competition for the first time and the final 16 teams will have to qualify from 83 sides in regional tournaments. (The North American regional will be hosted by The Bahamas - Ed).


On the men's side, England and Scotland are two of nine automatic qualifiers as they reached the 2005 quarter-finals.
Fifteen others countries will come from a qualification process starting in January 2008.

Three qualifiers will come from Africa, two from North America, one from South America, two from Asia, five from Europe and two from Oceania.

"These regional qualifying tournaments are a very exciting prospect," said IRB chairman Dr Syd Millar.
"Dovetailing with the highly successful IRB Sevens World Series, these tournaments will ensure that there will be an unprecedented amount of elite level Sevens played during 2008 and 2009."
He added: "The inclusion of a women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament running alongside the men's in Dubai is an exciting development for the women's game.
"I am sure that the regional qualifying tournaments will assist in raising the global profile of women's Sevens."

Source: BBC Sport