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The International Rugby Board and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have joined forces to fund an exciting new initiative aimed at increasing the competitiveness of rugby sevens in North America.

The four-year coach education programme, developed in collaboration with the North America West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA), will further boost the level of rugby sevens in two of the six Commonwealth Regions in the build up to the Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Canada and the USA have traditionally dominated competitions between countries in NAWIRA but with sevens increasingly gaining ground in new markets around the world, many non-traditional rugby nations are focusing on developing the high-octane, crowd-pulling form of the game.

Nations such as Trinidad & Tobago, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands have lately been further encouraged by rugby sevens’ inclusion in the Pan American Games and the campaign for Olympic Games re-inclusion to make their mark in a sport which bases much of its appeal on its genuine competitiveness between nations from around the world.

"This is a very exciting time for rugby sevens with many of our unions investing in dedicated sevens development programmes. This initiative with the CGF is a timely boost for rugby as we look ahead to another exciting Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year and the outcome of our Olympic Campaign," said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

"The IRB invests over US$5 million annually in NAWIRA member unions through individual union development and high performance grants, regional tournament support and administration grants. However, we believe that a specific need exists to boost competitiveness in sevens and the new tailored Rugby Sevens Coach Education Programme is designed to contribute to achieving that aim.

"In the longer term, we hope to see more teams from these two Commonwealth Regions in a better position to compete and challenge for medals in future Commonwealth Games," added Lapasset.

The coaching programme will begin in 2010 with a three-day training course that will be available to all NAWIRA Commonwealth Member National Coaches. This will be followed by a series of courses in 2011 targeted to member countries whose performances indicate that they have the potential to qualify for future Commonwealth Games. An additional course is planned for 2012 and in 2013, member coaches that were not targeted in 2011 will receive further education and mentoring in their country.

"The CGF has signed up to this initiative to strengthen its relationship with International Sports Federations and support a number of targeted regional development programmes in the build up to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014," said Mike Hooper, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

"We believe that such a programme will help to enhance the quality of the rugby sevens competition in 2014 and support our mission to assist in the development of sport throughout the Commonwealth."

New Festival in Fiji

The Suva Rugby Union have launched the Suva Rugby Festival that will take place in January 2010 as part of the build-up to its centenary celebrations in 2012. The inaugural festival will be held in January 21-23 next year with a number of rugby events culminating in the finals of the Suva City 7s that will be held at the National Stadium with up to eight national teams taking part.

The Suva 7s Series, organised by the Suva Rugby Union, will comprise three regional tournaments in Suva, Lautoka and Labasa from November to January, with the top two teams at each tournament qualifying for the international section of the Suva Rugby Festival.