Invitations were extended to many of the counties who participated in the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens in the Scottish capital Edinburgh in April 1993, but the International Rugby Board was also keen to involve emerging nations in the event.
Four such nations - Namibia, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Spain - booked their places in Scotland's capital after reaching the semi-finals of one qualifying event in Sicily, while another was held to decide who would replace the USSR, which had broken up since its invite.
Latvia emerged victorious from this latter tournament involving members of the former Soviet Union and took its place at Murrayfield, which was undergoing a major renovation at the time.
The other participants were Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Scotland, Tonga, South Africa, South Korea, USA, Wales and Western Samoa.
Fiercely competitive
The 24 nations were drawn into four pools of six teams with the top two progressing to the Melrose Cup, the third to the Plate and the fourth-placed teams contesting the Bowl competition.
The leading nations all made it through, although only South Africa, New Zealand and Western Samoa could boast unbeaten records with Fiji, Australia, Tonga, Ireland and England all losing one match in their respective pools.
The quarter finals took the form of another round robin with the teams split into two groups and Fiji emerged as the only nation with an unbeaten record after overcoming Ireland, Tonga and Western Samoa in the first.
The second group was fiercely contested with each nation claiming at least one victory, although it was Australia and England who progressed to the semi finals despite their respective defeats by New Zealand and South Africa.
'Moment of the Tournament'
Each nation may have played eight games to reach this stage, but the encounters were still memorable, Australia notably breaking Irish hearts when Willie Ofahengaue's try in the final move of the match secured a memorable 21-19 victory.
The other semi final featured a tackle later termed 'Moment of the Tournament'. Dave Scully's challenge met the charging Mesake Rasari so hard that it not only stopped the run, but also allowed England to win the ball and score a try en route to a 21-7 win.
"England beat Fiji in the semi and that was a great game, actually it was good enough to be the final," enthused former Welsh referee Derek Bevan who took charge of the game. "It was real classic, nip and tuck stuff and the speed was outstanding."
The final was equally enthralling with England captain Andrew Harriman using all of his blistering pace to round David Campese for the opening try. Campese and Michael Lynagh were among the scorers for Australia, but it was England who won 21-17.
No title expectations
Adedayo Adebayo, a member of that victorious side which also included the likes of Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson, recalls how surprising the victory had been to the players invloved in it.
"We were basically a scratch side," said Adebayo, the Nigerian sevens manager at the recent qualifying event in Tunisia. "We got together for the first time as a team the week before, played one practice match and went on to win!
"But there were a lot of quality players in that side and looking back that's why we were able to wing it slightly - the talent came through. Looking back though we had no expectations of winning at the start. We didn't know how far we would go. It just happened."
The other nations celebrating at a cold and wet Murrayfield were Argentina and Japan, the winners of the Plate and Bowl competitions respectively. Argentina beat Spain 19-12, while Japan overcame Scotland 33-19.
