With less than four weeks to go until Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 kicks off in Dubai the match schedules for the 24-team men's and 16-team women's competitions have been announced by Rugby World Cup Limited.
The three-day festival of world class Rugby Sevens will see a total of 98 matches played on back to back pitches at The Sevens venue with the men's and women's matches taking place across both pitches.
The action gets underway on March 5 with the opening round of pool matches in the men's competition. The honour of playing in the first match goes to Wales and Zimbabwe, whose Pool F encounter kicks off on pitch two at 17:00 local time.
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"The announcement of the match schedule marks another significant landmark in the countdown to the world's biggest festival of international Sevens Rugby. Supporters at the magnificent The Sevens venue will be treated to a three-day festival of world class Rugby Sevens and a welcoming festival atmosphere," said Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
The all-African Pool E match between Kenya and Tunisia is the first on pitch one at 17:10 when the Tunisians will be hoping to cause another opening day shock after defeating South Africa at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2005 in Hong Kong.
Four matches will take place on each pitch before the Opening Ceremony at 19:00. This will then be followed by the first action for defending champions Fiji, South Africa and former winners England and New Zealand.
The women's competition kicks off at 11:00 on day two with Oceania champions Australia and China tasked with getting the first ever Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament underway on pitch one, followed by the other Pool A match between Netherlands and France.
At the same time on pitch two, New Zealand will continue their quest to claim a second RWC Sevens title by facing the Arabian Gulf, before inaugural champions England face Tunisia.
The men's quarter finals will kick off the proceedings on Finals Day with the Bowl competition getting underway at 10:30 on pitch one, followed by the Plate and Cup encounters.
Half an hour later the women's Bowl quarter finals will begin on pitch two, followed by the Cup last eight encounters. The losers of the four Cup quarter finals will then contest the Plate semi finals, while the winners will kick off the Cup semi finals on pitch one at 16:24.
The race for silverware continues on pitch one with the men's and women's Bowl and Plate finals before the destination of the Melrose Cup and Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens trophy is determined wuith the women's final at 20:00 and the men's at 20:35.
Tickets are available through the official website, www.rwcsevens.com, while a range of international travel packages are available to residents in Argentina, Australia, France, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom and the USA through the official travel partner Gullivers Travel via www.gulliverstravel.co.uk.
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