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(IRB.COM) Friday 13 June 2008

The German Rugby Federation (DRV) today announced that it is submitting a bid to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2010.

The DRV has teamed up with SPORTFIVE the leading sports agency to create a unique joint operation. The DRV and SPORTFIVE hope to convince the International Rugby Board (IRB) that a brand new host nation would be good for the top women’s event in world rugby and also boost the sport in Germany itself.

Germany’s senior men’s team has just won promotion to the top division in European rugby outside of the Six Nations tournament. Now the push is on to convince the IRB that a World Cup should be played in one of rugby’s fastest growing markets.

At a press conference in Hamburg on Friday, June 13th, the DRV and SPORTFIVE outlined how the rugby federation and the marketing, sponsorship and production agency would divide the different responsibilities that would face the hosts for the 12-team tournament scheduled for August and September 2010.

The joint venture is currently investigating three potential cities, Hamburg, Hannover and Heidelberg, as potential bases in which to stage a tournament that will comprise four pools, each of three nations. Eventually the German bid will probably focus on two centres.

The IRB has also received interest in staging the 2010 event from England, South Africa and Kazakhstan. Germany will present their bid document at the start of next month and the final decision on which country will host the event is expected in early September.

The President of the DRV, Claus-Peter Bach said: “ Rugby in Germany is an up and coming sport and following the success of our men’s team in winning Division Two last season we feel that this bid to host a global event would be a second big boost for the game in this country. Together with SPORTFIVE we are confident we could make a success of this exciting venture.”

Kirstin Wagner, a member of the German women’s team said: “For Germany to play against the likes of New Zealand and England here in our home country would be a fantastic experience for the women’s team and it would also be great for the German public to see in close up the strength of women’s rugby. As a team we would give everything to put on a good display against the elite.”

Richard Worth, Chief Executive Officer of SPORTFIVE, said: “All round the world SPORTFIVE specializes in helping sports federations and clubs to realize their dreams through our expertise in marketing, sponsorship, production and rights distribution. We are delighted to be partnering the DRV in this project which would open new frontiers for all concerned if Germany is given the chance to stage this event. WRWC 2006 in Canada reached record levels of global coverage of women’s rugby and we hope to further promote this exciting sport.” © IRB 2007