Bay Area to Host 2018 Rugby World Cup

The San Francisco Bay Area has been awarded the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, a tournament that will be staged at AT&T Park in San Francisco and Avaya Stadium in San Jose.

“We are delighted to be chosen to host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens,” said USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville. “We look forward to delivering a fantastic rugby sevens experience for the players, fans, sponsors and media. Hosting a Rugby World Cup is an important step forward for rugby in the United States and will bring high levels of visibility and interest for the game in the country.”

Rugby World Cup Sevens, organized by World Rugby, is staged once every four years. The 2018 event will be held one year later than normal as a result of sevens being added to the Olympic Summer Games program starting in 2016. The World Cup will now be held in the middle of the Olympic cycle to maximize the sport’s integration to the Olympic program.

“Rugby sevens continues to go from strength to strength, proving a hit with fans, broadcasters and sponsors around the globe with its winning blend of compelling and competitive action, global destinations and festival atmosphere,” said World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset. “Rugby World Cup Sevens is at the heart of the success story and we are delighted to be awarding these prestigious hosting rights to USA Rugby after a competitive process. I am sure that the San Francisco Bay Area, with its major event experience and passion for sport, will be a popular and spectacular Rugby World Cup Sevens host.”

In addition, USA Rugby has announced that the USA Rugby Eagles will return to Chicago’s Soldier Field on September 5 to face the Australian Wallabies. The test match, to be presented by Astellas, will mark each country’s final exhibition before the start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. The United States faced New Zealand in November 2014 at Soldier Field in a match that drew more than 61,000 spectators, the largest attendance for a rugby event in the United States.