The 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland, in April 1993. This tournament was the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament. The International Rugby Board invited the established rugby union nations but also were keen to involve emerging nations in the event, recognising the fact that Sevens was providing the bridge between the developed rugby nations and those whose rugby union traditions were less well established. The IRB situated the tournament in the spiritual home nation of rugby sevens, Scotland. The games were played at the home of Scottish rugby, Murrayfield Stadium. England defeated Australia 21–17 to become the first team to win the Melrose Cup. Background Prior to 1993, Rugby Sevens had already built up a substantial international presence. The relative ease with which the rules could be learnt and applied, combined with the ability to quickly organise teams due to fewer players, as well as providing a fast-paced game for spectators enticed many nations to set up domestic tournaments, and appealed to a large international audience outside of the established power houses of the traditional 15-a-side game. Such was the international popularity of the game that the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) were able to organise a well attended International Tournament in 1973 to celebrate the centenary of the SRU. England came away victorious from that first international event. Soon after, in early 1975 the Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, A.D.C. "Tokkie" Smith, was talking with tobacco company executive Ian Gow. Gow had been a spectator at the 1973 event and had proposed to Smith to sponsor a Rugby tournament with top teams from throughout the world competing. This gave rise to the inaugural Hong Kong Sevens on 28 March 1976. This tournament grew throughout the 1970s and 1980s in both supporter popularity and the number of participating teams. Sevens was proving to be the bridge between the established international rugby elite and those nations with less resources and less developed professional infrastructures. In the early 1990s, The SRU made a proposal to the International Rugby Football Board for the creation of a Rugby Sevens World Cup. The World Cup for the 15-a-side game had been staged successfully in 1987 and 1991 and had proved the worth of such an event. The IRB, which had a duty to involve and help to develop the rugby of the new member unions, recognised