query: sport 2009 rugby world cup sevens
supports: Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for Rugby Union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific. Rugby sevens is commonly referred to by rugby union media and fans as simply "sevens". The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
  New Zealand are the current champions, having defeated Australia in the final of the 2015 tournament in England. Scotland (Scots: ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the south-west. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of Great Britain (the name of which is also loosely applied to the whole country), the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign statethe Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of , the UK is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants. Together, this makes it the fourth most densely populated country in the European Union. World Rugby (WR) is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup. The Melrose Cup is the main prize of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The trophy is named after the town of Melrose, Scotland, the birthplace of rugby sevens. The trophy has been presented to the winner of the world cup since the inaugural tournament in 1993. The only teams to have held the trophy are England, Wales, Fiji and current cup holders New Zealand. Rugby union, or simply rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain (which lies in the North Atlantic) in its centre and south; and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier stand-alone international rugby sevens competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby (WR), and is contested every four years with tournaments for men's and women's national teams co-hosted at the same venues. The inaugural tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, the birthplace of rugby sevens. The winners of the men's tournament are awarded the Melrose Cup, named after the Scottish town of Melrose where the first rugby sevens game was played. The women's tournament was inaugurated at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Dubai. Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of . Wales has over of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. The 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens . The International Rugby Board ( IRB ) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries . The format included nine direct qualifiers and a further fifteen qualifiers from all six regions defined by the IRB . A women 's version of the world cup was also held alongside the men 's tournament for the first time and featured sixteen teams . The men 's cup was won by Wales , with the women 's cup going to Australia . The men 's teams of Fiji , New Zealand and Australia , who entered the semi-finals in the two previous editions , failed to do so in 2009 : the former were defeated by quarter - finals Kenya and Wales respectively , whereas Australia lost two of the three matches in the pool stage and did not advance to quarter - finals . Wales , which had never reached quarter - finals in the previous editions of the World Cup , beat Samoa in semi-finals and Argentina in the final to win the tournament . Kenya had never reached the Cup or Plate stages before , but shared 3rd place in 2009 .
candidates: football rugby rugby union united kingdom
answer: rugby union