2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series normal 16 teams) was spread out over a three-day period. The series' tournaments are identical to 2007–2008 and span the globe: The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens was not a part of the 2008-09 series. Unlike the 2005 edition held in Hong Kong, the 2009 edition did not replace one of the 2008-09 series events. The World Cup was held in Dubai from March 5–7, 2009 and won by Wales. Prior to the season, the IRB announced the 12 "core teams" that would receive guaranteed berths in each event in the 2008–09 series: The one new core team was the
2000 Dubai Sevens 2000 Dubai Sevens The 2000 Dubai Sevens was an international rugby sevens tournament that was the second leg of the 2000–01 World Sevens Series. The Dubai Sevens took place at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground on 23–24 November 2000. The hosts, Arabian Gulf, were defeated 43–17 by Ireland in the Bowl quarterfinals whilst defending World Sevens Series champions New Zealand won their third straight Sevens title by defeating Fiji 38–12 in the Cup final. The teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team played the other teams in their pool once, with 3 points awarded for