Scots make it 100 for World Rugby Festival
With seven months still to go, 100 rugby teams from around the world have now signed up for the 17th Air New Zealand Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival, which will be staged in Edinburgh in September this year.
Gavin Hastings, Scotland's all-time Rugby World Cup record point scorer and Ambassador of the 2008 Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival said: "We set a target of 150 teams coming to Edinburgh in September, so reaching 100 entries already is great news. Edinburgh is well on track for delivering the world's biggest rugby festival."
"We've got teams coming from Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Cook Islands, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland and USA. We have also had a large number of enquiries from elsewhere including Andorra and even Trinidad and Tobago!"
The biennial Golden Oldies Festival, which will celebrate its 30 year anniversary in 2008, provides an opportunity for rugby enthusiasts (over the age of 35 years) to keep up levels of fitness while retaining and growing friendships. Focusing on 'Fun, Friendship and Fraternity', this will be the first time that the Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival has come to Scotland, and only the fourth time it has visited Europe in the history of the event.
Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer of EventScotland, the national events agency, said: "The Golden Oldies Festival is renowned throughout the world and appeals to a wide audience by combining a rugby festival with a vibrant and friendly party atmosphere."
The week long festival will be held from 1 – 8 September 2008 and is expected to generate more than £4 million for the economy.
For information on how to register for the event click here.