DHAKA, Dec. 17 (NsNewsWire) — Women’s Rugby Sevens will make its eagerly anticipated Commonwealth Games debut at GC2018 with the best nations around the world announced for both the men’s and women’s competitions on Thursday.

The competing nations for both competitions were announced after all 24 teams accepted formal invites from GOLDOC and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to take part in GC2018 Rugby Sevens competition.

The men’s competition features 16 teams from all six regions of the Commonwealth, including the top-four ranked nations in the world in South Africa (1 current ranking), England (2), Fiji (3), New Zealand (4) along with host nation Australia (6).

The Jamaican men’s team will make their Rugby Sevens debut at GC2018 after qualifying as the highest ranked team from the Americas, while Zambia has also won the right to take part for the first time alongside fellow African qualifiers Uganda.

Eight nations will compete in the women’s competition, headlined by top-ranked New Zealand, Australia (2), Canada (3) and Fiji (4).

The pools and match schedules for the Rugby Sevens competitions will be announced early in 2018.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin CBE is excited to see the women’s competition played for the first time at the Games.

“As the leading international sporting body for all gender equality issues, the CGF is proud that, along with GOLDOC, we have been able to introduce Women’s Rugby Sevens to the Commonwealth Games for the first time at GC2018,” she said.

“It has been fantastic to witness the growth of Rugby Sevens since it was first introduced at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998.

“The introduction of Women’s Rugby Sevens for GC2018 is a significant milestone in the implementation of the CGF’s Gender Equality Strategy, with an equal number of men’s and women’s medal events being contested for the very first time in Commonwealth Games history.”

GOLDOC Chairman Peter Beattie AC echoed the sentiment.