Russia will host the next Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2013, three years before the sport returns to the Olympics.

The event, announced on Wednesday by the International Rugby Board, will be the biggest rugby tournament to be staged by Russia, which also makes its debut at the 15-man World Cup in New Zealand next year.

The sixth World Cup Sevens will include 24 men's and 16 women's teams, and the IRB said it would provide an indication of which nations will be the leading contenders for Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Although rugby was in the Olympics until 1924, it is returning as a seven-a-side sport.

Wales and Australia won the men's and women's titles last year in Dubai.

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