Men have long played a world rugby sevens circuit and women will next year join the parade when they play in the first women's sevens world series next year with tournaments in Dubai, USA, China and the Netherlands.
With rugby sevens on the Olympic programme for 2016 in Rio, the IRB moved to introduce a women's circuit as well as June's world cup in Moscow.
The series will see 20 ranked teams participating in the inaugural competition with rounds in the UAE (Dubai), US (Houston), China (Guangzhou) and the Netherlands (Amsterdam). It mirrors the men's series, with each 12-team event featuring six core teams who will play across all four events and six teams who will be invited based on regional tournament rankings.
New Zealand are one of six core teams in the inaugural series alongside Australia, Canada, England, the Netherlands and the US.
NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said the series was an important commitment to women's rugby at the international level.
