News On Wednesday morning (24), against a backdrop of uncharacteristically grey skies in the 2016 Olympic Games host city, Rio de Janeiro, athletes from Brazil’s male and female rugby teams entertained the crowds at the inauguration of the first public rugby pitch ever to grace a Brazilian beach The pitch was installed on the Copacabana sands, close to where Avenida Princesa Isabel meets Avenida Atlantica, and it is now open to the public and free to use The 30 metre by 25 metre pitch, crowned with two H-shaped, 6 4m by 5 6m iron goalposts, looks set to remain in place until at least the end of 2016 "It has always been an uphill battle to spread the word about rugby in Brazil, but now we have the right equipment, right on the beach in Copacabana – the most famous stretch of sand in Brazil This is a magic moment for Brazilian rugby; it's a dream come true,” said Fernando Portugal, captain of the men's rugby sevens team “The challenge now for the Olympics is to continue building the infrastructure necessary to accommodate all the new rugby fans we are going to attract, because rugby has all the qualities it needs to appeal to the Brazilian public – it’s a fun sport where the most important thing is team spirit,” he enthused As the athletes christened the pitch with a kickabout with children from local rugby-focussed social projects, they were cheered on by representatives from World Rugby (the sport’s International Federation), the Brazilian Rugby Confederation (CBRu) and the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, who demonstrated their enthusiasm for the return of the sport to the Olympic programme after 92 years "The final of the men's Olympic rugby competition proved extremely popular in the first round of ticketing This might have surprised some people, but it was no surprise to me, because I know the sport’s potential at the Olympic Games,” said Agberto Guimarães, Executive Director of Sports and Paralympic Integration for Rio 2016: “Deodoro [the home of rugby at next year’s Games] will host a very interesting mix of sports, from the more traditional, such as equestrian, to the more radical Given its high-intensity nature, rugby is a great example of the latter And the idea of mixing is characteristic of Brazil Rugby has come home," he said Sami Arap, President of the CBRu, said, "Brazil is a powerhouse in football because here, children are born with a ball at their feet The Brazilian Confederation of Rugby is working towards a long-term vision that children will also grow up with a ball under their arm Initiatives like this one are aimed at popularizing rugby, especially among young people – kids of eight or nine – so that when they get to 20, they are ready to go professional "“Look out, volleyball and football – we’ve come to take over your beach!" he joked The H-shaped goalposts featured on the new pitch are not strictly correct for a beach rugby pitch – only the game on grass uses such goalposts However, the idea was to make the pitch instantly recognisable to the general public Arap explained that the pitch's location was chosen because the Guanabara Rugby Club and Rugby Rio, (two of the clubs whose students participated in the inauguration celebrations) had already been holding regular training sessions there The sessions will continue on the new pitch on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8-10pm, and are open to the public Later on Wednesday afternoon, the group of athletes and institutional representatives held a rugby workshop for close to 500 children in the Deodoro neighbourhood to mark the launch of World Rugby’s "Impact Beyond" project in Rio de Janeiro, which aims to bring rugby to 1,000 public and private schools in Rio and reach close to 200,000 students  Rio 2016 officials, Rugby players and representatives from the sport’s official bodies inaugurate the pitch on Copacabana beach (Photo: Alex Ferro/Rio 2016)