Rugby last appeared at the Olympic in Paris in 1924 but the sevens code has never featured at the Games.

It was voted onto the Olympic Games sports programme by the IOC at their Session in Copenhagen in 2009 and will now make its debut at Nanjing 2014 where athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 will compete in the competition at the Youth Olympic Sports Park, ensuring that it will be even more in the spotlight.

The competition at Nanjing will act as a warm-up act for the Rio 2016 Olympics, where rugby sevens will make its first appearance at the main Games.

IOC President Jacques Rogge (second left), a former Belgian international, enjoys watching the Hong Kong sevens with IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset (second right)

"We are delighted to welcome Rugby back into the Olympic fold," said Rogge, who played rugby at international level for Belgium.

"This is an excited development, not only for the sport of rugby, but for the Olympic Movement.

"The rugby sevens format, as we will see at the Youth Olympic Games, attracts a huge number of spectators and I'm positive it will prove very popular with Youth Olympic and Olympic fans alike."

The introduction of rugby sevens to the Olympics has already provided a significant boost for the sport within Asia, where participation has grown by more than 18 per cent since the IOC voted to include the sport at the Games.

This has come with the International Rugby Board (IRB) having invested approximately £9 million ($14 million/€10.5 million) into the development of rugby in Asia between 2009 and 2012.

"We are honoured and excited to be in the Youth Olympic Games," said IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset.

"We share the same values as the Olympic movement and a mission to inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and to have fun.

Rugby's popularity is already spreading in popularity in Asia, especially among young women, including in China who will hope to make an impression at Nanjing 2014