The arrival of a new sevens competition in Cardiff is set to headline a big weekend of global rugby, with the Ultimate Sevens taking place at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday 12 September.
Six new teams in the men’s and women’s competitions will gather at a familiar venue, with rivals from the HSBC SVNS Series combining to provide a fresh take on the weekend’s action.
With so much to unpack, RugbyPass breaks down everything you need to know ahead of what will be an exciting opening weekend of action.
The inaugural competition in the rugby stronghold
First impressions count, and in the case of the Ultimate Sevens, there are few more historic rugby venues than the iconic Cardiff Arms Park.
First opened as a cricket ground in the 1800s, rugby has been played at Cardiff Arms Park for almost 142 years, where United Rugby Championship Cardiff side.
The event marks the first time in 11 years that rugby sevens has returned to the Welsh capital, with the venue previously hosting the domestic Premiership Rugby 7s competition featuring sevens teams from several regional sides in Wales and England.
Before that, the venue was also home to the Cardiff Sevens on the HSBC SVNS Circuit from 2001 to 2003, hosting the likes of New Zealand and South Africa lifting titles, winning twice and once.
It has the ideal home to launch a new style of short format rugby.
New teams
One of the things that caught the eye ahead of the event wasn’t just the locations and key names jumping into the game, but the teams themselves.
By focusing on the specific regions where the top seven nations have emerged, the result is that each team has a continental feel, something that competition director of sport and innovation Tom Mitchell strived for.
“What we wanted to do was try to tap into some of that natural, organic and existing fandom around the world in different pockets and give that geographic, regional relevance to some of the teams,” Mitchell explained in an interview with RugbyPass.
“Each of the clubs has its own story and a bit of an identity that has been built. It’s already fascinating to see how the players embrace it or find elements of what they think are interesting. The fans will do the same.”
“(Having) multicultural teams and getting the best out of them in a short amount of time is fascinating. I know a lot of them are excited about it.
“In the same way that the World Series is, this is a true celebration of cultural diversity and the incredible characters that you have in the series as well.”
With six sides – Pacific Current, Albion Athletic, Foudre Bleue, Sol Feroz, Clan Taran and Atlantic Novas – each having a men’s and women’s side, the stage is set to see a new flavor in the sevens format.
Rivals become allies
It’s not just the unique teams that draw attention, but the fact that the competition has managed to attract so many big names to the SVNS Series circuit.
These stars will not only face each other again, but for the first time in many cases they will be playing in the same colors.
Clan Taran will see Black Ferns star Jazmin Felix-Hotham link up with Trans-Tasman rivals Heidi Dennis and Mackenzie Davis, Pacific Current will see Kenyan star Kevin Wekes, Fiji’s George Bose and Great Britain’s Finley Lloyd-Gilmour all together and the list goes on.
The format will not only mean a chance to break away from the national jerseys, but will allow players to shine on their own terms, as individual athletes.
With such a diverse range of athletes from over 17 countries represented, it only adds to the unique offering the competition will provide.
New format
Rounding out the changes, six clubs will battle it out in just four hours of non-stop action per event, with a unique look to each tournament.
Through the first two events in Wales and France, teams will compete for championship points, culminating in a winner-takes-all final in the final week of action in London.
The opening two weeks will be knockout style, with three matches leading up to the semi-finals, with the three winning sides and the best losing side going through to the final to determine the winner.
The final weekend will see two sides atop the Championship table automatically qualify for the semi-finals, while the remaining four teams will enter a sudden death battle to join them.
The change in format also applies to the matches themselves: the matches last ten minutes and there is no halftime break.
Coaches are allowed unlimited substitutions, with one 90-second timeout per team available per game. Finally, if the teams are tied at the end, the game goes to a golden point to determine the winner.
Even the scoring is different, with a score below the post an automatic seven points. They score anywhere else and players can choose where to convert and the further they get away from the try line offers more points to take.
Future consequences
With such a set to play, the tournament also sees academy players from the Ultimate Sevens Rugby Academy take part in each team, opening the door for emerging stars to be exposed to the weeks’ high level of action.
Such an opportunity opens up Ultimate Sevens to become a viable pathway for players to the HSBC SVNS Series, and that is the tip of the iceberg of the potential this competition can provide.
With multiple off-season competitions opening around the world, this inaugural Ultimate Sevens season has the opportunity to cement its place on the off-season calendar as an event for rugby fans around the world to enjoy.
If it proves to be a huge success, the sky is the limit for this new tournament to flourish, both on its own terms and within the wider global rugby ecosystem.
