A rugby union version of the Hundred aimed at attracting younger fans to the sport is set to launch in September. The Ultimate Sevens Championship, featuring the world's leading sevens players, will include events in Spain, Wales, and France, culminating in a grand final at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium in west London on 24 September.
Tournament Structure
The new tournament will feature six men's and women's teams with an initial player salary budget of £2 million. The top 75 players on the world sevens circuit have already been recruited to represent one of six squads representing different global regions: England, the Celtic nations, France, Oceania, North America, and South America/Spain. The aim is to attract future individual franchise investment.
Barney Pascall, managing director of Ultimate Sevens, expressed enthusiasm: "We've secured incredible host city locations, committed the sport's top athletes, and signed partners who genuinely understand what we're building."
Innovative Format
The fast-paced concept, blessed by World Rugby and major unions, showcases sevens in a new light with an abbreviated one-day format. All games are sudden death and last just 10 minutes, with each side permitted one timeout per game instead of a traditional half-time break. Extra points can be earned by kicking conversions from wider out, adding jeopardy. Former GB Olympic men's sevens captain Tom Mitchell believes the tweaked format enhances marketability: "It's a format which we think fits with the demand that exists today. That's what'll make this sing."
Player Commitment
Australia's Henry Hutchison and England's Abbie Brown are among those already committed. A player draft is scheduled for July, with Reebok as official kit partner. While top 15s stars are not initially targeted, Pascall anticipates future interest: "We've built this to allow for that to happen. It's for sevens players but if some of the 15s guys turn around and say, 'I like the look of that' that's great."
Pascall emphasized the tournament's longevity: "We don't want to be a one-hit wonder, we're here to stay. Ultimate Sevens is about elevating rugby sevens as a sport to give its world-class players a global stage to perform on, as well as providing fans with an experience that is fast, bold and culturally relevant."
