Henry Pollock wants to have a crack at playing sevens at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Transferring to the sport’s shorter format will not be easy – especially in the wake of Matchroom Talent Agency head honcho Eddie Hearn’s demands for Pollock to be paid as much as a million pounds a year by his club employers Northampton Saints. But it is not impossible. There are options out there.
‘Should Henry want to get involved and do a bit of sevens preparation this year or next, that offer remains open,’ Barney Pascall, the managing director of a new sevens tournament aiming to shake up the rugby market, tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘It’s a great story that high-profile players in the sport want to play sevens. If Eddie wants to call, I’ll be ready.’
Pascall is the man heading up Ultimate Sevens, which will begin next month after investing ‘tens of millions’ in a competition which will take place in Madrid, Cardiff, Biarritz and London across four consecutive September weeks.
Rugby’s conservative ecosystem has been ripe for a new arrival for some time. R360, the proposed 15-a-side rebel league, failed to get off the ground amid rejection from the game’s existing authorities. But Ultimate Sevens wants to work alongside them, having spotted what Pascall sees as a gap in the market.
‘This is about elevating rugby sevens,’ he says. ‘We’ve been incredibly focused on being complementary to the ecosystem and there’s a reason for that. It’s because we can be.’
Henry Pollock’s representative Eddie Hearn has made it clear English rugby’s new sensation wants to have a crack at playing sevens at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028
‘This is about elevating rugby sevens,’ says Ultimate Sevens founder Barney Pascall. ‘We’ve been incredibly focused on being complementary to the ecosystem. There’s a reason for that’
The funding needed to create Ultimate Sevens has not been insignificant. Its backers are BIA Sports Group (BSG), whose portfolio also includes Premier League side Sunderland.
It is aiming to capitalise on the growing popularity of rugby sevens, which has gone to a new level since France 15-a-side superstar Antoine Dupont won gold at the 2024 Paris Games, and also attract a new audience who may not be familiar with the sport at all.
Interestingly, in doing so, Ultimate Sevens has adopted a marketing slogan of ‘don’t call it rugby’ in a move similar to the one the England & Wales Cricket Board made when it created The Hundred. Like The Hundred, Ultimate Sevens has created new teams. Like The Hundred – which remains unpopular with cricket traditionalists – it wants to broaden rugby’s appeal. It also plans to one day follow in the cricket competition’s footsteps by selling its sides to private investment.
‘It was an opportunity for us to be a bit punchy and challenge existing perceptions of rugby,’ Pascall says of his competition’s commercial outlook. ‘It was a bit playful too. People who know sevens call it exactly that. If you’re not in the rugby ecosystem, I think the slogan asks the question: “Well, if it’s not rugby, what is it then?” That creates a hook and a level of interest.
‘I find it a compliment to even be in the same breath as The Hundred because they have tried and I think succeeded in bringing new audiences to cricket. We’re absolutely clear we want the integrity of the sport to remain at the heart of what we’re doing. Sevens is a very credible sport. It’s existed since 1883. We want to add to that.’
Like The Hundred, Ultimate Sevens’ six teams have both men’s and women’s outfits. The newly created sides are Albion Athletic, Atlantic Novas, Clan Taran, Foudre Bleue, Pacific Current and Sol Feroz. In time, Pascall wants to attract rugby’s biggest names such as Pollock. But season one will see the teams dominated by experienced sevens players.
Each of the four tournaments will see the men’s and women’s sides from the six teams play in a straight knockout format. All the action will be completed in one day, which is different to the traditional World Series Sevens circuit whose competing teams are nations. Matches will be ten minutes long with teams given the option of a 90-second tactical timeout.
One new innovation is around conversions. Tries scored under the posts will be worth an automatic seven points. If a try is scored wider out, teams can opt to take their additional kick from different, more challenging positions in a bid to earn more points. The range available is one, two or four points depending on the kick’s difficulty. Tickets for the London event at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium start at £30.
Rugby sevens’ popularity has gone to a new level since France 15-a-side superstar Antoine Dupont won gold at the 2024 Paris Games
Like The Hundred, Ultimate Sevens has created new teams. Like The Hundred, it is open to selling its sides to private investment
‘The kicking rule adds another layer of entertainment and sporting jeopardy,’ says Pascall, who is assisted in the new competition’s creation by former England sevens captain Tom Mitchell as sport and innovation director. ‘This isn’t about a one-season wonder. This is a long-term play. This is about being around for many years to come. Younger and female audiences are increasingly introduced to rugby through sevens. That’s a powerful tool.’
For too long, rugby has badly needed investment as, outside the international 15-a-side game, it continues to experience financial difficulties. Fresh financing into PREM Rugby has been welcomed and so too should BIA’s arrival. Rugby as a whole will benefit if Ultimate Sevens can become a regular part of its landscape.
‘People ask me what success will look like,’ Pascall says. ‘I want people, in time, to know these players. That’s more of a qualitative than quantitative outcome, but if we get to that point, I think we’ll have done something really special.
‘I absolutely believe this investment in the sport is going to be a positive energy for rugby, for Great Britain’s Olympic hopes, and for other countries around the world.’
