The inaugural Ultimate Sevens Grand Final took place in London on Thursday, giving the capital a taste of an Olympic sport with fresh innovations.
Ultimate Sevens is a brand-new rugby sevens format with a twist on the Olympic sport and sees clubs face off rather than countries.
With 10-minute matches, 90-second timeouts, and tries plus conversions resulting in up to nine points, Ultimate Sevens made for plenty of excitement.
Men’s and women’s teams across six clubs took part over three different events in Cardiff, Biarritz and London.
Many of the top international sevens players participated in the series, which concluded at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium.
Paul Morgan, who was part of the media and communications team, explained that finishing in London felt right given its connection to the sport of rugby.
Clan Tarzan’s Eden Kilgour said: “Of all the three stops so far, London is the loudest. This is the biggest crowd, the loudest crowd we’ve had so far.”
In the build-up to the Grand Final, Morgan said the competition is centred around the players, describing them as great ambassadors for the event and outlining their passion for it.
Rugby sevens is predominantly an international sport, so a unique point to this series has been players getting a chance to play with new teammates, something Kilgour’s teammate and compatriot, Larah Wright, was a fan of.
The Canadian said: “I’ve got to know two Irish girls on my team, two Australians, two GB girls, a Fijian, a Brazilian, a German, and a Kiwi. So now I have 10 new friends, and our coaches, who are South African. I just think it’s amazing and what an experience to get to learn from some of the best rugby players in the world and coaches in the world.”
Ultimate Sevens’ innovations were on full display in London.
In the men’s semi-final, Sol Feroz, down 13-5, denied Albion Athletic a try with 40 seconds left and less than a minute later, Sol Feroz’s Gaspard Lalli scored a try to cut the score to 13-10.
In ‘normal’ sevens Sol Feroz would have been down and out.
But in the Ultimate Sevens format, they had a four-point conversion attempt, which Juan Ramos converted, giving his team a 14-13 win with no time left.
Sol Feroz eventually won the men’s competition, with Pacific Current winning the women’s competition.
So, is there a future for Ultimate Sevens? The good news is it does not clash with anything else in the rugby calendar and is a collaborative event endorsed by World Rugby, so there should be no scheduling worries.
And there has certainly been inspiration for fans from this competition.
Wright said: “We were just sitting here watching one of the games and Abbie Brown, one of the GB girls, was playing, and there was a girl right behind me not even seven years old and she shouted ‘Go Abbieeeee!’
“That’s what it’s all about being those role models, having those girls look up to you is what the people here should remember.”
Featured image credit: Ultimate Sevens
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