Ultimate Sevens MD Barney Pascall hails Cardiff debut as competition heads to Biarritz

Ultimate Sevens heads to Biarritz this weekend for its second round of action, with Managing Director Barney Pascall declaring the competition’s Cardiff debut a resounding success after near-universal praise from fans, players, coaches and officials.

Pascall, who spent roughly 18 months building the competition from the ground up, said the opening event validated the belief that drove the project. “Cardiff was an incredible experience,” he told RugbyPass. “I hate to use the cliche, but [it was] 18 months of blood, sweat and tears, but more just genuine belief in what we could deliver came to life.”

Central to that belief was the event’s delivery. Pascall was struck not just by the positive reception but by how every stakeholder — from crowds to referees to the competing teams — raised their performance. “These guys absolutely gave it all guns blazing, which meant that the quality of the product was there,” he said. “I was just proud and chuffed to pieces that we were able to deliver against the expectations we’d set ourselves.”

Cardiff served as a testing ground for several innovations that distinguish Ultimate Sevens from traditional formats, including ten-minute periods with no halftime break and a conversion system that rewards difficulty with greater point value. Pascall acknowledged there are areas to refine but felt the core format held up.

With one round of experience now behind them, coaches are already making detailed adjustments heading into Biarritz. Pascall revealed that preparation routines are being overhauled to cope with the competition’s unusual physical demands. “Going into this weekend with the coaches, [they’ve been] turning around to me and changing the way we eat on game day, the way we drink, the way we hydrate, because it’s so intense during that four hours,” he said.

The tactical evolution is also accelerating. Pascall expects the dynamic conversion options to become a key battleground as teams grow more comfortable with the ruleset. “I think the dynamic kick options is going to come down to who’s going to prefer to step up,” he said. “These coaches are amazing. They’re so into it. There is a lot of dedicated thought going into how we optimise it.”

Ultimate Sevens launched into a sevens calendar that has increasingly been viewed as having an underused offseason window, and the early signs from Cardiff suggest the competition is well-placed to fill that space.