French rugby sevens is at a turning point. Just one year ago, high-level rugby sevens in France was essentially limited to a professional national team made up of a few contracted players and high-potential players selected for a handful of tournaments throughout the year, alongside a men’s and women’s amateur elite circuit organized by the federation. Since then, it has undergone a remarkable transformation. Who is to blame? The In Extenso Supersevens, of course.
Historically, since rugby sevens entered the Olympic Games in the early 2010s, the French national team had been the only rugby sevens team in France to field professional players throughout the year. In 2020, however, the French National Rugby League (LNR), which organizes the professional TOP 14 and PRO D2 championships, created a new competition: the Supersevens.
The Supersevens brings together 16 professional rugby sevens teams: one affiliated with each TOP 14 club, Monaco, and the invitation-only Barbarians team, mainly made up of high-performing amateur players from the elite circuit. The competition pushed France’s major rugby union clubs to create dedicated sevens teams specifically for the event. While opinions may differ as to whether this was the best way to develop sevens in France, there is no denying that an increasing number of clubs have started developing year-round sevens programs with objectives extending far beyond simply performing well in the Supersevens.
Some clubs, such as Section Paloise, have viewed rugby sevens as an excellent way to develop their players and further their development with a view to helping them reach a higher level in rugby union. Section Paloise regularly fields promising young players in the Supersevens, giving them the opportunity to develop and compete at the highest level, while also using sevens as a pre-season physical preparation tool, for example. The project is fully integrated into the development pathway for young players in Pau, who secured their second runner-up finish last weekend in just three editions of the Supersevens.
Using sevens as a development tool is also one of the objectives pursued by Paul Albaladéjo through ASM Sevens in Clermont. In Auvergne, sevens is used as part of the development pathway for ASM players, from the under-14 category all the way to the professional squad. But the project goes beyond player development alone. Clermont’s sevens team also aims to expand the club’s brand reach by competing in prestigious tournaments such as the Dubai Sevens, exposing its players to the highest level while potentially identifying future players for Clermont’s squad. This reach starts in Auvergne itself, through the creation of numerous links with surrounding clubs — Nevers, for example, took part in the first Fast Four tournament organized by ASM Sevens.
The UBB 7s project has also placed a strong emphasis on the local ecosystem. Every week, players identified within clubs across the region to form Bordeaux’s sevens team are invited to train alongside the professional team. Made up exclusively of amateur players, the team competes in tournaments throughout the year and gives UBB visibility across Europe — where it was crowned champion last summer — as well as at tournaments around the world. By winning the Elite Development Circuit, UBB 7s qualified for the French Elite Circuit, where the best young amateur players compete, including those who specialize in sevens. This gives the team an advantage over the sevens teams of other professional clubs when preparing for the Supersevens, by competing against the very best of French sevens. Sevens thus becomes a pretext for organizing talent identification initiatives, social programs and strengthening the club’s position as a key local stakeholder.
Finally, we could not complete our review of these initiatives without mentioning the Monaco 7s project, which enabled the team to claim its first championship title last Saturday at Paris La Défense Arena. This is an example of a club dedicated exclusively to rugby sevens rather than being affiliated with a professional XV team. Their approach? Recruiting numerous sevens stars to raise the profile of the sport within the Principality, with a long-term Olympic project in mind. These all-star line-ups are complemented by Jérémy Aicardi’s grassroots work with young Monegasque rugby players, introducing them to sevens and developing their skills from rugby school onwards.
New projects around rugby sevens continue to emerge, while many clubs are also considering setting up their own year-round teams. Yet it is clear that there are as many projects as there are different approaches and objectives. Sevens demonstrates its versatility: sometimes a player-development tool, it can also be a way to increase brand exposure or recruit talent, while it can equally serve as a more enjoyable way of getting players back into shape than a rather uninspiring Bronco test.
For clubs considering entering the sevens space, the key is to do some important groundwork beforehand: identify their needs and determine what rugby sevens can offer in response. Knowing why to get involved in sevens will make it easier to determine how to do so.
Where some see sevens as an avoidable cost, others see it as an investment: in players, in new training and physical preparation methods, or in the deployment of innovative tools. Rugby sevens is a spectacular sport with a distinct image, offering those associated with it genuine added value. Intermarché, CEVA, In Extenso, Cap Ingelec and Capgemini are among the brands that have understood this. Sevens can provide them with a very different form of visibility from rugby union: a young, dynamic, modern and forward-looking image, at a lower cost. Those looking to benefit from this will also need to learn how to give their sevens team these same values and this image. This requires thoughtful and forward-looking structural work.
The question clubs are often confronted with is how to generate value from these sevens teams. The answer lies in content, partner experience and innovation. Racing 92, for example, does not have a dedicated sevens structure, but uses the Supersevens to build a different image for the club. This season, its communications theme revolved around video games, after exploring the cartoon theme in 2020.
As the Paris Olympic Games approach, the Supersevens continues to grow in prominence each year, and Olympic rugby sevens champions continue to enter the TOP 14 player market, everything suggests that sevens has a bright future, both in France and internationally. Some countries, such as the United States, have made it a priority alongside — and in some respects ahead of — rugby union, suggesting that its commercial value could evolve significantly in the years to come.
Clubs will sooner or later have to position themselves in this segment. The remaining question is how they can generate as much value as possible from it. At Six Sports Management, we support clubs in developing sevens projects that are relevant to their strategic objectives.
Six Sports Management is a consulting firm that supports professional sports clubs in structuring their organizations. With a comprehensive approach to rugby sevens, it helps clubs develop a sevens structure tailored to their needs and available resources, turning it into a tool for differentiation.