'Reinvent Myself' - Henry Hutchison: Australia legend hits re-set button for Ultimate Sevens challenge

The Australian sevens icon insists the brand-new tournament has given him the chance to “reinvent” himself once again.

A three-time Olympian and Australia's most capped men's sevens player, Hutchison has spent more than a decade competing at the highest level of the sport. He has collected 125 international tries along the way and helping Australia claim a historic World Series title in 2022.

Now, the veteran back has swapped the familiar gold of the land down under for the colours teal green of Pacific Current, joining a new-look franchise packed with international talent as Ultimate Sevens prepares to kick off in Cardiff. The competition will see six new franchises go head-to-head across Cardiff and Biarritz before the grand final round in London, with a unique knockout format each week adding another layer of jeopardy to an already high-pressure form of rugby.

For Hutchison, however, that unfamiliarity is exactly what makes the competition so appealing. “It's refreshing. I think you know it's always important to reinvent yourself every season, on and off the field,” Hutchison told RUCK.

“So when you get kind of something new that comes along at this stage of your career, it forces you to do that. You know we're all on ground one. No one is the best Ultimate Sevens player in the world yet.

“So everyone's starting at the start line together. It is going to be different. You're going to have to play differently. You're going to have to attack the day differently. So it'll be taking some feeling out as a player. Sevens experience will definitely help, but yeah, it's an exciting new challenge for all.”

That experience will certainly be valuable for Pacific Current, with Hutchison having first burst onto the international scene as an 18-year-old in 2015 before being named World Rugby Sevens Rookie of the Year Nominee and competing at his first Olympic Games in Rio the following year.

His career has since taken him to three Olympic Games, a World Series title and beyond 100 World Series tries, while a serious ACL injury in 2023 threatened to derail his career altogether. Hutchison battled back to feature at the Paris Olympics before being appointed co-captain of Australia. This year, he surpassed Nick Malouf to become the country's most capped men's sevens player.

Despite that wealth of experience, Pacific Current represents something completely different, with players from several different rugby nations thrown together to form a brand-new team in a matter of weeks. “It's been challenging, but it's been really positive,” Hutchison said.

“We've got a pretty good mix of Pacific influence and also some English and Spanish lads in the mix as well. Still waiting on our Kenyan boys to get here to complete the team. But once they're in here, we've got a really big, powerful, fast team, so I'm sure we're playing a physical game, which is probably in line with the Pacific style.”

Among those Hutchison is particularly excited to line up alongside a certain Flying Fijian, whom he has previously experienced from the opposite side of the pitch. “Probably George Bose from Fiji,” Hutchison said, when asked which teammate caught his eye from the latest training weekend in Madrid.

“He's an absolute handful to manage when you're playing against him. He's pretty funny. He's quiet, but he's warming up around the lads, which is great.It's super powerful, super athletic. Yeah, I'm glad to have him wearing the same jersey as me this time.”

There is also a strong New Zealand influence within the Pacific Current coaching setup, with head coach Crystal and assistant coach and former New Zealand sevens international Sam Dickson, bringing their experience from the international sevens circuit into a new environment.

Hutchison is relishing the opportunity to work under the pair, particularly given his familiarity with the style of rugby they are looking to implement. “She's doing a really good job. It's a very unique coaching environment,” he explained.

“You've got one coach that kind of sits across two teams, and then an assistant coach that is more aligned with one or the other. So she's working hand in hand with Sam. Awesome to be involved with Sam as well. Obviously, I played against Sam many times against New Zealand. Tough man to play against. So he's bringing a wealth of knowledge with him as well.

“Combining, it's very Kiwi-influenced. They're both from New Zealand. Crystal was coaching Brazil and Sam with China, but there's a strong Kiwi kind of theme with how we play, and that's been successful in sevens for many, many years. So we're looking forward to it.”

There will be little time for Pacific Current to ease themselves into the competition, either, with a meeting against Sol Feroz first up and a reunion with former coach Paco Hernandez adding a personal subplot to the opening fixture.

Hutchison knows Hernandez well from his time playing for Rugby Premier League India team Bengaluru Bravehearts, and believes the Spaniard's existing relationship with a number of the Sol Feroz players could make them a particularly difficult opponent.

“Paco was awesome. Really enjoyed my month with Paco and Manu [Moreno - Hyderabad Heroes captain],” Hutchison said.

“He's obviously picked a lot of the Spanish boys, so there's definitely a way they're going to play pretty similar on the circuit. I'm sure they'll throw some new tricks in there without a doubt.

“But the boys know each other. Paco has a good connection with those boys already, and he's a great team manager. I experienced that in India. He just manages people really well, so they'll be happy, they'll be flying.

“And we've got them first up. So we've got Jeremy [Trevithick] in our team, who's in the Spanish team. He's pretty keen to win that game, and I'll be pretty keen to beat Paco as well. Make it a little bit personal.”

If that wasn't enough motivation, Pacific Current also have a potential “grudge match” waiting in the wings against Albion Athletic, who boast Australian trio Ben Dowling, Jaden Blake and Harry Wilson [different player to the Wallabies number eight] within their ranks.

The prospect of facing players who would ordinarily be Hutchison's teammates in the Australian setup has already added some extra spice, while the veteran was more than happy to stoke the flames surrounding Albion's confidence.

“Definitely. That's the Albion team for the men's. They have these three Aussie boys in there: Ben Dowling, Jaden Blake and Harry Wilson, with the coaching staff as well in the management team for Albion,” he said. “That'll be a bit of a grudge match, I think. They're representing the English side as well, so maybe our colonisers!

“We're the underdogs there for sure. The Albion boys. Harry Wilson said he's had the best setup, the best they've been looked after really well. They're thinking they're the top team at the moment. So it'd be good to play them.”

Asked whether Albion were therefore the team to beat, Hutchison was typically blunt.

“Oh, they're just loud,” he laughed. “The Albion boys get Harry Wilson walking around as if he's a 10-year veteran, saying how they're the best team. So it'll be good to get into them.”

That competitive edge could prove crucial in Ultimate Sevens, where the new format leaves little room for error. Unlike a conventional tournament structure, teams can find themselves on the brink of elimination after just one defeat, with losing bonus points potentially becoming the difference between survival and an early exit.

For Hutchison, that element of jeopardy is something the sevens game is uniquely equipped to handle.

“I guess it's just different, and different is good,” he said. “Kickers are really important. We've got a couple of good kickers in our team, so they're going to be clutch. I think I'm seeing a few golden-point wins already in my mind, so that's exciting.

“The jeopardy is huge. There's a lot of jeopardy in sevens already, so I think the players are used to the uncertainty and the high-stakes environment. But this is definitely even more so. You lose your first game, basically out. So it's kind of win or die, and if you do lose, you've got to lose close to try and sneak through on a losing bonus point or however that looks. “It's stressful, but I guess that makes for good viewing.”

That pressure will only increase as the tournament progresses, with Cardiff and Biarritz providing the opening stages before the surviving teams descend on London for a winner-takes-all grand final. Hutchison is yet to play at the specific stadiums involved, [Cardiff Arms Park, Parc des Sports Aguilera and the G-Tech Community Stadium], but he believes the rugby culture surrounding each location should provide a fitting backdrop for the competition's inaugural campaign.

“To all the places, but I haven't played in those stadiums, so they're all going to be pretty exciting,” he said. “They're all rugby towns, which is great. I think London will be pretty epic. It'll be the grand final. The winners will be crowned champions, and there's a lot of rugby in London.

“A lot of family and friends that will be in London as well across four teams, so I think the first two will be super exciting, but we'll be filling another round. “And come the third week, teams will be tiring, and it'll be a pretty big show.”

For Pacific Current, the immediate priority will be establishing the foundations required to allow their star-studded squad to express itself. With limited preparation time and players arriving from different international environments, Hutchison believes mastering the basics will be just as important as the spectacular moments the competition is designed to produce.

“I think structure is going to be important for us still,” he said. “We want to be able to lay a platform down for our boys to play freely, but when teams come together tight in a short amount of time, you need to do the basics well.

“So we'll probably focus there first, lay the platform for the Fijians to open up, but we're looking to be physical. So we're going to try to win those contact zones and hopefully get go-forward, and then we can play on top.”

And if Pacific Current are searching for a couple of young players capable of providing that spark, Hutchison already has two names in mind. Jeremy Trevithick, who was selected in the 2026 Men's SVNS Dream Team despite being only in his second year, has impressed the veteran, while Great Britain's Finley Lloyd-Gilmour was nominated for the 2026 Men's SVNS Rookie of the Year.

Both are young wingers, and Hutchison believes their futures could be particularly bright. "We haven't seen any other teams train because we've been training at different times,” he said.

“I think in our team alone, Jeremy's still very young. He was in the Dream Team this year with me, and he's only in his second year, so he's still reasonably a rookie. He's got a pretty big future. “We've also got Finlay from GB, who was also nominated for Rookie of the Year this year, and he's just a specimen.

“He's powerful and eager, fast. So yeah, probably those two. They're both on the wing. They're both young. They've both got really bright futures.”

For a player who has already experienced three Olympic Games, a World Series triumph, international captaincy and the highs and lows of a serious injury comeback, Ultimate Sevens could easily have represented another chapter in an already remarkable career.

Instead, Hutchison sees it as something of a reset. A chance to play alongside opponents who have spent years trying to stop him, learn from a new group of coaches and teammates, and compete in a format where even the most decorated player starts from the same line as everyone else.

And with Pacific Current facing Sol Feroz first up, followed by the prospect of an Australian-heavy Albion side further down the road, Hutchison certainly won't have to wait long for the new competition to become personal.