May 1996: 10th annual Benidorm (Spain) Sevens

(Atlantis tournament #49)
Emil Signes

June 1996
JUNE 18, 2013

home | Family Stories, Pictures, etc | Family Trees Rugby Stories, Data, Pictures, etc | Miscellaneous
Atlantis tournaments / return to Atlantis home

Ireland wins 10th Annual Benidorm Sevens


A Benidorm Sevens loaded with nine national sides preparing to qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 1997 was won by a strong Ireland side that walked easily through all the competition. Wing Richard Wallace was phenomenal and easily deserved the MVP title that he was awarded.

Round Robin

Of the 12 teams in the international bracket, only three -- last year’s finalists Atlantis and the Welsh Wizards, as well as the French Froggies -- were not full national sides. The four 3-team brackets were:

Ireland
Italy
Namibia
Spain
Switzerland
Ukraine
Portugal
Russia
Atlantis
Wizards
Hungary
Froggies

The nine national teams were all preparing for their appearances at world cup qualifiers this year. Two -- Russia and Italy -- will not have to qualify until Dubai, but the other seven went directly onto Lisbon for the following week’s qualifier. Four -- Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Namibia -- qualified and will be in Hong Kong next year. Ukraine was a strong ninth (eight qualified)..

Two teams from each bracket went through to the Cup, and the third place team went to the Plate along with the quarterfinal losers.

There were two other divisions -- senior clubs and junior clubs. Sadly, the women’s division, won by Atlantis in its only appearance, seems to be a thing of the past.

Ireland

Ireland walked through the international division of the tournament, beating first Atlantis, then Switzerland, then Namibia, the Froggies, and finally the Wizards (40-17) without missing a beat.

The most exciting game of the tournament, however, was the Plate final between Spain and Italy. Spain came back from a huge deficit to tie Italy in regulation, and the game was well into its second five-minute overtime period before Italy scored the game winner. Both teams struggled off the field after the 38-33 scorcher.

Atlantis

Despite being the defending champion, Atlantis came to this tournament without great expectations: in a season where, in six men’s tournaments, we had already used 46 players, and on a final four weekend following a sweet sixteen weekend where many players’ resources were drained, we went through more than 20 changes, seven in the final week, ending up with a young squad lacking a lot of sevens experience.

On top of that, we lost both our wings in training on the two days prior to the tournament.

Still, we were a good team: we could have done better . . .

The Atlantis squad for the Benidorm Sevens was

Atl #
Name
Club
291
Mike Cleary
Seattle
268
Scott Davis
Phila/Whitemarsh
78
John Flamish
Phila/Whitemarsh
270
Jason Maloni
Maryland Exiles
292
Brian O'Grady
New York
244
Ryan Peyroux
Life College
134
Greg Schor
Life College
293
Storm Singleton
Life College
294
Jon Velie
Oklahoma
96
Barry Williams
Los Angeles


Thursday, in a scrimmage against Ukraine, Ryan Peyroux twinged his hamstring, which was to last less than 10 minutes against Switzerland before going for good as Ryan scored his second try. On Friday, superstar Barry Williams, finally back in form after a series of injuries, twisted his knee against Italy. Although Barry, through the magic of Namibian physiotherapist Lambert Fick, was amazingly able to play on Sunday, it was clear he wasn’t ready.

So, with prop Greg Schor and newcomer to sevens Seattle fly half Mike Cleary forced to step in at wing, we muddled through the weekend, defeating Switzerland in a far-too-close 21-19 match, getting crushed by Ireland 48-7 (although the one try, by Brian O’Grady, was a beauty), then losing to Portugal and Ukraine 26-10 and 26-7, respectively. (Ireland and Portugal were to qualify for the World Cup the following weekend, and Ukraine finished 9th, one out of the money.)

It was ironic that a team that began with five wings -- including Thad Hill, Rob Anna, and Kevin Gittings, three of the fastest players in the country -- ended up with none.

After a great 1995, 1996 has been a tough year for Atlantis, and a great deal of that can be ascribed to the number of players we’ve had to use, not gaining a lot of continuity.

We’re going to step back and chart Atlantis’ course for the future: either a) accept fewer invitations or b) expand the Atlantis organization, adding coaching and management staff as well as finding a way to identify more players. Volunteers? I intend to take out a paid advertisement shortly in Rugby to address this issue and ask for help!

Benidorm Sevens moves to Benidorm

The Benidorm Sevens, which actually took place in the neighboring town of Villajoyosa during its first nine years, actually moved to Benidorm itself this year, to the local soccer field. Despite its proximity to the British tourists, however, the tournament still struggled to increase the number of spectators, which probably hovered around 1000. Still, it’s only the first year of a bold new direction, and combined with a more professional attitude towards the tournament organization, we all have great hopes for the future of the event.

Recognition and thanks

Firstly, thanks to Al Caravelli for making this tour happen. Ultimately unable to travel with us due to work difficulties, Al managed to make it possible for us to have 10 solid players to field a team, which turned out to be the most daunting challenge of all!

John Hansborough of East Carolina U’s rugby team, a half Spaniard visiting family, stopped in and took care of managerial chores on Saturday, freeing me to worry.

As usual, kudos to organizer Ignacio Davila and his wife Mayka for taking on the lion’s share of the work for this event.

As noted above, Barry Williams was able to play 2 days after a knee injury, due only to the great deal of time alloted him by Namibian physiotherapist Lambert Fick, who deserves special recognition.

Finally, thanks from all the Atlanteans to Taff’s Bar proprietors Reg and Brenda Jones, as well as to all the ladies from Loughor, Wales, that supported us throughout the tournament, despite advice to the contrary from their Welsh Wizard countrymen. They also taught us both verses (as well as the chorus) to the Neath fight song

Namibia

Although Atlantis left Benidorm on a 3 AM bus following the tournament, I stayed on until Thursday. Whereas my original intent was to visit family, I somehow latched on to the Namibian team, attended their practices for the next couple of days, conducted a couple of team meetings and dispensed my ever-present opinions. By the time we parted ways, I had become attached to the Namibian players and their efforts and I was glad to see them among the eight qualified teams to emerge from the Lisbon Sevens.

I’ve sometimes found it difficult to deal with “life after the Eagles”, but this experience combined with my Portuguese trip (described elsewhere in this issue) was exceptionally gratifying -- to be appreciated on the international scene is a very rewarding and humbling experience.

home | Family Stories, Pictures, etc | Family Trees Rugby Stories, Data, Pictures, etc | Miscellaneous
Atlantis tournaments / return to Atlantis home