Atlantis wins End of the World Sevens

(Atlantis tournament #61)
Emil Signes
January 6, 1998 (rev. July 25, 2013)

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Note of July 2013: I sent this article to Rugby on January 7, 1998, and I believe it was published, though it may not have been; I don't have it in my digital records.  At any rate what follows is the article the way I wrote it.
Champions at End of World
Al Caravelli holds up Championship trophy at End of the World Sevens
Atlantis on Top at the Bottom of the World

Southernmost city in the world, December 6-7, 1997. The American invitational side Atlantis won the 11th edition of the “Fin del Mundo [End of the World] Sevens”, held on December 6-7 in the world’s southernmost city, Ushuaia, Argentina.

Although overall the field was not a strong one by Argentine standards, the defeated finalist, invitational “Team Reebok,” featured three Pumas. Semifinalist Misiones, with two Pumas, had finished 3rd in Argentina’s Provincial Sevens the week before, defeated only by Buenos Aires.

Final Match: Atlantis

1 McLean
2 Ezcurra
3 Flamish **
4 Caravelli [C] ***
5 Mullen
6 Balnis *
7 Anna
R * replaced by Fitzpatrick
R ** replaced by Katoa
R *** replaced by Vendetto

Atlantis, after a huge scare in the quarterfinal against local powerhouse Águilas, came back on all cylinders. They played excellently in the semifinal and went into the final on a high note. Team Reebok, however, made Atlantis work hard for its hardware. The halftime score was 7-5, and Reebok’s defense was shutting down Atlantis’ breaks. Atlantis, however, which never trailed in any game at any time during the tournament, slowly increased its lead, and finally put Team Reebok away with about 2 minutes left in the game, when, with Atlantis leading 19-10, Al Caravelli kicked ahead and fell on the ball inches short of the dead ball line. Other final game tries were by Rob Anna (2), Rob Balnis and Agustín Ezcurra.

Hardware ceremony. Atlantis’ 39-yr old captain Al Caravelli was this observer’s choice for tournament MVP. It was a sweet return home for Al, who represented the Pumas at the 1981 Hong Kong Sevens. His only regret was that his father -- still the youngest player ever to represent Argentina in rugby (at age 16) -- who died recently of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, was not there to watch his son lead his team to the championship.

End of the World. At the southern end of Patagonia, Ushuaia is the world’s southernmost city (although Puerto Williams, a Chilean outpost just across the Beagle Channel and populated by 3 men and a dog, also claims that distinction: one thing we did discover on this trip was the mutual animosity of the Argentines and the Chileans). Ship excursions to the Antarctic begin from Ushuaia and “Fin del Mundo” souvenirs are everywhere. The city, which has quadrupled in population (to about 40,000) in just a few years, has the distinct appearance of a frontier town (which I guess it is).

Ushuaia is part of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, home to unbelievably spectacular scenery, and the view as we descended through the clouds on our descent to the Ushuaia airport was truly spectacular. The southern part of Tierra del Fuego includes the southernmost pieces of the Andes, surrounded by water (the Straits of Magellan, the Beagle Channel, the “end of the world” must contain a zillion small uninhabited islands).

We spent several hours touring the Tierra del Fuego National Park, one spectacular view after another, and reached the southern end of Argentine Route 3, with a sign that read “Alaska, 17,848 km”.

Also part of the Atlantis tour of Ushuaia was a trip to the famous local Presidio, where Argentina’s most dangerous -- as well as political -- prisoners were kept from the 19th century until its closing in 1947.

“Sevens Fin del Mundo.” Now in its 11th year, the End of World Sevens is still a minor, mostly regional, tournament. Nevertheless, the organizing Ushuaia RFC is trying to position the tournament as a bigger player in the Argentine sevens calendar. Given its spectacular locale, and the fact that sevens is increasing in popularity in Argentina (a country which, based on its player pool, should produce great sevens), that is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Atlantis. In its 12th year, Atlantis has now competed in 60 tournaments, including 36 in 15 locations outside the US, i.e. England, Scotland, Spain, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Bulgaria, Dubai, Trinidad, Fiji, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and now Argentina. Our 380 players include 88 Eagles (64 men and 24 women); 33 of these represented Atlantis prior to the US.

Atlantis at the End of the World. One sad note: a week before we left, one of our players, Kevin Battle, a student at Westmont College (Santa Barbara) and a member of the National Collegiate Sevens team, had a tragedy in his family (his sister died of a brain tumor), and he was unable to participate. Players' names preceded by their Atlantis number.

267 Al Caravelli, captain. At 39, Al was but one of the team’s veterans (half the team was over 35). It was great to have Al on tour for several reasons: his play of course, but also the fact that his pride in being able to show off his country to all his teammates helped make it a special tour for all of us.

245 Rob Anna. One of three Montauk backs on the tour, Rob was our finisher and led all scorers with eight tries.

387 Rob Balnis. A 20-year old who will represent the Collegiate All Stars in Tempe this year, Rob is a player with Eagle potential.

388 Agustín Ezcurra. With Kevin Battle’s spot unfilled even after our arrival in Argentina, we were lucky to find a player of Ezcurra’s stature (fullback for CUBA, one of Argentina’s top teams, and one of the leading try scorers in Buenos Aires during the season). Ezcurra played hooker for us and did our kicking.

  56 Artie Fitzpatrick. The first of the team to have ever played for in Atlantis (1987), and like me a graduate of Xavier HS (NYC), Artie at 36 barely made the older half of the team (but was one of its speedsters).

  78 John Flamish. The most “capped” Atlantis player, with 19 tournaments under his Atlantis belt (snatching the lead from Dave Priestas), John at 35 was the youngest of the veteran 5.

353 Andrew Katoa. A citizen of Tonga, Andrew plays wing/center for Aspen, but with his speed and his 6'2 230-lb. frame, he is a perfect sevens prop. Andrew’s athletic credentials are excellent: outside linebacker for BYU and the San Diego Chargers.

123 Keith McLean. One of Atlantis’ stalwart veterans through the years, Keith, at 37, was one of the tournament’s outstanding players.

273 Mike Mullen. Quiet but effective, and the driving force behind Worcester’s success, Mike controlled the center of the field throughout the tournament and was always in support.

359 JR Vendetto. Despite his decidedly unathletic appearance, JR is a true speedster (back in the 1990 ITT 7s, he actually caught Kevin Higgins from behind), and even at 37, he’s still got it.

Nonplayers: I was the coach, New Orleans’ George Henderson was the manager, and Old Blue physiotherapist Dave Wickenden was our magician-trainer.

Visa nightmares. Both Kiwi Wickenden and Tongan Katoa arrived at the airport without the required visas and a true nightmare ensued. To make a very long and painful story short, Wickenden managed to get into Argentina on time after paying a $300 fine, but Katoa had to spend 3 days in New York waiting for clearance to leave (Argentina apparently doesn’t recognize Tonga [“That’ll piss the King off”, said Andrew], and only a fax from a highly placed Argentine official got him in even three days later.)

Mendoza. I have relatives (both maternal and paternal, from two different parts of Spain -- discovering them is a bizarre story in itself) in Mendoza (a city in wine country in the foothills of the Andes), and left three days early to visit them for the first time. I found out that two of my nephews, Alejandro and Damián, are rugby fanatics who play for the well-known Mendoza club of Los Tordos, so even this side trip had rugby ramifications.

Note of 2013: When I stopped in Mendoza the long-lost relatives (lots of them, all descended from my father's home town in Gata, Alicante, Spain) held a large family reunion at which they presented me with this certificate basically honoring me for having found them :)

Family Certificate

Buenos Aires. Atlantis first two days were spent in Buenos Aires, and we trained at the pitches of two of Argentina’s top teams -- SIC (this year’s national champions) and CUBA (Al’s old team, and perhaps the most “exclusive” of all of Buenos Aires teams). Unfortunately, our planned night out didn’t materialize when our noon flight to Ushuaia was changed to 6 AM! Nevertheless, it was nice to be able to spend a couple of days in one of the world’s great cities.

Ushuaia. Besides touring in Ushuaia, we trained extensively. Following our second Thursday session, which ended after 10:30 PM (it stays light late at the end of the world at this time of year), we were treated to “corderito fuegiño” (lamb a la Tierra del Fuego), a local treat. This, along with a few bottles of red wine from Mendoza that accompanied the lamb, enjoyed in the company of fellow rugby players from the End of the World, is the kind of event that makes all these trips transcend the rugby.

Note of 2013: And it's beautiful!  Two pictures, one from the pitch and one from the Tierra del Fuego National Park, illustrate this.  (Side note: while we were in Tierra del Fuego National Park we were informed that we were only a few hundred yards from Chile - and, based on our guide's comments, were reminded that these two countries have kind of an India-Pakistan kind of relationship.)
At Tierra del Fuego National Park
Atlantis at Tierra del Fuego National Park
Atlantis on Game Day
Atlantis at the pitch on Game Day; Snow-Capped Mountains in back at the beginning of summer
Back: George Henderson, Rob Anna, John Flamish, Keith McLean, Rob Balnis, Andrew Katoa, Emil Signes
Bottom: Dave Wickendon, J.R. Vendetto, Al Caravelli, Artie Fitzpatrick, Mike Mullen, Agustín Ezcurra

Games. The field consisted of 16 teams, most of which were from the south of Argentina. Also participating, however, was the provincial team from Misiones, which had come in third in Argentina’s provincial sevens tournament the week before, and Team Reebok, a team with several guest players from Rosario, including three Pumas.

Atlantis got through our pool play with little trouble, but after getting to a first minute 7-0 lead over the Águilas, a local powerhouse who, according to host Ushuaia RFC, had been training to win this tournament for the last six months, we nearly fell apart. The Águilas played a very physical game of sevens, and we made the mistake of getting into that game with them (not to mention the fact that we couldn’t win our own set pieces . . . ). We hung on for a 7-5 win, and then easily won our semifinal against Amigos, another Patagonian team, while Team Reebok turned back a Misiones team that had beaten them the day before.

One of the highlights for us was the occurrence, on the adjacent field, of youth competitions throughout the weekend. We not only got to watch a lot of young kids playing rugby, but also enjoy their companionship, as they hung around us all weekend long.

Banquet. The tournament was followed by a traditional asado (Argentine barbecue), which took place in a “quincho”, an Argentine barbecue hall, located across from the rugby club. A good time was had by all. (John Flamish kept alive Dave Priestas’ Atlantis tradition of entertaining the opposition with an obscure South African chant “O-o-le-le . . . “)

Game scores
Atlantis 45 San Jorge 0
Atlantis 29 Ushuaia 7
Atlantis 59 Campolter 0
Atlantis 7 Águilas 5 (QF)
Atlantis 36 Amigos 7 (SF)
Atlantis 31      Team Reebok 10 (F)
Individual Scoring
Name
 Tries
 Conv
 Points
Ezcurra
 4
 16
 52
Anna
 8
 0
 40
Balnis
 5
 2
 27
Mullen
 3
 3
 21
Flamish
 3
 3
 21
Vendetto
 2
 0
 10
Katoa
 2
 0
 10
Fitzpatrick
 2
 0
 10
Caravelli
 2
 0
 10
McLean
 2
 0
 10
Total
 33
 21
 207
Opponents
 5
 2
 29

Postscript. While most of us returned to home and work, a few decided to stay on. Andrew Katoa made up for his time in NY by staying three days enjoying the sights of Buenos Aires. Hardy explorers Rob Anna, Artie Fitzpatrick and George Henderson stayed longer and enjoyed trekking in Patagonia. They particularly enjoyed their prolonged stay in Ushuaia, where our friends took particularly good care of them, and they participated in several touch rugby games.

Finally, Atlantis is particularly grateful to the Ushuaia RFC for taking such good care of us, and specially to Jorge Rabassa (who in 1984 spent a semester as visiting professor at Bethlehem’s Lehigh University!), who was our pre-tournament contact and who accompanied us to the (national park), regaling us with lots of information about the area; and Esteban Flores, Alma Zampatti, and Ruben Verón, who looked after us very well throughout our stay in the south. We made many friends at the end of the world, in yet another transcendental sevens experience.

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