March 1998:
Atlantis at Fiji
International Sevens
(Atlantis tournament #62)
Emil Signes
JUNE 24, 2013
Note of June 2013: The following article is that which I
submitted to Rugby Magazine; an edited
version appeared in the
April 24, 1998 issue.
Fijians Dominate Fiji
International Sevens
Following the Australian Fijians’ domination of the
all-professional New Zealand All Black Sevens team in the
semifinal, they gave their native land’s national team a huge
scare before finally succumbing 28-19. In an earlier pool match,
the Australian Fijians led 26-21 when the referee mysteriously
allowed a scrum well after the final buzzer which produced a 28-26
Fiji victory. (Atlantis had the “fortune” of being in the same
bracket as both these teams; more on this later.)
The tournament and its brackets:
Pool One:
Fiji
Australian Fijians
Japan
US Atlantis
Pool Two:
Australia
Tonga
Malaysia
Cook Islands
Pool Three:
New Zealand
Canada
Australian Legends
Chinese Taipei
Pool Four:
Western Samoa
New Zealand Fijians
Hong Kong
Uruguay
Just as most top world club basketball teams have their
American(s), 13 of the 16 teams at this tournament had their own
South Pacific Islander(s), most more than one. Malaysia’s Fijians,
in fact, so dominated their team that they easily defeated both
the Cook Islands and Japan. Atlantis had one, with which we were
able to cover two island groups -- Eagle Joe Santos, an ethnic
Tongan who was born and raised in Fiji (and whose cousin Vaea
Anitoni will represent the US at the 1998 Hong Kong Sevens).
Round robin play . . . All eight seeded teams made it through to
the Tabua Cup Quarterfinals, although the Australian Fijians’ job
in nearly upsetting Fiji raised a few eyebrows. The quarterfinal
results were
Fiji 24 New Zealand Fijians 19
Australia 29 Australian Legends 17
New Zealand 28 Tonga 7
Australian Fijians 15 Samoa 14
All games went according to plan except for the fourth
quarterfinal, where the Australian Fijians continued their
surprising march to glory.
In the first semifinal Fiji took apart Australia 38-5, led by
scrum half Sirilo Lala, who scored a hat trick of tries set up by
his constant looping of fly half Waisale Serevi. The reapparance
of David Campese could do nothing to stem the Fiji tide in this
game.
In the second semifinal, the Australian Fijians, coached by former
Fijian, Australian, and Rugby League star Acura Niuqila, pressured
New Zealand into several mistakes, and ended up with a relatively
comfortable 19-10 win.
The Tabua Cup final -- ah, the final -- I can only say that fans
of NBA finals would have seen in this match athleticism that we
normally associate only with that level . . . Wow! Fiji ended up
on top, but not before they were scared to death by their
Australian counterparts, who led 19-14 midway through the second
half. The final score was 28-19. Both wings, Marika Vunibaka for
Fiji, and Akuila Tuinasau for the Australian Fijians, scored two
tries.
Two of the Australian Fijians leaped to national team status as a
result of their play. The Australian Fijian wing, Akuila Tuinasau,
was not only awarded MVP, a prize that brought a large monetary
reward, but also selected to represent Australia at the Hong Kong
Sevens. Not to be outdone, Fiji selected the Australian Fijian
rover (vocabulary lesson of the month: in Fijian English, rover =
center) Inoke Turuva for their team.
(Note that ¿Peni? somebody, a reserve on the Australian Fijians,
played for Indianapolis' 1997 national tournament squad -- Ed, you
can probably find his name . . . )
Plate and Bowl. Hong Kong won the Plate by defeating the
surprising (Fijian-dominated) Malaysian side, and the Cook Islands
won the Tanoa (Bowl) competition for the third time running.
Atlantis. As the US representative, Atlantis might have fared
better (finishing 0-3-1), but their road was filled with
formidable objects.
Firstly, there was the fact that both finalists were in their
bracket. Their 22-5 loss to the Australian Fijians was a
remarkable achievement, given both the latter’s accomplishments,
and the fact that but for an errant pass it could have easily been
a 15-12 game. Fiji took 4 minutes to score on Atlantis, and at
half time led only 12-0. A four try second half, however, made the
final score 36-0. Our really disappointing result was against
Japan. Leading 12-0 with 5:40 gone in the second half, we managed
to miss a tackle that led to the first Japan try, drop the ensuing
kickoff, then misplay our defense on the ensuing scrum. Only a
miss of an easy conversion kept this from being a loss. In the
end, only the third tie-breaker, number of conversions (they had
one more than we), put Japan into the Plate ahead of us. Oh, well.
. .
In the Bowl semifinal, we were soundly beaten, 20-0, by the Cook
Islands. The Cook Islands? one might ask . . . Yes, the Cook
Islands, who finished 10th at the Sevens World Cup in 1997 (where
the US finished 17th). A territory of New Zealand, the Cook
Islands carries the NZ rugby tradition (and often a few NZ
residents), and is a major player in the world of rugby sevens.
Atlantis team . . . I am very proud to be able to say that every
single one of the Atlantis players took part in either the
national club or All-Star sevens this year; four of them took part
in both. In addition, in order to be of service to the national
team program, the team was selected in conjunction with
discussions with both National Sevens Director Keith Seaber and
Coach Bill Russell. I went as coach and Dave Wickenden as team
physiotherapist.
The players and their sevens and fifteens affiliations, preceded by their Atlantis number:
267 Al Caravelli, Philly/Whitemarsh 7s and Old Blue 15s, captain
and scrum half
123 Keith McLean, Philly/Whitemarsh, co-captain and prop
390 Joe Santos, Old Blues, hooker
344 Kevin Barth, Olympic Club, prop
342 Don Younger, Maryland Old Boys 7s and Indiana University 15s,
prop
295 Wayne Whitko, OMBAC, fly half and scrum half
387 Rob Balnis, Montauk 7s and Frostburg
State 15s, fly half
321 Jeremy Revell, Tempe, center
313 Dave Ries, Maryland Old Boys 7s, center, wing and hooker
389 Jo Jo McKenzie, Fresno, wing
Our only three tries were scored by Joe Santos (2) and Jeremy
Revell (1), with Rob Balnis notching our conversion.
Scores:
Atlantis 5 Australian Fijians 22
Atlantis 12 Japan 12
Atlantis 0 Fiji 36
Atlantis 0 Cook Islands 20
As I write, of the 390 players that have represented Atlantis
between 1986 and 1998, 85 have been Eagles (65 men and 20 women).
34 of these represented Atlantis first. It is my fervent desire
that I will be able to add a couple of this Atlantis team’s
players to the list. They deserve it.
Thanks: to Keith Seaber and Bill Russell for their cooperation in
the selection of the team, to the Fiji Rugby Union and Sun Tours
for facilitating our travel arrangements, to physio Dave Wickenden
for his usual magic, to Al Caravelli for services above and
beyond, to Dr. Dale Toohey for providing training facilities at
Cal State Long Beach, to our liaison Seta for managing to juggle
four teams and still be there when we needed him, and to our
friend Jone Ratu who spent a great day with us at the Shangri La
Fijian and then joined us in Nadi for a marathon grog session.
