2016-0826 Atlantis roster at SRS-800wb.jpg
Atlantis Roster at the 2016 Serevi Rugbytown Sevens
August 26-28, 2016.
The Serevi Rugbytown Sevens (SRS) has become the premiere 7s
tournament in the USA for invitational teams, and Atlantis was
pleased to be invited. Atlantis' team was put together by
coach Chris Ryan and included several experienced Atlantis
players as well as 4 rookies. Despite the experience, we were a
very young team, whose oldest player (and captain) was only 25
years old. With only one day of practice - which proved to be
not sufficient for a tournament of this magnitude - we struggled
in our pool games and only on the final day, against teams who
had also suffered pool losses, did we show what we were capable
of. Our final record was 2-4.
The team bonded well, and given
our youth, all our players have years of rugby accomplishments
ahead of them.
Atlantis' staff comprised coach
Chris Ryan, manager Marsh Pennington, general manager Biddy
Boyle, videographer Steve Bugh and self-proclaimed Emperor Emil
Signes.
Our roster is given in the table below. Atlantis rookies are in aquamarine. [- coach & players: please check positions for me -]
2016-0826 Atlantis roster at SRS-800wb.jpg
Atlantis Roster at the 2016
Serevi Rugbytown Sevens
The team arrived on Wednesday
August 24, and practiced twice on Thursday followed by a
walk-through on Friday.
- PICTURES:
LOOKING FOR OTHER PIX TAKEN
ON WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY? -
- ANY
PICTURES TAKEN AT PRACTICES?
ANY PICTURES TAKEN AT JERSEY CEREMONY?
ANY OTHER MISC PICTURES? --
This tournament is certainly one
of the strongest in the US, perhaps all of North America. On top
of that, Atlantis was in what the announcers called - on several
occasions - the Pool of Death.
Denver is strong enough in its own
right, but aside from the usual suspects, defending champion
Denver All-Stars added Kansas City stars Walt Elder (Atlantis
#931) and Gannon Moore, plus Kiwi Naki Takarangi (who played
sevens with KC this summer). And they were the defending
champions. And of course representing Denver in this
tournament were its two Olympians, Ben Pinkelman and Martin
Iosefo.
Glendale Raptors, the home team
(Glendale is a municipality completely surrounded by the city of
Denver). (- something on Glendale and its
players -)
British Army, as usual, was a team composed of all but 2 Fijian rugby stars, Atavus is a select-side based in Seattle, and Rugby Utah another excellent select-side from the powerful rugby state of Utah.
( - I'D LIKE TO FIND INFO ON OTHER TEAMS INCLUDING THEIR STARS - our bracket and others - where can it be found? (just a sentence or two - )
On top of the difficulty of the
tournament in general, Atlantis was in what the announcers
called - on several occasions - "The Pool of Death."
Denver All-Stars were back as the defending champions (with
standout Atlantis alum Walt Elder [#931]) , British Army, as
usual was a team composed of all but 2 Fijian rugby stars, Rugby
Utah, another powerful select-side team from the powerful rugby
state of Utah (featuring Atlantis #904 Don Pati), and Atlantis
were all class teams.
The full bracketing comprised:
Pool A) a military division with the USA
Army, USA Air Force, USA Marines, USA Navy (-Koma Gandy #512 was their [what was her role?]
-), and USA Coast Guard;
Pool B) home team Glendale Raptors (- check -), Bermuda, Black Dragons (who were they? where from?), Royal Air
Force and So Cal Griffins (- how many
Eagles? Peter Sio (Atlantis #839), Justin Boyd (Atlantis
#916), who else? -;
Pool C) Denver All-Stars, British Army, Rugby
Utah, Atavus, Atlantis, and
Pool D) Negro y Azul (-must
have had a couple Atlanteans/check with Ty -), Upright
Rogues from Toronto (- ask Tyler Leggat
-), Ramblin Jesters (who were they - an
international invitational team featuring several university
players -), Stars Rugby 7s (- ask
Liz -), and Tiger Rugby (- ask
James -).
[ - To
repeat, looking for information on all the other teams
... ... ]
Being a civilized tournament, the
games didn't start until noon.
Surprisingly, the first try
belonged to deep underdog Atlantis, following a Denver
turnover. We kept the ball alive and got it out to ConRoy
Smith, who froze his opposite and scored in the right corner at
1:45. 5-0.
Unfortunately Denver scored on our ensuing KO as we missed the
receiver and good Denver support led to a try at 2:45. 5-7.
Following a long foray into enemy territory (a kick for Chris
Frazier to field near the Denver goal line never bounced up for
him), Denver had a scrum 5 meters from their own goal. A less
than perfect defense allowed Denver to break loose and score a
95-meter try at 6:00. 5-14.
Denver won their own KO, and following a couple of very near
stops by Atlantis managed to score at 7:40 by recycling the ball
several times with only one ruck. 5-21.
2nd half:
We won the opening KO of the 2nd half; after some changes of
direction, the ball got out to ConRoy who slithered through the
tiniest gap and then beat the sweeper at 7:43. Conversion good
[- who kicked the conversion -].
12-21.
Denver's Walt Elder - an Atlantis alum - received the kickoff
and drove up with the ball for about 25 yards; good continuity
gave Denver the unconverted try at 9:27. 12-26.
Later, Chris Mattina was attacking with ConRoy Smith in support,
and a try would have put us within a score. Unfortunately
for Atlantis the pass was picked off by a Denver defender in the
passing lane for a converted try at 11:50. 12-33.
From the KO, there was a ruck at our 22. From that point
Atlantis provided continuous and effective vertical support all
the way to a try, with all passes made to support players moving
forward. Passes were: Aki Raymond to Bruce Dolan to Corey Jones
to Dan Deal to Brady Gent to Dan to Bruce for a great try at
13:40. Brady Gent's conversion was good. Final score 19-33.
- NEED
PICTURES - at very least, stills from video; waiting on the
tournament to make pix available. -
To see the video of this game click
here.
British Army - as is normally the
case, all but two of its players are Fijians - made a long
break, but a great run down by Chris Frazier led to a
turnover. Following good D by both sides, British Army
stepped into a gap in a porous D line and scored at 3:30.
0-5.
We came right back with a ConRoy run outside the BA defense to
score at 5:05. 5-5
The next try, at 12:00 was by Bruce Dolan following a penalty to
us, finished by a nice side step and finish. 10-5
Our kickoff, at 13:00, went straight to touch. From the ensuing
free kick to BA, we cracked down, which led to a long
break. We were penalized near our own 5-m line by the
touchline. Instead of BA scoring near our touchline, the
penalty allowed them to score a centered try at 13:40; the easy
kick gave British Army a 12-10 win. A nice game and a
nearly sweet finish - over the only undefeated team in our
bracket - turned sour.
To see the video of this game click
here.
Atavus scored the first try, from
a lost Atlantis LO, at 2:33. Conversion good. 0-7.
Brady Gent scored at 4:53 following a long ConRoy run from ball
won at our scrum. Brady converted to tie the score at 7-7.
Atavus scored their second try following a PK to us ... we
tapped quickly, moved the ball, then kicked with no apparent
plan and no one in position to win the ball. Atavus recovered
the kick, and helped by a missed tackle and a PK, scored at
8:00. 7-14 at half.
2nd half
Early in the second half, Atavus
moved the ball around, and as a result of a defensive pattern
breakdown, we found ourselves facing a 2 on 1, rushed in and
missed a tackle that led to a score. 7-19.
At 11:50 Chris Frazier was yellow carded (for what I finally
figured out from watching the tournament's video, was kicking
the ball from an offside position at a tackle); Atavus scored at
12:02 from that penalty kick. 7-24.
Atavus' kickoff went straight to touch, and from the free kick,
we kept the ball alive and moving, eventually resulting in a try
by Corey Jones. The final score was 12-24.
Perhaps the most unfortunate thing
that happened in this game was not the loss of the game, but the
loss of our captain, Mitch Vannoy (who at 25 was also the oldest
player on the team). We missed both his leadership and his play
at the end of this game and in the rest of the tournament.
To see the video of this game, click
here.
After hanging in there against
teams with more high-level experience, Atlantis had pretty much
a full-game lapse.
Early in the game a from a penalty
vs Atlantis, Utah kept the ball alive for nearly 50 seconds and
scored at 1:05. 0-7
From a Utah scrum they kept the ball alive via good support for
more than 30 seconds and with only 1 ruck... Try at 3:17. 0-14
A typically great KO by Utah was nevertheless won by us with a
good assisted jump, then we got pushed off the ruck. 3 rucks and
one penalty kick later and Utah scored at 5:10. 0-21.
2nd half
Atlantis started with a scrum in
our 1/2 - long breaks by Bruce Dolan and Brady Gent were
finished off in left corner by a ConRoy Smith try at 8:35. 5-21
The rest of the game was all Utah.
First there was a minute long possession following our KO ...
Utah handled poorly, let the ball get back to its own goal, then
spent 45 seconds working it nearly 100-m for the try. 5-28
The last two tries happened quickly - first on their scrum; they
kicked behind our wing; ConRoy got back quickly but without any
support, the ball was taken away at the tackle and Utah scored.
Kick made from nearly the touchline.
Then there was a bizarre call: Utah wheeled and took down our
scrum but got the penalty (I've watched this a dozen times and
don't know why this call). Quick PK, they move ball, break
between 2 defenders and then beat a 3rd for the final try. 5-42.
Nightmare game. Utah had more than 70% of the possession. It
happens.
To see the video of this game, click
here.
Iniki Fa'amausili scored a try at
0:48 and Brady Gent converted. 27-0. - There
is no video to describe this try: Does anyone remember enough of this try to
write it up... Iniki, do you remember? -
Atlantis' next try began from a Coast Guard scrum; they kicked
upfield, and when we recovered and they went over the top to
retrieve the ball they were pinged; from the PK, Corey Jones
made a break and fed Alex Faison-Donahoe who went the final 50-m
for a try. at 4:35. Brady Gent converted. 14-0
We stole a Coast Guard scrum, Iniki made a break from SH and
passed to FH Brady Gent who scored at 8:05. 21-0.
Converted by Iniki.
Following an excellent cross-field
K by CG; they recovered but turned ball over at tackle. Atlantis
moved the ball from the right of the field to the left and then
back. Around the middle of the field, Bruce Dolan stepped
through the defense for a 60-m try at 10:30, which he converted.
28-0.
To see the video of this game, click
here.
13 seconds from the opening
kickoff, Chris Frazier scored following a great take of a Stars
kickoff and a 65-m run. Chris Mattina converted. 7-0.
From a scrum just outside their
own 22, Atlantis got the ball out to wing ConRoy Smith. ConRoy
took 3 defenders with him to the sidelines, then moved the ball
back to the right. On the way back, Chris Mattina made a
break, then fed Aki Raymond who took the ball 70-m for the
unconverted try at 2:55.
Following a great take by Chris Frazier from an excellent Brady
Gent kickoff, Chris's attempt to clear the ball before being
forced into touch was picked off by the Stars. Great support got
the Stars deep into Atlantis territory and they looked sure to
score. A great chase by Bruce Dolan, however, ensued, and
his tackle of the ball carrier resulted in a turnover and a
95-meter ConRoy Smith try. Being touched down a yard from touch,
however, the try was not converted. Try at 4:45.
The final try of this game, as was
the final try of the previous game, was by Bruce Dolan, who in
both cases converted them himself. A long foray into Atlantis
territory from a Stars' try about 35 meters from their own goal,
was stopped by a backside tackle from Iniki Fa'amausili and the
Stars were penalized at the breakdown. At his own 22,
Brady Gent tapped and took it to the Stars' 22, where he
executed a great pull-out and fed Bruce, who scored at 7:15 and
converted his own try.
Stars defeated Coast Guard 17-12, leaving Atlantis at the top of
this consolation group.
To see the video of this game, click
here.
Atlantis had several great minutes
in both the Denver All-Stars and British Army games. From an
emotional standpoint, the last few seconds of the British Army
game - turning a likely win to a loss - was a killer, and -
until the consolation games - we went downhill from there. In my
opinion, we were our own worse enemy in the Atavus game.
The Rugby Utah game - well, sometimes you have games like
that. In the last two games we showed our potential and
finished on a very positive note.
As was the case with our high
school team two weeks earlier in Utah, this was a team that
would have benefited from more time together. Some of the other
teams came in Sunday. Had we done that we would have had 3
more days practice. Whether players and staff could have
done that I don't know - time is so valuable to people that
don't do this for a living, but for each day prior to Thursday
that we could have practiced, we would have had more valuable
time together (including hopefully a scrimmage, which would have
been huge).
To remember the good times on the
field, 15 of the 16 tries scored by Atlantis over the weekend
(we missed Iniki's) will
be shown if you click
on this link.
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