Sevens in the United States

Information about sevens in the US prior to the late 1970s is scant and hard to come by; this chapter represents the status of current research on the subject.

Almost certainly the first major sevens' tournament in the East, and probably the US, was the New York 7s, which has been in existence since 1959. Another early tournament, the Washington 7s, went out of existence in 1977. Both tournaments took place on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, however, and were thus not a part of the Summer Sevens' "fever" that has swept the East in recent years.

Another "out of season" tournament that goes back at least to the mid 1960s is the Harvard Business School Sevens, held on a Sunday in early May each year.

A few summer sevens' tournaments, such as the Whitemarsh 7s, existed as early as the 1960s, but the big advance in sevens in the East, as in the other territories, came in the mid/late 1970s and early 1980s. Some tournaments that began in that era were Cape Fear, Sudamericano [now PAC], Hartford, Hibernians, Rockaway, Ft. Walton Beach, and Bethlehem.

The largest tournament in the East is definitely the Rockaway 7s, which, among all its divisions, annually draws more than 80 teams to a series of six fields located just past the extreme southern tip of Brooklyn's Flatbush Boulevard, and about 100 yards from Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York.

The Cape Fear 7s, held in a North Carolina shore resort, is not quite as large as Rockaway; nevertheless it is not only the best sevens' tournament in the East, but quite possibly in the US.

Other important sevens' tournaments in the East include Hartford, Bethlehem, Severn River, Virginia Beach, Harvard Business School, Sudamericano, Hibernians, the Raleigh Charity Sevens, two Florida and two Louisiana tournaments -- the Hurricane 7s (Miami) and Ft. Walton Beach; Baton Rouge and New Orleans; there are many other well-attended 7s' tournaments as well.

Little is known about the top 7s' teams prior to the mid 1970s; Washington, Old Blue, New York, Holy Cross, and Whitemarsh are names that come to mind as at least occasional 7s' winners.

In the modern era (late 1970s to present), the early sevens' powers in the East included the Duck Brothers, Bethlehem, the University of Rhode Island (URI) & URI Old Boys, Hartford, Long Island, and Roanoke.

The success of the Northern-Virginia based Duck Brothers spawned a number of 7s-only teams (examples: the Langley Old Boys (DC), the Wave (NY), the Baader Meinhof Gang (DC), the Attitude Adjustment Association (GA)) in the mid 80s; the days of these remaining as serious entities, however, seems to be over.

As of August 1990 the Maryland Old Boys (MOB) and Northern Virginia (NOVA) reigned as the top two teams in the East. Other 1990 finalists included Washington, Blackthorn, Philadelphia/Whitemarsh, Old Blue, New Orleans, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, and Old White.

The limited information that I have been able to gather indicates that the first sevens' tournament in the Midwest may well have been the Ohio State 7s, begun in 1972. Still located in Columbus, this tournament eventually became the current Ohio 7s. Sevens spread to the Western part of the territory later in the decade. Among the top sevens' teams in the Midwest in the early days were Scioto Valley and Youngstown; Quad Cities has been the Western Midwest 7s' powerhouse ever since sevens was first played in that part of the territory.

During the late 1980s, Akron and the Quad City Irish have dominated the Eastern and Western portions of the Midwest, respectively; with an increased awareness of 7s, however, challenges to their supremacy were successful in 1990 which saw the Chicago Lions and Grand Rapids emerge as Midwest champions.

The only source of information I have for the history of sevens in the West is Texas' Tom McCormack, who supplied the following.

The original, and longest running tournament, in the West is the Western National Sevens, run by the Denver Barbarians, and held on Memorial Day weekend.

First held in 1968, the tournament now features approximately 48 teams, and includes a High School Division as well as an Old Boys Division.

A playing participant in the inaugural tournament was future USARFU president Terry Fleener.

The most frequent winners have been the host Barbarians, with eight champions. As the Barbos have usually had several players participating in the (15s) ITTs, held the same weekend since the late 70s, one would assume that they would have dominated the tournament even more with all their players available.

Other major tournaments in the West include the Jayhawk Sevens' classic, held at Kansas University since 1981, the Texas A&M Sevens (billed as the "hottest rugby in Texas") (b.1977), the Dallas Sevens (a continuation of a 70s' tournament known as the Wildebeast Sevens) (b. 1981), and the Corpus Christi Sevens.

San Antonio held a sevens' tournament from 1971 through 1984, but dropped it due to conflict with league games.

One unique sevens' tournament was held in the Houston Astrodome in 1982. The Houston RFC were the winners. No other details are available.

The one constant in West 7s throughout the 1970s and 1980s has been the power of the Denver Barbarians. Their first sevens' victory was in 1970, and they were winners of the unofficial National Sevens in Hartford, CT, in 1979. The Barbos have won every West qualifying tournament since the qualifying procedure began in 1986, and finished 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in the nation from 1986 through 1990.

Other strong teams in the northern part of the West during the past 15 years have included the Albuquerque Aardvarks, the Kansas City Blues, the Houston Old Boys, the Dallas Reds, Oklahoma, and the New Mexico Brujos.

Based on information provided by PCRFU President Dan Hickey, Paul Andrews and Dennis Storer, it seems that sevens competition in the PCRFU territory began sometime in the mid 1960s.

Possibly the oldest sevens tournament in the Pacific territory was the Stanford 7s, founded in the mid 1960s by Eddie Marr, a member of the Olympic Club. Held annually the weekend after the Cal/Stanford season-ending football game, it was an all-day Saturday event. In 1973, in an attempt to get more forwards involved in the preseason, it was changed to 10-a-side.

The San Francisco Sevens was established in the early 1970s by the Northern Counties RFC and played at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park. When Northern Counties disbanded, however, the tournament was moved to Palo Alto where it has flourished under the sponsorship of the PAXO RFC. The Palo Alto Sevens is a four-weekend tournament in which the final weekend's seedings are based on the results of the first three weekends.

Given its proximity to British Columbia, where sevens had been played since at least the 1950s, the Pacific Northwest also developed summer sevens' tournaments, beginning with the Tacoma Aroma Sevens in the mid-1970s.

Almost definitely the first person in the United States to coach sevens as a serious sport was Dennis Storer, who became the UCLA rugby coach upon his arrival in the US in 1965.

UCLA's reputation as a US rugby powerhouse through the 60s and early 70s is well known; perhaps less publicized is their dominance of Pacific Coast Sevens during the same time period.

Between 1968 and 1973 UCLA lost only one single game of sevens in tournaments throughout California.

"Our sole loss in those years," according to Storer, "was in the finals of the Southern California Sevens held at Cal State Northridge to a Stanford team containing the nine most talented athletes I've ever seen on a rugby field.

"UCLA didn't lose again until we lost to `ourselves' in 1973 when losing in the final of the Southern Cal Sevens to Santa Monica who consisted of 6 out of 9 players from UCLA's 1972 team.

Dennis brought to the US the style of sevens developed by London Scottish in the early 1960s, a "keep away" style that revolutionized the game and remains at least a part of most sevens' teams' repertoire today.

Dennis continues:

I introduced the same style and philosophy at UCLA from 1967 onwards. We had good athletes, but nowhere as good as others in the early years; our ball handling made it possible to sweep virtually every tournament we played for approximately 8 years.

Later I used elements of the "American" game, i.e. using long crossfield spirals to cut out cover defense and counter attack; using big fast forwards, e.g. John Fowler, to deliberately draw a number of players and thus create overlaps when the ball was transferred.

We practiced 7s and touch games at UCLA from October to Thanksgiving . . . . The basic skills learned in 7s paid off in 15s as UCLA teams always handled well as a result.

Early Eagles like Chipman, Auerbach, Stephenson, Duncanson, Scott, Briley, Fowler, Niebauer,

Jablonski, Gray, Smith, were all UCLA 7s' players and Fowler, Smith, and Gray were prominent in the first Hong Kong 7s' Eagles that I coached in 1981 (with Ray Cornbill) and 1982.

Other clubs whose names have been passed on to me as early winners in Pacific Coast Sevens tournaments are: Los Angeles Athletic Club, Finlanders and Eagle Rock of Southern California, University Club and Peacock Gap (San Francisco), and Old Puget Sound Beach (Seattle).

For a time, in the early 1980s, the now legendary Manhattan Beach Bodysurfing Rugby Club, whose members included Eagles Steve Gray, Tommy Smith, and John Fowler, were an unbeatable combination.

Currently, the major sevens' competitions in the PCRFU include Southern California's Eagle Rock and Coronado 7s, Northern California's Palo Alto 7s, and the Pacific Northwest's Tacoma Aroma 7s and the Can/Am 7s in Bellingham, WA.

Also hosts to sevens' tournaments in the PCRFU are Las Vegas, with its annual midnight sevens, and Salt Lake City, whose tournaments feature a large number of Polynesian participants.

Top 7s' teams in the Pacific today include two-time national champion Old Puget Sound, Santa Monica, OMBAC, the Tempe Old Devils, and Los Angeles, although for a brief moment in 1988, the second division Santa Cruz Rebels were at the top in Northern California.

The New York Sevens: The Oldest

An unlikely club graces the record books as champions of what appears to be the first documented sevens' tournament in the United States, the New York Sevens.

Winner on that day, November 28, 1959, was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who defeated their "B" team in the finals. Ironically, I was an undergraduate at MIT at the time, but not yet a member of the rugby community.

Some things never change. Recent correspondence from the first person to captain a sevens' champion in the US, MIT's Charles Koch, contained the following note:

My most vivid recollection of the day was my knees buckling and falling to the ground from exhaustion as I walked off the field for the break after our semi-final match.

Words that might strike a feeling of empathy from a sevens' player in 1991 -- or 1883.

Sevens moved indoors in the early 1960s, and was played at the Madison Avenue Armory at 95th Street, where it became a winter-long experience, being played on Saturday nights from January through March.

Randall's Island became home to the New York Sevens in 1967, and it remained there until 1988, when it was moved to Central Park.

Occurring as it does in a time of year with little light, the tournament is always threatened by darkness: I recall refereeing the 1976 college final, lit only by all available car headlights trained onto the pitch. I remember not seeing the winning try as I called it.

The New York Sevens is not a typical US 7s' tournament; it's usually cold and windy! although on the rare day such as 1988 temperatures can reach the 60s and the sun can shine.

The 31st edition of the New York Sevens -- in 1989 -- was welcomed by a 5" snowfall, the first snow to hit the Big Apple on Thanksgiving weekend in 51 years. In exceptionally sloppy weather, especially for sevens, the New York AC upset the invitational side Atlantis 12-6 in the final match, and Boston University defeated America's first ever sevens' champions, MIT, in the Collegiate final.

The New York 7s' peaked, in terms of numbers, at 84 sides in 1978. Currently participation numbers about 50 teams per year.

Unfortunately, accurate records were never kept and a complete list of winners is not available.

As sevens' tournaments go, the Cape Fear Sevens does not have a long history, but in the few years of its existence it has become acclaimed as one of the top sevens' tournaments in the US. Surprisingly so, as the nearest first rate sevens' teams are hours away.

The first Cape Fear tournament was held in July 1975, with the purpose of celebrating the 4th of July, the Carolina coast, and rugby in general. Sixteen teams participated that year, and the winner was the University of Virginia, which defeated the Norfolk Blues in the championship match.

The first non-Virginia winner was the 1986 Harlequin International team, one of the best 7s' squads ever fielded in the Western hemisphere: it consisted of the seven starters for the 1986 Middlesex 7s' champion Harlequins (London) plus Nigel Melville, the 1986 England XV's captain, Les Cusworth, the 1986 England 7s' captain, and Barry Evans, among those in contention for "fastest rugby player in England."

The Cape Fear tournament combines many teams of various levels of quality, all of whom find a division to play in. To understand how competitive every team can be at a 60+ team tournament, consider the following 11 1990 championship matches, in which 20 different teams (almost 1/3 of the participants) took part.

Bracket Champion Runner-Up

Overall Washington 22 Maryland Old Boys 10

Open Maryland Old Boys 14 Old White (GA) 6

USARE Qualifier Washington 12 Northern Virginia 10

Women T2 Twice 18 Maryland Stingers 0

Open Consolation Atlantis Y 18 U Virginia 12

Open Plate Richmond 32 Bristol Harleq (UK) 0

Men's A Cup Heartwood (NC) 13 U Florida 10

Men's A Plate Severn River (MD) 24 Clemson OB (SC) 0

Men's B Cup Raleigh OB 18 Raleigh II 6

Men's B Plate Roanoke B 18 William & Mary 6

Men's B Bowl Dayton B 18 Used to Bees 4

The tournament is held on the campus of the University of North Carolina -- Wilmington, about 5 miles from Wrightsville Beach and the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. The five playing fields are all in excellent shape, as is the high school football field in a local stadium at which all the semi-finals and finals are played, in front of more than 1000 fans.

The tournament organizers make sure that Saturday's play ends by 3:30 PM, so that all participants can spend a couple of hours at the beach, and Saturday night's party has more than once been the downfall of contending teams.

Sunday's play, however, is all business, and the quality of play increases throughout the day. At about noon, the play moves from the University to the stadium, which is where the "money" games take place: all eleven championship matches noted above were held there, and "getting to the stadium" is many a Cape Fear participant's goal.

Many teams have begun combining the Cape Fear tournament with a vacation at the beach; and the tournament looks as though it will continue to increase in quality with each passing year.

Like the Cape Fear tournament in the East, perhaps the highest quality sevens' tournament in the Pacific coast is not located in a densely populated area nor in a big-time rugby town, but in the northwest Washington town of Bellingham.

The Can-Am Summer Sevens annually draws not only top Washington State teams, and occasionally teams from other parts of the Pacific Coast and US, but many of the top teams in British Columbia (and therefore, arguably, the top teams in North America). Exposure to these teams certainly helped prepare Old Puget Sound for their successful quests for the National Club Sevens' Championship in 1988 and 1990. Combined with their Can-Am wins, Old Puget Sound is probably the first club to make a legitimate claim to be the sevens' champion of all North America.

The tournament was first held in 1979 and is now held annually on the second Saturday in July at the Bellingham Polo Club. 32 teams participate: 16 teams in the "A" Division, 8 in the "B" division, and 8 in an Under-19 division.

The most frequent winners have been the Vancouver Meralomas, the U of BC Old Boys, and Old Puget Sound.

The tournament is hosted by the Chuckanut Bay RFC and sponsored by Coors Beer.

Probably the three most significant events that have affected the popularity of sevens in the US are, in chronological order, 1) the formation of the Eagle 7s' team in response to Hong Kong's invitation in 1981, 2) the inauguration of the National All-Star 7s in February 1985, and 3) the National Club Championship, first held in November of 1985.

These are discussed below.

Prior to 1985, the reputation of individual sevens' clubs was largely determined by their performance at tournaments within relatively small geographical areas. Some clubs that were willing to travel and succeeded managed to have their name spread among a small band of sevens' aficionados, but not to the rugby world in general. Thus Bethlehem's 1978 win at Ontario, and the Denver Barbarians victory at the Hartford National Sevens' Tournament in 1979 helped enhance their reputation beyond their local areas.

Other clubs whose reputation spread beyond their home base during the 1970s and early 80s included, from East to West, the Duck Brothers, Scioto Valley, Dayton, Quad Cities, the Albuquerque Aardvarks, UCLA, and the short-lived but highly successful Manhattan Beach Bodysurfing Team.

Eventually, articles in Rugby began to reveal the same names over and over again as sevens' tournament winners.

Still, serious competition between teams from different geographical areas was the exception, not the rule.

Whereas most teams participating in occasional 7s' tournaments throughout an average summer had very little interest in a national championship, some of the elite clubs -- eager to prove their superiority -- feared they would wait in vain forever for such an event.

The advent of Michelob sponsorship, however, turned vain hope into reality.

1985 marked the first year that a national club championship was contested. Each territory was allotted two teams, to be chosen in any manner that territory thought appropriate. With little time to organize, and little tradition on which to call, the territories scrambled to get some sort of championships in place.

In the East, Midwest, and Pacific, two tournaments were used to select the territorial representatives. But in the West, there was too little time and too much geography to organize a formal event, and the Albuquerque Aardvarks and Texas A&M were the two teams pulled out of a hat.

The first national club sevens' championship was held in Tucson in November 1985, and the first champion was San Diego's OMBAC, captained by Eagle sevens' captain Steve Gray.

The club championship moved to Milwaukee in 1986, and then to Washington, DC in 1988. The single elimination format of the first three years has been replaced by a bracket system: two brackets of four teams each, in which the top four move to the championship round, and the bottom four to a Plate round. All eight teams get to play five games and positions 1 through 8 are all determined on the field.

Old Puget Sound, with two championships and a third place finish, must be considered the most successful team to date, although the Duck Brothers and their successor, Northern Virginia, between them have one championship, three seconds, and a third.

The top three teams in each tourney are listed below:

The leading scorer in the National Club Sevens' Championships is Will Brewington (Duck Brothers and Maryland Old Boys) with 104 points. Brewington also leads in the try scoring parade with 19, followed by Dave Bateman (Old Puget Sound) and David "Dixie" Dean (NOVA) with 16 -- Dean's in just two appearances. Mike Telkamp leads in kicking points with 62.

The US first put together a national sevens' side to compete in the 1981 Hong Kong Sevens. After four years of picking a side at least partly "out of the blue," USARFU decided to create a national All-Star championship sevens' tournament, with the dual purpose of determining a territorial champion and selecting a national sevens' team.

Each territory sends two teams to the event, which is comprised of two four-team brackets. The top four teams play for the Cup championship, and the bottom for the Plate; each team gets five games and all 8 positions are decided on the field.

In the first championship, held in San Diego in February of 1985, the Pacific defeated the East in overtime, 14-10. In the following five years, however, the East dominated the tournament; in 1987 East II actually defeated East I in the championship match. Trailing 16-6 to East II in the 1990 final match, however, the Pacific regained the title with a 28-16 victory.

The All-Star Sevens has been responsible for a large number of sevens' Eagles who would never have achieved the feat without it: Charlie and Jimmy Wilkinson, Dave Poquette, Steve LaPorta, Terrence Titus, Will Brewington, and Tom Billups are some of them.

The top three teams in each tourney are listed below:

Champion Second Place Third Place

1985A: Pacific I East I West I

1985B: East I Pacific I East II

1986: East I Midwest I Pacific I

1987: East II East I Pacific I

1988: East II Pacific II East I

1989: East I Pacific I Midwest I

1990: Pacific I East II East I

Individual scoring honors are held by Terrence Titus with 96 points, followed by Chris O'Brien with 86. Will Brewington is third with 68. Titus' 24 tries far outpace the second place Barry Williams (13). Only Mark Gaetjen (12), Brewington (11) and Chris O'Brien (10) have reached double figures. Tom Smith leads all players in kicking points (58), with O'Brien second (46).

The US was first invited to the Hong Kong Sevens in 1981. At that time people weren't really sure what to think of the event, but within a year, Hong Kong outgrew its original venue, and by 1990 not only was Government stadium crammed to its 30,000 capacity, but tickets were being scalped for as much as $500 apiece.

As a result of the importance of the Hong Kong Sevens, the Eagles have developed a selection format that includes the national All-Star Sevens and a national sevens' camp.

The selection process has borne fruit, as the Eagles have won two Hong Kong Plate championships (1986 and 1988), and have impressive wins over Wales (1989), Argentina (1988 and 1990), and Romania (1988) to their credit.

The national camp was inaugurated in 1988, and resulted in the selection of a surprise squad that included 6 rookies. Lambasted by our so-called supporters for picking this squad, the Eagles surprised most everyone (but not themselves) with a Plate championship highlighted by a 20-12 trouncing of Canada.

A summary of the Eagle's results follows.

Points Tries

Year Event # Teams W L F A F A Final Match Result

1981 Hong Kong 20 3 3 78 82 14 16 Plate SF; loss to Japan

1982 Hong Kong 20 3 2 106 60 20 12 Cup QF; loss to Scottish Borders

1983 Hong Kong 20 2 3 60 64 10 13 Cup QF; loss to Scottish Borders

1984 Hong Kong 24 2 2 54 28 12 6 Plate SF; loss to Japan

1985 Hong Kong 24 2 2 54 37 12 7 Plate SF; loss to Bahrain

1986 Hong Kong 24 4 1 92 60 17 14 Plate Champions; defeated Canada

1987 Hong Kong 24 2 1 46 26 8 5 Cup QF; loss to New Zealand

1988 Hong Kong 24 4 1 78 42 14 7 Plate Champions; defeated Canada

1989 Hong Kong 24 2 2 64 39 11 7 Plate SF; loss to Tonga

1990 Hong Kong 24 2 2 54 60 12 12 Plate SF; loss to Hong Kong

Total Hong Kong 26 19 686 498 130 99

1986 Sydney 16 0 3 4 64 1 12 Eliminated (no Plate competition)

1987 Sydney 16 3 3 92 83 18 16 Plate Finalist; loss to W. Samoa

1988 Sydney 16 2 2 30 64 6 13 Cup QF; loss to New Zealand

1989 Sydney 8 2 2 49 66 8 12 Cup QF; loss to W. Samoa

Total Sydney 7 10 175 277 33 53

1988 Moscow 4 3 0 56 40 10 8 Champions

1990 Sicily 16 1 3 50 70 9 12 Plate QF; loss to USSR

All, 1981-90 37 32 967 885 182 172

Once again, one of greatest arguments for sevens can be seen in the statistics: in 59 games, 354 tries have been scored, for an average of 5.1 tries per game.

Of the 16 events in which the Eagle sevens' team has participated, Tommy Smith and Gary Lambert have participated in the most with nine each. Three players -- Smith (41), Lambert (34), and Charlie Wilkinson (30) -- have played in 30 games or more.

The try scoring leaders, with 17 each, are Gary Lambert and Barry Williams Tofeano. Tommy Smith, with 141 points (including 121 in kicks: 59 conversions and one penalty kick), far outpaces those two (68) for the scoring lead.

Data from the New York sevens indicates that a women's bracket was first contested there in 1975; the first recorded champions are Beantown, the 1976 victors. Most of the documented women's sevens' competition has taken place in the East, where teams such as Florida State, Southeast (Atlanta), Maryland, Hartford, Monmouth, and Bethlehem's Maulie Maguires are among the perennial contenders.

In 1990, however, T2 Twice, an invitational side consisting primarily of Minnesota and California women, took Cape Fear by storm and won all five of games with little difficulty. In the West, New Orleans seems the dominant club of a program in its infancy. A women's national club sevens' championship is scheduled for 1991, promising further growth.

Sevens within Canada

The program from the 1983 Centenary Melrose Sevens notes that sevens was played in Vancouver in 1930. The CRU's historian, Doug Sturrock notes that although the game was probably played sporadically throughout the 1930s and 1940s, no records exist earlier than 1953.

In that year, sevens' tournaments were documented in both Ontario and Vancouver. In the summer of 1953, the first inaugural Ontario Sevens were held, with the Toronto Barbarians the winners. Still a successful tournament today, and possibly the largest sevens' tournament in North America, the Ontario Sevens will be discussed in more detail in a subsequent chapter.

In September of 1953 Robert Spray donated a trophy to the Vancouver Rugby Union. The Spray Cup has been contested ever since that date.

Since then the Nelles Stacey Shield and Charlie Foster Shield were donated, but the latter recently has been used as a divisional 15s' trophy.

Some other tournaments noted by Sturrock: in Burnaby, those held by the Faser Valley Rugby Union and Simon Fraser University, beginning in the 1970s. In Victoria, both the Oak Bay Wanderers and James Bay have at various times held 7s' tournaments since the 1950s. In Cowichan there has been a 7s' tournament since the late 1970s.

In addition, he notes of other Canadian regions: "In Edmonton they played for certain in the late 1960s, but when it began and if they still play it I don't know. In Calgary, they played for certain in the mid 1970s, while it has also been played in Regina and Winnipeg."

Based on results of recent tournaments it appears that the UBC Old Boys, Meralomas, and the Trojans among them account for several victories in BC and Washington State sevens' tournaments. In Ontario, the Toronto Welsh and the Ottawa Irish have won all Ontario Sevens between 1982 and 1989.

Canada has participated at the Hong Kong Sevens since 1980, one year longer than the US. Although it has not won any championships, it has perhaps scored the greatest upset in Hong Kong history. In 1984, Canada tied 1983 champ and 1984 favorite Australia; a coin toss put Canada into the Cup round and Australia into the Plate.

Canada's 10 year record at Hong Kong is 25-20-1; they have been 5-4-1 in three years at the Sydney Sevens (1986-88).

In both 1989 and 1990 Canada has been forced to send a second choice team to Hong Kong because of fifteens' commitments. In 1989 they were paired with Sri Lanka and Taiwan and made it into the Cup round where they played well against the Barbarians. In 1990, however, they were relegated to the Plate by the Barbarians, and lost in an upset to Tunisia in the Plate quarterfinal.