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Frankie Degas previews the Mar del Plata Sevens (5-7 January)

In the very early parts of 1995 a certain Jonah Lomu had been capped a couple of times and soon dropped by All Blacks coach Laurie Mains, who couldn’t really work out how the mind of the teenage prodigy worked. He had been discovered playing touch rugby in South Auckland by sevens maestro Eric Rush and first played for New Zealand ten months earlier at the Hong Kong Sevens.

That led to his two first caps against France where New Zealand suffered a series defeat and as things were shaping, they could have well been the last two.

Not considered for the original 1995 Rugby World Cup training squad and about to sign a Rugby League contract, he was dispatched to South America with the New Zealand Sevens Squad. Unavailable to play as he was a pre-RWC squad member, Rush was nonetheless in Uruguay to mentor the disgruntled Lomu.

New Zealand failed to even reach the final in Uruguay and when the teams moved to Mar del Plata, the Argentine seaside resort par excellence, Lomu had a lot to prove. And it was at the Mundialista Stadium, on the second week of January 1995, that the oval world found its shape. He not only starred for the New Zealand team that beat the Fiji Cavaliers in the final, but ensured he was soon back on track for a place with the All Blacks.

What Jonah meant to Rugby World Cup ’95 and to the future of rugby, as we now know it, is too long to share in this story. But for those of us that saw the big boy (four months short of turning 20) in Mar del Plata at the inaugural tournament where Jonah re-exploded onto the scene, will forever claim that it was here is where the world of rugby was saved.

Yes, it could be stretching it a bit, but it is part of the folklore of a Mar del Plata Sevens tournament that has not always found it easy to live in the world’s sevens landscape.

Looking with envy at how Punta del Este had established a regular tournament and wanting to mirror the success achieved on the other side of the coast, the Argentine Rugby Union worked together with the British Schools Old Boys from Uruguay (organisers of the Punta Sevens) for that very first Mar del Plata tournament.

Located 400 kilometres South of Buenos Aires city on the Atlantic Coast, this one million-inhabitant city swells in summer, receiving more than two million tourists that enjoy its long beaches, great weather, superb food and large choice of theatre plays. Soccer has established this city as pre-season venue for tournaments and rugby was an element missing.

It included the Australian Barbarians, the Fiji Cavaliers, Western Samoan, Tonga, and eventual champions New Zealand. A FIRA VII from Europe as well as some regional teams joined  two Argentine teams that a few months earlier had won tournaments in Taipei and Toulon.

Crowds were far from the expected and the financial loss of the tournament was too bad to encourage a second tournament; but being the rugby flag bearer in the region and Sevens growing worldwide, Argentina had to take a second chance. In 1998, when a bigger marketing machinery was set in motion, the crowds came, saw and were conquered. Argentina lost in the final to New Zealand, who in 1999 beat France to celebrate a treble.

Mar del Plata was the IRB Sevens fourth stop in the series’ inaugural season and New Zealand could not make it four out of four, losing to Serevi’s Fiji in the 2000 final – reverting the outcome of the previous final in Punta del Este six days earlier.

By then, on the strength of the crowds at a stadium that fits 35,500 spectators and the carnival atmosphere, the IRB chose Mar del Plata as venue for its third RWC Sevens in 2001.

And Jonah Lomu again shone. After a couple of quiet days and with his friend and captain Eric Rush flying home to have an urgent operation on a broken leg, he was a man possessed and no-one was going to deny him the opportunity to win the Melrose Cup for his mate Rushie. He simply killed Argentina in the semi-final and then trod on the Australians to win the Cup.

A year later, in the midst of social and economic crisis in Argentina, Mar del Plata hosted the IRB Sevens series for the last time, Fiji taking that tournament. A Fijian Seven won a 2004 tournament that combined a South American championship with an international tournament.

This scenario will be repeated on January 5, 6 and 7th when eight South American nations compete in men and women’s championships. The first day will have the CONSUR nations playing each at the Sporting Club, whilst the second and third days will be at the Mundialista Stadium.

Argentina, who have selected the Gómez Cora brothers, and Brazil should continue to dominate in the men and women categories. Fight for second place in CONSUR is huge, with a ticket to the Las Vegas tournament as prize.

The Brazilian girls have yet to lose a sevens game against regional opposition and after their RWC Sevens experience should continue to dominate at ease.

Once this is settled, the South African Vipers and a USA Select VII will come into the equation for an international tournament.

Argentina will make a presentation to the IRB for re-inclusion in February on the IRB circuit in Las Vegas and so this makes the well-oiled running of this season’s tournament is crucial.

Potentially one glitch to have occurred before the teams even cross the whitewash has been the inability to coordinate with neighbour tournament Punta del Este. The tournament in Uruguay finishes a day before Mar del Plata.