Weather, Atlanta Team Rains on OMBAC Rugby Tourney

The wind and rain ripped through Robb Field Saturday afternoon with enough ferocity to rip apart nylon tarps, scare away fans and cancel 12 matches at the 21st Annual Rugby Tournament of Champions.

Three of the fields, called pitches, were closed by the city because of the midafternoon downpour that soaked Ocean Beach. They were deemed unplayable, but the tournament should still get a champion as matches continue at 8 a.m. today with some semifinal matches.

“We agree 100% with what the San Diego representatives did,” said Mike Curren, the tournament scorekeeper and the bearer of bad news to many of the teams that didn’t play their full complement of games. “A lot of people play out here and use these fields, a lot of kids, and we don’t want to rip it up.”

Curren is a member of Old Mission Bay Athletic Club, the tournament sponsor.

In all, a dozen matches were canceled, and some of the teams in the American Division played only two matches instead of the four they were promised. Typical matches last 80 minutes; they were shortened to 60 minutes for the tournament, and were shortened by an extra 10 minutes in an attempt to save the playing fields.

After two division semifinals at 8 a.m., the American Championship game is scheduled for 11 a.m. The Collegiate Championship is at 1 p.m. and the National Club Championship at 2:30 p.m.

Uh, weather permitting.

The day was gloomy for the tournament as well as the host club. OMBAC’s national club side was beaten, 16-10, in the semifinals by Life Chiropractic College from Atlanta.

But that’s not a problem, said OMBAC president and rugby committee chairman Pat Boyl.

“Our philosophy in tournaments is to play as many guys as we can,” Boyl said. “If we win, fine. If we lose, it’s experience. Our ultimate goal is to finish first or second in (the Southern California Rugby Union) to qualify for the Pacific Coast territory playoffs.”

The playoffs lead to the May National Championships in Denver.

Three of the past four years, OMBAC has won that national title--in 1988, ’89 and ’91. Only in 1988 did OMBAC also win the their own tournament, giving credence to Boyl’s analysis.

OMBAC has been able to continue winning even though it has lost players to retirement, a move or an injury, after every title run. The most notable absentees from last year’s lineup are the two locks, Ron Zenker (6-foot-6, 260 pounds) and Bill Leversee (6-6, 245). Leversee is playing in South Africa; Zenker, a stockbroker who recently married, moved to New York. Though their departure seems to leave a hole a mile wide, their replacements are coming from either Kelly Dolan, Frank Zugovitz, Gary Stasco and Sam Pellham. Zugovitz is an All-American from Slippery Rock; Stasco and Pellham were members of the national military team.

Not bad credentials when looking for a replacement.

“I think that’s something that’s overlooked, that we’ve been able to withstand the loss of these types of players,” Boyl said. “I think it’s a tribute to Coach Bing Dawson. He’s tenacious in recruiting and identifying good players from around the nation and come to San Diego to play the best rugby there is.”

Three titles in four years is the best rugby there is.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” Dawson said. “A lot of why we’ve been able to maintain our success has been exceptional leadership. We fill in the new players and they mold into the same program.”

Interchangeable parts, in large part because of Mike Saunders, Brian Vizard and Graham Downes. Saunders was captain of the national team; Vizard captain of the World Cup team; and Downes captain of his province team, Natal, in South Africa. It might not be a coincidence that they are the oldest players on the squad, as well. Downes is 35, the other two 32. Vizard, Downes and Chris Lippert are current national team members; Dennis Gonzalez, Ben Hough and Sean Allen are former players on the national team.

But there is another reason for its success: commitment, from the players on the field to the trainers (at least two at every practice), orthopedic surgeon (at every practice), OMBAC and the management team off the field. OMBAC’s annual Over The Line tournament raises money to fund the rugby team, which is OMBC’s high-priority team.

Said OMBAC member Richard Wagner: “We’re trying to create an environment that will make OMBAC the perennial national champions.”

Despite Saturday’s loss, they already are reigning champions.