In 1995 Lignano‘s beach rugby become an invitational tournament, and for the first time is played on two days: 16 teams from Italy, Slovenia and Ireland are divided into 4 pools, with qualifying matches on saturday and knockout stages on sunday.

San Donà, Belluno, Rovigo and Ljubljana win their pools: the first two are able to reach the final, and San Donà – featuring Italy’s international Andrea “Ciro” Sgorlon – wins the tournament for the first time.

In 1998 Lignano Super Beach 5S is one of the stages of the first ever Italian Beach Rugby Championship: second straight win for Padova Beach (again over San Donà in the final) in the male tournament, while Red Panthers Treviso is female’s champion for the third time.