Friday, May 29, 2009

꽃보다 남자 Rugby in Boys over Flowers (Kkot-boda Namja), English equivalent?

A chance to see whether there is an English equivalent to this popular drama's lead role when the England Counties play at Seongnam on June 5th www.rugby.or.kr/england

There has been a fascination with things to do with rugby; Bean Pole had a very popular line of Oxford Uni college rugby shirts...which apparently sold very quickly....the rugby look is big in Korea!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

English beef shipment to Korea

On Monday afternoon, the captain of the Asiana flight from London could be excused for landing at Incheon airport with more than his usual thump....on board will be 26 English rugby players weighing in at an avergae of 99kg per man....AND they are carrying excess baggage! The long awaited England Counties tour to Korea is about to kick-off.

Meanwhile, the last few days in Korea prior to our guests arriving will see feverish activity, a buzzing hive of promotional work, media interviews, logistics planning and finger-crossing for good weather. Not to mention some hard thinking around the selection of the best possible Korea side not just to repulse the invaders but to thrill the crowd too.

The Korea team will be hard pushed. Their guests are a talented bunch coming from the national divisions but also with plenty of premiership experience in England. And they are either professional, semi-pro or in jobs that are very accomodating for almost full-time athletes.

To stay in touch with the situation as it evolves, the real story about what is hot in Korea today, keep checking www.rugby.or.kr/england

England Counties team announced

http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.England_Detail/StoryID/22731

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Excitement builds for England Counties visit

Lots of stuff in the news today..... http://rugby.or.kr/england and visit the news tab...
Also on facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169722565164&ref=ts#/event.php?eid=169722565164&ref=ts
And especially good news is that buses will go to Seongnam from Itaewon on Friday night and tickets can be bought for KRW 10,000 from Scrooge Bar...which includes an ice cold beer to get you started on the journey over!!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Kazakh win pushes Korea into third place in a5n 2009 but a RWC 2011 still beckons

25-6 was a comfortable win for the home team in teeming rain....and now Korea will have to re-think and make improvements in time for next years campaign.
Given that it is unlikely for Korea to overtake Japan in next years a5n, then Korea must qualify through the repecharge. This calls for the loser from the Americas Play-off v Runner-up Asian 5 Nations 2010 - and will be hosted by the country with the highest IRB World Ranking at time both teams are known. The Americas first slot will be between USA and Canada, then the second slot between the loser of that match and whoever emerges top of Chile, Uruguay and Brazil....o Korea, if they finish second in the 2010 a5n has the best chance ever of qualifying for 2011....IT IS STILL ON!!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Asia Five Nationas: Korea holds its breath waiting for result from Almaty

Korea needs Hong Kong to beat Kazakhstan but not score 4 tries if they are to finish second in the 2009 a5n.

While this years result is all about pride, next years is everything to do with the Rugby World Cup. The winner of the 2010 Top 5 competition will be Asia’s sole entry to the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. The second placed finisher in next year’s Top 5 competition will enter the repechage process for RWC 2011. So, Korea may regard this year as building for the, as may they also regard their upcoming match against England Counties www.rugby.or.kr/england

The Kazakhstan versus Hong Kong match will be televised live on Eurosport Asia (check local listings) and will air Monday and Tuesday evenings on STAR Sports throughout Asia.
For more information and the latest statistics please visit http://www.a5nrugby.com/.

Gumi Touch tournament gets boost from Korea Times

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/05/177_45218.html
With 14 teams, the tournament is comfortably the biggest we've ever heard of down south....taking place on May 30th and I understand that a couple of teams would still like players...so just turn up in Gumi...email Willie on huntersproule@hotmail.com or koreatouch@gmail.com
If you want to know more about Touch, visit www.koreatouch.com

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Rugby in Asia promotes English rugby visit

A quick write up from the up and coming Rugby in Asia website on the England Counties rugby visit to Korea can be found here http://www.rugbyinasia.com/korea/274-22/england-counties-to-break-new-ground

British Council promotes English rugby visit

News on England Counties upcoming visit is likely to get a lot of interest as the British Council Korea website is a really important resource for Korean people wanting to learn English or interact with the UK.

Blog: http://blog.britishcouncil.or.kr/226

Mini homepage on Cyworld: http://minihp.cyworld.com/37911471/237464046

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Gumi Touch tournament sets Touch on fire down south!!

The Gumi tournament will be a cracker....just look at this for an update;

Updates Confirmed teams so far...

Two Waegook Cook Teams- Old School n Jjin ja Old School,

One Daegu Team- Kyle n Jame's,

One new Seoul Team Tom's,

The Multiple Scoregasims- Paul's

The Ulsan Team- Greg's,

And the Ajumas' - John's

The 3 Alley Dutch Rudders,

Two Seoul Sisters teams

The Suwon Stormers

The Exiles

The Incheon/Seoul Team

The Barbarians

This takes us to 14We will make the final date for entering a team Wednesday the 27th- 3 days before the Tournament!!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Free English rugby tickets.....

.....just visit www.rugby.or.kr/england and register (in English or Korean) and you can download free tickets for the England Counties rugby match v Korea Presidents XV....


Sunday, May 17, 2009

한국, 5개국 럭비대회서 일본에 9-80 대패 (영어, 럭비, 아시아 럭비, 영국 럭비)

한국, 5개국 럭비대회서 일본에 9-80 대패 (영어, 럭비, 아시아 럭비, 영국 럭비)
다음에 오랜만에 럭비기사가 실려서 링크를 올립니다. 패배는 참담했지만
그나마 많은 분들이 관심을 가져 주셔서 기분이 좋습니다.
하지만 미래를 위한 준비의 일환으로 영국 최고의 럭비 팀이 방한하니 많은 관심 부탁드립니다.



Saturday, May 16, 2009

5th and 6th of June, festival of rugby in Korea

The England Counties v Korea Presidents XV match is at Seongnam on Fri evening www.rugby.or.kr/england and the next day, Seoul Survivors take on Guangzhou Rams in the Yellow Sea Cup www.survivorsrfc.com
I pick Counties and Survivors to win.....the Survivors have really been putting in the graft to prepare for the match and have played warm up games against semi-pro opposition in Korea...and they have some very professional new coaching methods. Korea, meanwhile, are likely to be despondent following the caning in Osaka....will they bounce back or will they fold? A big test of character for the young side!

Report on the Japan v Korea game

http://www.irb.com/unions/union=11000067/index.html
Korea will undoubtably drop a few slots in the IRB rankings following the a5n....

Korea devastated by Japan in Osaka

Korea rugby suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a5n champions Japan. 80-9 is a real drubbing at this level and even the Japanese team attributed it to the better standard of club rugby and better infrastructure with their club league. Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded a massive win against Singapore at home and will go to Kazakhstan next weekend knowing that even the smallest win gets them second place, pushing Korea down to a humbling third place....
Lots more work to do here in Korea to raise standards!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Our hero, Woojin Lee


Having made his debut in Korea, it is good to see one of our ambassadors, Woojin Lee (far right in the disntinctive shirt), passing the baton to a young generation in Bangalore and giving them an early chance to enjoy Touch and Rugby. Nice Woojin....great work!!

Korea squeak past Hong Kong

Phew....mental note for the Korean coach....it really is much easier to play with 15 players on the park....but did you have to prove it to yourself?

Korea tonked HK in the first half and then having no sub cover left to deal with injuries and due to a temporary absence of understanding of the rules, Korea played much of the second half under strength by one or two players. Not surprisingly, HK came back hard (is the Korean team so unfit?) and but for a missed conversion, could have squared the game.

Selfless Korea clearly have a mission to make this years a5n the most exciting possible and now three teams have a realistic crack at second place after the Kazakh's made heavy work to record another win over Singapore.

Lots of places to get news....here are some links;
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98816/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98820/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98822/language/ko-KR/Default.aspxhttp://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98823/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98815/language/ko-KR/Default.aspxhttp://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98821/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98817/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98818/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx
http://www.xportsnews.com/tabid/92/EntryID/98819/language/ko-KR/Default.aspx

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Rugby: Korea v Hong Kong May 9th Munhak Stadium

We are guessing kick off at the Incheon venue will be 2pm and the Korean team has a big point to prove....have they really slipped so far, so fast? Having been wiped out by the Kazakh's last weekend following a rather unconvincing canter v Singapore the weekend before, could this be the final insult? HK already surpassed the Koreans at this years HK Sevens...another example of superior preparation and patient building of the sport reaping rewards.
Still, don't give up on our boys yet...they are a young team with an eye for the future...and you cannot keep them down for long.
This match will be a beauty; both sides love to attack!!

Touch is ON at Jamwon Sat 9th May 9:30-11:30am

All are welcome to come along and join in, no team required, jsut wear trainers (no boots with studs, cleats, sprigs....depending on where in the world you hail from).
Still space at the Gumi tournament May 30 for more teams....they have 11 signed up so far so it will be a festival down there!! Southern sunshine, the peninsula's biggest burgers (alledgedly), some hope for the cheerleaders again (ooo-errr), big screen for rugger fans of the monotonous pick and drive monolithic format (AKA Super 14) afterwards....
Rumours have it that some heroes and heroines will book buses from Seaoul at approx 15k a pop....what could be a better way to spend a summer weekend? And for the red-hot keenies, a chance to impress the selectors ahead of the selection for Bangkok and the Asian Club Championships!! To sign up email Willie huntersproule@hotmail.com

Friday, May 1, 2009

Touch is on for Sat 2nd May 10:00am Jamwon

Pick up touch, all welcome...10-12 Sat at the Jamwon pitch (unless it rains) see map on the left side of the blog....