Coming soon; Korea rugby in Asia Five Nations

Lots of places you can catch up with latest news;
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Or Korea in teh Asia Five Nations rugby is on the Web

The home matches foir Korea are on May 11th (Philippines) and the big one May 18th at midday v Hong Kong and they are both at Ansan Stadium, Ansan City just south of Seoul...

My bet is that the lack of stamina shown in last year;s campaign will be a liability this year....

Korea rugby drops to 4th place in Shanghai

Already on Saturday afternoon the regulars were shaking their heads and asking "have Korea brought their B team this year?"....even die-hard Korea fans who know their team start wobbly and finish strong in Shanghai were wondering whether the team was really up to it this year. With narrow wins and a thumping loss to HK in the round rbin (hastily re-set to two groups of 5 from the previously planned 4 groups of 3, following the withdrawal of Japan and the Kazakh's government refusal to buy their team some plane tickets), Korea got drawn against China in the semis and should have been favourities to go through but this time, China got their noses in front, then built a very strong lead that despite being pegged back by two second half tries by Korea, were comfortable winners. In the final, Hong Kong reigned supreme, disappointing the local crowd with a very one-sided victory, a far cry from the exctitement seen last year.
The crowd was disappointingly thin throughout, perhaps put off by the rain on Saturday and the hot sun on Sunday. For Korea fans, we hope that the team is re-building, but frankly, we dount it. For the record, Kim Won Young still looks the pick of the bunch for Korea....

Shanghai Sevens rugby no-shows open the way for a Korea v HK showdown...

...or is this the year for China to surf a wave of fierce patriotism and come through in their home tournament? Late stage withdrawals of Japan and Kazakhstan (the former is perhaps understandable given the flaky conditions in China, but what happened to the Kazakhs?) have opened it up to make this most exciting of events a wide open race. It would defy the ods for Korea to make it four from four and surely HK will nail one eventually but how about the others? Standards are rising in this competition and the crowd is mooted to be a fair bit bigger this year so the atmopshere and the action should be awesome...
No need for visas if your stay in Shanghai is less than 48 hours and you are transiting to somewhere else...at least for some nationalities...
www.shanghai7s.com

Korea Touch is hyperactive (Korea Touch Rugby, Korea Touch Football)

Seeing a lot of activity from the Korea Touch Association, another longstanding organisation set up in 2006, dedicated to developing Touch in Korea. Apparently Touch is really taking off in Korea with large numbers out playing social Touch each weekend as well as a thriving (and touring) championship....sounds like a great opportunity for sponsors! For all the news, http://www.koreatouch.com/ or the Facebook site (see on the right sidebar just next to this positing)....

Kids rugby in Korea

Good news... Han River Pirates Rugby Club are playing Touch, Tag and Rugby again this year in Seoul and are welcoming kids in Korea to play. Info can be found here http://www.hanriverpiratesrugby.com/The_Club.html

The Han River Pirates was founded in 2005 and has been kept going each year by subsequent generations of expats with support from Korean rugby enthusiasts and the local expat club Seoul Survivors...

Why aren't Korea's women's rugby at the Shanghai Sevens?

China's women's rugby team has enjoyed top spot in Asia for a while, only occassionally being displaced by Kazakhstan....but now that Korea is finally getting it's act together for women's rugby, is that cosy status in jeopardy? The fact that Korea's women's rugby team didn't get invited to the Shanghai Sevens might indicate that China is nervous, and doesn't want to give its new rivals any opportunity to enhance their skills....shame!! Surely a hard fought women's rugby competition in front of a big crowd at the 16,000 seater Yuanshen Stadium is THE way to get rugby sevens to grow in China? And there is nothing the Chinese like better than confirming supremacy over their smaller neighbours...ah well, a chance for both countries' rugby goes begging....

More info on Shanghai Sevens rugby 2012 at www.shanghai7s.com

Shanghai Sevens Rugby 22/23 September 2012

Can Korea's rugby sevens team make it 4 from 4 in two weeks time? Last year, Korea were magnificent in a thrilling final to win their third Shanghai Seevens in a row at Yuanshen Stadium, Shanghai and although the build up has not been good, with a disappointing 4th place in Borneo, Korea have to feel like Shanghai is home turf for them.
The good news for Korea fans is that it may be possible to get to Shanghai without a visa since Shanghai allows a 48 hour stay if you are en route to somewhere else.
Anyway, all the build up can be found here http://shanghai7s.com/ including some footage from last year...

Korea's women's rugby team is also on the rise....good news for Korea and maybe, finally, we'll see Korea take their righful place in Asian rugby!