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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 03 June 2011 12:08 |
 | | Team Photo |
The Seoul Survivors first full squad tour of 2011 was originally supposed to be to Xiamen for the Yellow Sea Cup, but due to scheduling issues we were left without a game and tour. So in preparation for an impending clash with the Beijing Devils on June 11th a tour was planned to play the Manila Nomads on May 28th.
 | | A Quiet Drink |
Most of the squad arrived late Friday night and we all agreed to have a quiet one with our fearless leader Ted Gray showing us some of the sites. We awoke Saturday to a downpour of rain which put our match in jeopardy due to pitch conditions. After some waiting around we finally got word of a late kickoff at the Manila Nomads Sports Club. The conditions were less than ideal with puddles and mud covering the pitch leading to a messy game.
 | | Backs |
The Survivors started out a little sluggish and held back the Nomads with some great defending. Ball-handling errors were rampant due to the conditions and it was a back and forth affair for the first 30 minutes. The Survivors broke through just before halftime driving down the field with inside center Tim O’Conner slicing through the Nomads backline and touching down the days first score. The Survivors wasted no time scoring again as fullback Nico Sawyer finished off some slick ball handling from the backline with an easy putdown in the corner. After a fairly even first half the score was 10 – 0 in the favor of the Survivors. Some highlights from the first half included Kenny Park’s spirited play in his first game on the wing and new 8-man Tom Emerton smashing everything that moved.
 | | Scrum |
At halftime it was announced over the intercom that former Survivor stalwart Nick Horton had kitted up and deemed himself fit to play after downing a few beers at the bar. With the Nomads subbing in some inexperienced players in the second half the Survivors took advantage by coming out and scoring on a nice forward drive finished off by Dae-ho “Big Tiger” Ko. The conversion was put through the posts by scrum-half Joshua Wainiqolo making the score 17 – 0 for the survivors. After this the Survivors dominated play for almost the whole second half.
 | | Chasing |
Some bad eyesight was the only reason their next chance didn’t get touched down as Nico Sawyer mistook the 5m line for the try line giving the ball back to the Nomads and locking up tour fool in the process, Sawyer went on to score another try to make up for his earlier blunder. The Nomads made one last push in the end to break the goose egg but the Survivors defense held with the final score being 22 – 0. The game was exactly what the Survivors expected, a hard hit-out against a quality opponent. Man of the match went to 8-man Tom Emerton who had the honor of consuming the local delicacy along with Nico Sawyer.
After the match we headed to "Howzat?" for a great feed and social followed by a night on the town. The rest of the tour report will fall under a veil of secrecy that is required when touring Manila.
The Survivors would like to thank the Manila Nomads for being a great host and I’m sure we will return in the future. Next up, the biggest game of the spring/summer, Seoul Survivors vs. Beijing Devils, June 11th, save the date! |
