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월요일, 04 7월 2011 22:01 |
 | | Winners! |
After enduring an obscenely early Saturday morning departure time, and a three hour bus journey the Seoul Survivors arrived at Sokcho Rugby Stadium to find an immaculate, lush, grass pitch. The jagged peak of the "Horn of Winter" which towers above the stadium provided an impressive backdrop to the first Korea Rugby Union 7s Tournament.
 | | Tom on Defence |
With our pool games spread throughout the day at 11:45am, 2pm, and 6:30pm the team had more than adequate recovery time between matches. On a hot day the SSRFC played athletic and aggressive rugby controlling possession for long periods of time to finish unbeaten at the top of our pool. A strong defensive effort set the tone with big hits from Skipper Dae Ho Ko, Tom Emmerton, Jon Brown, and Rico Colon helping to subdue the quick footed skillful opposition. Tim O'Connor and Ib Zylstra controlled play effectively and gave ample opportunities to the speedsters Jasub Choi, John Slefinger and Nico Sawyer to display their pace. When called upon Owen McCaffrey, Jake Crabbs, Yoon Sanghoon, and Baek Jaeoh all made valuable contributions.
 | | Tim Bursts Through |
 | | Ibe Chip |
The team finished the day with a pitch side 're-hydration' session, sprint races and a drop kicking competition that had the coach praying that the tournament organisers wouldn't use this as a tie breaker in the event of a draw in the play-offs. After a quick pit stop at the Smile Motel the lads decided to hit down town Sokcho in search of complete protein sources and further re-hydration. Following a good feed of meat and plenty of 'power'ju' we headed to the entertainment district to contest events of skill and strength. Jake 'Hawkeye' Crabbs distinguished himself with a disturbingly clinical display on the shooting range, Tom 'Ron Weasley' Emmerton smashed Rico 'Ricky Martin' Colon in the power punching competition prompting speculation about Colon's core strength (or lack there of) and abdominal implants, and this writer demonstrated the superiority of cricketers over baseball players by dispatching balls with contemptuous ease in the batting cage.
 | | Fireworks? |
 | | Tackle |
Armed with the spoils of victory - roman candles and alcohol - we headed to the beach. En route we encountered the local fauna who proved to be friendly if somewhat lacking in teeth. After a quick demonstration of why the sale of fireworks is heavily regulated in our respective homelands we boarded the courtesy van for "Arabian Night's" the local club. I don't possess the words to do justice to the dance exhibition that took place on stage that evening, and due to Nico 'The Italian Pony' Sawyers committing the journalistic equivalent of placing the ball down 5 meters short of the try-line and erasing the video footage, the public at large will be denied seeing what would have been the you tube sensation of 2011. For those of us that were on hand to witness Dancin'Ho Ko's comprehensive domination of the 'sexy dance' competition it will live long in our memories...although with time and expensive therapy we may be able to block it out.
 | | John |
 | | Celebrating... |
On to Sunday, due to a kind draw that had us contesting our semi final at 1pm we were able to get a good sleep in before heading back to the stadium. Playing in a torrential downpour the Survivors took time to break some spirited resistance from a fired up opposition before a scything run from Colon put us ahead just before halftime. In the second half a more accurate disciplined approach allowed the Survivors to take advantage of our tiring opponents to record a 26-5 victory. The final which kicked off at 4pm saw us against the Incheon Old Boys club (bolstered with at least one member of the Pro League Champions KEPCO). In a match fitting of a final the Survivors soaked up a lot of early pressure with the defence scrambling well to snuff out several well constructed raids by I.O.B. Just before halftime a Sawyers try converted by Zlystra put us ahead 7-0 at the break. Another strike by Choi, once again converted by Zylstra, increased the lead to 14-0. With the penalty count mounting against the Survivors and the team reduced to six players due to a yellow card the boys dug deep to hold on for a 14-7 victory with I.O.B scoring with the final play of the match.
Thanks to the K.R.U for putting on a well managed tournament on an excellent surface, to the referees who were impartial and of a higher standard than usual, to Richard Jang for entering the team, and to Dae Ho Ko for making our travel and accommodation arrangements. |
