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For those that don't know, the Survivors headed west on Sunday to the port city of Incheon to take on the Incheon Technical Mechanical High School Old Boys Club. A genuine mouthful, it would've been nice if they had as many players as they had names in their team. The pitch was artificial but still pretty lush and a dream to run on as far as turf goes in this country. Unfortunately, the ITMHSOBC were lacking a few players so we loaned them some to bolster their numbers. We played 30 minute halves at their request and despite their lack of numbers and size, the Old Boys put up a spirited defence and were quite enterprising on attack. Pre-match, the Kiwis in the team put in a stirring rendition of Ka Mate to the delight of all the Koreans in attendance.
Among others, Justin turned out for the Old Boys and kept them competitive around the ruck and our forward defence on its toes with some probing charges around the fringes. Jakob also turned out for the Old Boys and scored their only try in the first half with some nice footwork to get on the outside and dot down in the corner. For the Survivors, Tharon stood out in the backs running some nice gaps and gave great service to his outsides at first five. The backline looked pretty slick and only put down one ball in the entire game. Those passing drills must be working and it's always good to cut down on the old handling errors. The forward effort was more experimental with a few newbies turning out. Simon lead the pack and some notable territory was gained up the middle when runners were going in pairs to bash and bridge. The lineout looked better than at any time in the last two years and the scrum was solid with only a late tighthead marring their effort. Despite the Incheon boys lacking in size and a few of them definitely lacking some youth they put in some fiery defence up front tipping up a few guys who shall remain nameless. The Survivors ran away comfortable winners and will take a few positives aswell as a few 'must-try-harder's into the next few training sessions. It was good to knock some rust off and it will definitely help those that are committed to going to Manila. |
