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The first of many Spire Touch Tournaments kicked off on Saturday 21st March at the Jamwon rugby pitch on the banks of the glorious Han River. The Survivors, as always, sent a squad to represent us against 11 other teams of varying quality: ranging from our arch-rivals and the always challenging Double Dutch Rudders (formerly Te Wai Pounamu) to completely beginner squads such as the Seoul Gaels who are looking to muscle in on the touch rugby fields from their traditional sport of Gaelic football. The Survivors were light on experience but bustling with enthusiasm. Lead capably by Tim and Roddy, the boys went down to the Double Dutch Rudders 5-0 and received a good lesson in support play and quick play the balls. Next up saw some victories against the Ulsan Uglies, Seoul Gaels, Suwon Stormers and the Seoul Sisters. The pool games were probably a bit more laboured than they needed to be but they ensured that we reached the business end of the tournament without too much trouble.
The semi-final saw our lack of experience cruelly exposed by Kiwi Nathan who turned out for the Hangang Exiles and ran some good plays aswell as dotting down for one himself. The Exiles ran out winners 3-1 and proved that lack of youth doesn't necessarily equate to lack of exuberance. There were plenty of positives aswell as plenty of points to work on. There was no player of the day but special mentions must go to Nick Abbas for his no nonsense trucking up the middle and his hard touches on the opposition. Penalised for his infringements his only excuse was: "But, I'm small" - cue puppy dog face. Also, Jin must have pasted glue on his hands in the morning as the passes stuck for the better part of the day and he ended up with three tries to his name. Cheers to the guys who made it happen. It was a beautiful day by the river and everyone looked like they had a great time. PS Nick, we'll have to practice that piggy-back play this Saturday. |
