survivors newsletter 107
DESCRIPTION
Volume 1, Issue 7TRANSCRIPT
Survivors Go 2-0 for Summer
S E O U L S U R V I V O R S S E O U L S U R V I V O R S S E O U L S U R V I V O R S S E O U L S U R V I V O R S
R U G B Y F O O T B A L L C L U BR U G B Y F O O T B A L L C L U BR U G B Y F O O T B A L L C L U BR U G B Y F O O T B A L L C L U B
S E P T E M B E R 3 2 0 0 9 V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 7
IN BR I E F :
• Training at Jamwon rugby
pitch scheduled for 10am Saturday. Be ready to go on the hour sharp. If you can’t attend training please inform Ra or Simon.
• Next Sunday, the 13th of
September, a 10s tourna-ment will be held at Jamwon. The Survivors should be en-tering two teams. Head down and support the boys.
• The Oakwood Seoul Survi-
vors are now live on the ‘Rugby In Asia’ website. The website aims to bring to-gether news and information on rugby from all over the Asian continent. Head to the link below to get the latest on the Survivors.
http://www.rugbyinasia.com/ korea/index.php
• Pitch directions are now on
page 4.
CONTACTS :
• Ted Gray (Club Captain) 011-287-9558
• Roddy Bancroft (Manager) 016-494-7363
• Simon Walsh (Pitch Captain) 010-9417-9554
• Kurtis Taogaga (Media) 010-7263-5878
• Rawiri King (Coach) 010-8698-4982
• Justin Jackson (Social Officer) 010-5465-6122
• Jordan Smigelsky (Community Project Manager)
• Richard Jarvis (Website)
Maybe Next Weekend
nents into the in-goal area be-
fore touching down one of his
three tries. With many of the
Colts’ not even seventeen, the
future looks bright for the Seoul
Survivors’ Colts squad.
Though there were many fine
runs during the 80 minute affair,
including a blinding run by
Colts’ fly-half Jake Attewell, try
-of-the-match has to go to “Flo”
as he dragged three of his oppo-
By Kurt Taogaga
The Survivors racked up two
consecutive wins at ‘Fortress
Jamwon’ to whitewash the
Summer touring teams to Korea.
The Royal Electrical and Me-
chanical Engineers (REME
RFC) and City RFC from Hong
Kong were both dispatched in
successive outings giving the
‘Seoul Men’ a confidence boost
going into the latter half of the
2009 season. With two Yellow
Sea Cup matches remaining,
the Survivors remain slightly
off the pace against the Shang-
hai Hairy Crabs and will look to
reproduce their best form to
take back the coveted YSC title.
Match reports on page 2
The Survivors forwards dominated at the breakdown giving the halves time and space to operate effectively. Here, Jonathon De-cesari looks on as Nathan Atkins readies a pass to the backline.
Colts Run Past
Hong Kong
By RJ Karas
The Seoul Survivors’ Colts
squad impressed over the week-
end by putting 69 points on the
board against the Colts team
from City RFC of Hong Kong.
It was evident from the start that
Seoul would have the advantage
in the forwards however what
was unknown was how domi-
nating Dan “Sanchez” Grover’s
game plan would be. Lead by
the exceptional play of their
Captain, Louis Galtié, man-
child number eight, Florent
Darrou, and Alban Fidry, the
Colts’ feisty scrum-half, City
RFC were no match for Seoul’s
under-18 squad.
The Seoul Survivors Colts and City RFC U/18s.
CONTENTS :
Page 2: REME and City RFC
match reports.
Page 3: Player Profile - RJ Karas
Page 4: Pitch directions.
Farewell Justin Jackson.
REME Falls To Survivor Ambush By Kurt Taogaga
Jetlagged, unaccustomed to the heat
and at the end of a hectic tour of the
Shaky Isles, the Royal Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers (REME) were
picked off in a tight match 24-22, by a
Seoul Survivors team who are playing
themselves into some nice form, in
front of an enthusiastic crowd at the
Jamwon Rugby Pitch in Apgujeong,
Seoul on Saturday the22nd of August.
The REME RFC squad landed in Korea
on the Thursday before the match on
their way to back to England after a
frantic ten day tour of New Zealand. To
their disappointment, REME produced
mixed results Down Under coming
away with one win from three games.
After failing to secure a game against
Korean opposition and seeing an op-
portunity for redemption against a
‘social’ expat side, REME RFC Man-
ager Major Ewen Cameron contacted
the Survivors who were more than
happy to take the opportunity to play
some genuine contact rugby.
From the outset, the physical differ-
ences between the two teams were
clearly evident. The REME forwards
were tall and physically imposing, their
backs appearing to possess genuine
skill and pace; a fact that hadn’t gone
unnoticed by the locals. However, the
Survivors have shown themselves to be
no pushovers in 2009 and player/coach
Rawiri King’s stirring pre-match
speech refocused attention away from
the opposition and on to the quality of
the players’ individual and team per-
formances on the field.
Immediately, it was apparent that the
pre-match gee-up had had some affect
on the expats. Seoul got off to a great
start dominating the larger REME pack
in the breakdown and scoring first
through number eight John Goddard
(Continued on page 3)
The Survivors lineout focuses on the incoming ball.
By Kurt Taogaga
For the second weekend in a row, the Oakwood Seoul
Survivors treated their legion of vocal supporters to a
magnificent day of rugby on the banks of the Han River.
The Survivors made much of defeating both summer
touring sides - REME and City RFC - in consecutive
weeks and delivered on that promise emphatically with a
67-5 drubbing of the Hong Kong tourists.
Newcomer Jeff Barg weighs his attacking options.
The first half was mostly char-
acterised by untidy ruck play
stopping the flow of the game
as the relatively inexperienced
visitors used their hands and the
larger Survivors forwards were
penalised for diving in. The
penalties piled up resulting in
Vice-Captain Richard Jarvis
being dubiously binned for
stomping midway through the
first half but even down to 14
men the Survivors line re-
mained intact. The Seoulites
controlled the flow of the game
and showed a lot of composure
in attack but still couldn’t fully
break down the City defence.
Going into halftime the locals
were ahead 14-0, through a Tim
O’Connor double, and City
were still very much in with a
chance to ruin the Seoul rugby
community’s day.
The Survivors emerged post-
break reinvigorated and began
turning the heat up on City, who
eventually conceded 53 points
in the second spell. Some nice
clearing by the Seoul forwards
and improved organisation of
the ruck runners immediately
gave the backs good ‘front
foot’ ball. Second five
O’Connor took full advantage
adding another five-pointer to
the brace he scored in the first
half. Other highlights in-
cluded replacement back
Justin Painter supporting well
to take away a two-try haul,
RJ Karas’ barrelling charge to
score under the posts and a
long-range effort by burly
reserve centre Kurt Taogaga.
The home team barely al-
lowed City to get their hands
on the ball the entire match
and the scoreline would have
remained a whitewash if not
for an enterprising City kick
and chase in the dying min-
utes leading to their solitary
consolation try.
To their credit, the much
smaller City defended bravely
to the very end and their ef-
(Continued on page 4)
Survivors vs. City RFC
effect.
After the break, At-
kins nudged Seoul
slightly further ahead
through a penalty.
However, REME re-
bounded yet again to
dot down tying the
scores at 17-17 mid-
way through the sec-
ond spell. Great
physical forward play
from the Survivors
pack again saw them
camped on the REME
line and allowed loose
forward debutant
Sebastian Ibarra to
pick up a try; duly
converted by Atkins.
As could be expected
of a military outfit,
REME kept their
composure and ham-
mered relentlessly at
the Survivors defen-
sive line until they
finally breached in the
dying minutes setting
up a tense few mo-
ments as the REME
kicker lined up his
attempt. On target for
most of its trajectory,
the fullback’s knock
after a strong forward
drive over the line.
However, REME were
determined not to play
“catch-up” football and
scored an unconverted
try through their number
7 and Man-of-the-Match
to remain within strike
range of the Survivors.
Goddard again featured
prominently in Seoul’s
next scoring movement,
plucking the ball from
the REME fullback’s
wayward chip kick in his
own in-goal area and
chucking it on to fellow
Englishman James
Tucker to swan dive
under the posts. REME
again scored in the first
half to bring the score to
14-12 at halftime to the
home team. The differ-
ence between the two
sides belonged to the
boot of Seoul fullback
Nathan Atkins who took
the unorthodox choice
of dropkicking all his
attempts at goal to great
(Continued from page 2)
Survivors vs. REME
elicited premature
celebrations from
REME until the last
few metres as it
curved wide letting
the Survivors off the
hook and giving them
a narrow 24-22 win to
start off the back end
of the season in great
fashion and go one up
in the summer tour
matches.
Man-of-the-Match
honours went to cap-
tain Simon Walsh for
the Survivors. In the
forwards, he was
handily supported by
John Goddard’s ex-
perience and Justin
Jackson’s hard, direct
running. The backs
had little attacking
opportunities but de-
fended courageously
typified through the
efforts of Tim O’Con-
nor and James Tucker.
Name: RJ Karas
Nickname: The Best Cook In
China
Position: Loose Forward
Birthdate: 07/12/1984
Hometown: Nashville,
Tennessee
Player Profile Match Reports continued...Match Reports continued...Match Reports continued...Match Reports continued...
Hailing from Nashville, the Music City, RJ
Karas has cemented his role as a starting
loose forward in the Survivors pack. He
has impressed long-time supporters and
fellow teammates with his direct and ag-
gressive running style. Leaving to study in
Australia early next year, Karas can rest
assured of his mighty contribution to team
spirit on and off the field.
First rugby memory:
A rainy Tuesday night my first week at
University, was hooked immediately.
What are you doing in Korea?
Teaching.
Favourite thing about Korea:
The food.
Least favourite thing about Korea:
There's trash everywhere ... would it really
be that hard to put some trash cans on the
street?
What do you enjoy about your posi-
tion?
The glory.
What don’t you like about your posi-
tion?
Being blamed for everything.
Do you have a good luck charm/ritual
for games?
I shower before matches ... wash off the
rust I suppose.
What do you miss most about home?
Friends and family.
What do you like most at training?
Playing league.
What do you like least at training?
Stretching ... it's boring.
What are your interests outside
rugby?
Huge baseball fan, general popular culture.
How would you like to improve
yourself off the rugby field?
I start by brushing my teeth eve-
ryday.
If you were to die tomorrow,
what would you be remem-
bered for?
Hopefully for being a good guy but
more than likely for my continu-
ous inability to reel in the fish that
I've got on the line ... if you know
what I mean.
Do you have a favourite quote
or saying?
"How ‘bout that ride in? I guess
that's why they call it Sin City.
Hahaha. You guys might not know
this but I consider myself a bit of
a loner. I tend to think of myself
as a one man wolf pack. But when
my sister brought Doug home I
knew he was one of my own. And
my wolf pack, it grew by one. So
there were two of us in the wolf
pack. I was alone first in the pack
and then Doug joined in later. And
six months ago, when Doug intro-
duced me to you guys I thought,
‘Wait a second, could it be?’ And
now I know for sure that I just
added two guys to my wolf pack.
Four of us wolves, running around
the desert together in Las Vegas
looking for strippers and cocaine.
So tonight, I make a toast."
Thanks to Dickens Lounge for gener-ously hosting the after-match.
forts, especially in the first half, pre-
vented a rampant Survivor squad from
running up triple figures. So far this
season the Survivors have had a ten-
dency to start matches slowly but once
the boys from Seoul hit their stride have
shown that they are an extremely tough
and, at times, clinical outfit. The Survi-
vors’ current form sends a warning to
their next two Yellow Sea Cup oppo-
nents – Beijing and Macau- that the
talented yet underachieving side of the
past few years is transforming itself one
game at a time into a true force in Asian
expat rugby.
The Survivors rounded out an excellent
day for Seoul rugby with the Korean
National Women’s Team beating their
City counterparts 10-5, and the Seoul
Survivors Colts squad keeping their
opposites scoreless 69-0. The Seoul
Sisters also outclassed their City RFC
opposition 74-5.
(Continued from page 2)
Survivors vs. City RFC
Credits
Editor: Kurt Taogaga Co-editor: Ali
McCannell
Contributing writers: RJ Karas and Kurt
Taogaga
Photos: REME & City RFC - Robin Ash;
Colts - JB Paquereau
Survivor Justin Jackson is booking out
of Korea. Jackson has been a core
member of the squad for almost three
years and has been at the heart of the
team on the field. Off the field, he has
been a constant presence at all Survi-
vors social functions. Jackson leaves a
legacy of hard running and hard drink-
ing to all those that come after.
Next Thursday, Justin is returning to the
States to further himself through study/
build a city entirely dedicated to alco-
hol/become a janitor in an Iowa high
school. He will be sorely missed by
everyone including Mr. Ken’s wallet.
On the flip side, the Survivors can now
look forward to interference-free
spadework at all of Korea’s fine drink-
ing establishments.
“Look out for him. He hits cats.”
Fare thee well, Cockblock.
Public Transport:
Apgujeong Station (#335) Exit 6. Walk down the road for about 500 meters and then turn right between Shinsa Middle School and
Hyundai High School. Walk to the end of the road and turn left at the T-junction. Keep walking, after 75 meters there is a tunnel
on your right. This takes you under the Olympic Expressway and brings you out in a car park by the river. The rugby pitch is on the
right of the car park.
Driving:
Go south over Hannam bridge over the Olympic Expressway, turn right towards Apgujeong Stn. The road loops around and you
head east parallel with the river but south of the Olympic Expressway. After 500m turn left at the traffic light between Shinsa Mid-
dle and Hyundai High schools. Go to the end of the road, turn left and after 75m turn right through the tunnel under the Olympic
Expressway. The rugby pitch is on the right of the car park.
Jackson Is Leaving On A Jet Plane
Jackson attempts to escape hounded by the victims of his cockblocking
schemes.