Last weekend, Joe participated in a rugby 10s tournament at the Gyeongsan Rugby Park, which is southeast of Daegu about 45 minutes. The event was put on by the Korean government in an attempt to encourage and foster rugby more within Korea, where it is not a very popular sport. The field was immaculate--it was the first time Joe got to play on real grass since coming to Korea; before this it's been astro turf or dirt. Fun.
Joe played with his rugby crew from Gumi, but because they didn't have enough guys to fill out a team, they hitched on to a team from Cheongju. There were six teams playing total: the Cheongju Knights, the Seoul Survivors (by far the best name), the Jeonnam Aliens, a team from Ulsan, and two Korean teams. Each team got to play four matches. Joe's team won one game against one of the Korean teams, and sadly lost the other three. :( Joe played really well and was asked to start every game. He got quite a few compliments from players from other teams. After one particularly brutal hit from Joe (who had the ball) into another guy, everyone on the sidelines did one collective "oooooohhhhh" which I took to mean, "wow, I feel that dude's pain who just got knocked down, but that other dude who rammed into him is awesome." I can read "ooooohhs" pretty well, I think. :) Joe came away with some pretty wicked injuries, including a black eye and a bloody toe, but it was worth it.
It was a long day of rugby watching and instead of tucking into a book, I decided to be social and chat with the ladies watching the games. They were all super nice, and I got a chance to hear about their experiences teaching at private schools in Korea and to have someone to roll my eyes with when some burly rugby boy or another did something gross and/or weird. As they do.
1 comment:
That field does look immaculate. And I am glad that you did not read a book. The government sponsored rugby event. How wonderful.
Joe I am sure that it was one of your patented runs, where you ran 10 meters, smashed into the guy, went down, and then were unable to participate in another ruck for about 5 minutes. I sure miss those runs.
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