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.