OK Financial Group established the ‘Thmman Rugby Team’, which includes foreign players, and will participate in the domestic league in earnest from this year.
OK Financial Group held an inauguration ceremony at the ENA Suite Hotel Convention Hall in Seoul on the morning of the 20th and announced the official launch of the Itsman Rugby Team.
‘Ssomman’ is the mascot of OK Financial Group, which was devised in the sense that if you turn ‘ssom’ to the left, English becomes OK.
Among the 32 players, four foreign players were also included: Janu Venter (32), Connor Clark (21), Davin Enslin (23) from South Africa and Taniske Taniske (28) from Japan.
They will participate in the ‘2023 Korea Super Rugby League’, an unemployment league that opens on the 25th, and compete for supremacy in Korea’s rugby with existing strong teams such as KEPCO and Hyundai Glovis.
Director Oh Young-gil (55) is the protagonist of the documentary film ‘600,000 Tries’, which tells the story of the rugby team at Osaka Korean Advanced School (Osaka Jo High School), a high school for Korean residents in Japan located in Higashiosaka City메이저사이트, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He was chosen as the first commanding tower to lead the team.
Coach Oh is a person who has drawn attention from the rugby world by leading the school’s rugby team and advancing to the semifinals at the Japan National Rugby Championship for two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.
Coach Oh worked as a training coach for the Japanese semi-pro league Rugby One Division 3 NTT DoCoMo Academy, and in 2021, as a coach for the Korean national team, he also participated in the Asian Rugby Sevens Series, an Asian competition.
Andre Jin (32, Korean name Kim Jin), the first naturalized Korean rugby player who started his career as a coach, assists coach Oh.
In addition, coach Nam Chang-soo (54), who has a career in Japanese rugby, oversees the physical condition of the rugby team players.
Coach Oh said, “The goal is to win. The players have grown a lot through the two-month camp,” and expressed his aspirations, “We will make Korea aware of the sport of rugby. We will make our presence known.”
Coach Andre said, “I retired last year, but I am grateful for the opportunity to start as a coach.” I will challenge myself,” he said. Representing the foreign players who joined, Venter said,
“I joined as a foreign player for the first time. I did not come to Korea to play. I will show you how to lead the team on the field.”
“Rugby is a field sport that runs vigorously without protective equipment, but if you look closely, it is more gentle than any other sport,” he said. This establishment will be an opportunity to bring a new wind to Korean rugby,” he expressed his anticipation.