The Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team has won the Korea Super Rugby League 2024 with an incredible performance against OK Financial Group’s OKman Rugby Club in the final match. The rugby team’s fighting spirit and the united support of Hyundai Glovis employees and their families made this a glorious moment of victory.
On April 27, the final match of the 2024 Korea Super Rugby League was held at the Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium in Incheon. Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team, OK Financial Group OKman Rugby Club, Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Rugby Team, Korea University Rugby, and Korea University Rugby Team participated in the tournament, which was played as a pool league (where each team plays against every other team), and Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team took home the trophy.
The Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team previously defeated the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Rugby Team in the league’s opening match on the 14th, the Korea University Rugby Team on the 20th, and OKman Rugby Club in the final match with a score of 54-19.
The stadium was packed with Hyundai Glovis employees, their families and rugby fans even before the final kick-off at 3:00 pm. Booths set up by the Hyundai Glovis Business Support Team were bustling with the distribution of game tickets, cheer signs, and snacks. Hyundai Glovis supporters entered the stadium with chicken and snacks in both hands, confident of victory.
“If Hyundai Glovis wins today, they’ll win the championship. I usually watch it on TV, but I came to cheer them on in person. I’m sure they’ve been training hard, so I hope they win and get a good result. I hope they’ll be careful not to get hurt, especially Son Min-soo. I’ll enjoy the snacks that Hyundai Glovis brought for them.”
“I’m here to support my friend from elementary school, the proud Jung Yeon-sik, and I’ve watched him play a lot since then. I always wish the Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team well, and I’ll be cheering them on especially today. I’m predicting a 37-10 score today!”
“I am a junior in high school and I play rugby. I’m looking forward to Hwang Jung-wook’s performance, he’s my brother. I hope we can win today’s match and become the best rugby team in Korea. Honestly, I think they will win easily. Go Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team!”
Hyundai Glovis took control of the game early, scoring seven points in the first nine minutes with five tries from Jeong Yeon-sik (a try is when the ball is touched down in the in-goal area) and two conversion kicks from Nam Yu-jun (a kick added from the desired location when a try is scored). In the 18th minute, Baek Jong-eun got on the board when Shin Min-soo converted a kick into an empty space for a try.
In the 21st minute, a quick play by Nam Yu-jun that caught his opponents off guard led to nice passes from Lee Jin-kyu and Jeong Yeon-sik, with Jeong scoring his second try and Nam converting for a 14-0 lead. In the 33rd minute, the score was extended to 28-0 when Yang Geun-seop scored a try after a powerful break from the forwards, with the conversion kick added. The OKman Rugby Team scored a try and a conversion before the end of the half to make it 28-7 at the break.
The second half began on a positive note with a 35-7 lead when substitute Moon Jung-ho took a kick pass from Nam Yoo-joon to score a try, which Nam converted. Shin Min-soo and Tamanaga scored successive tries in the 30th and 35th minutes, respectively. In between, OKman scored to make it 47-19. Just before the end of the second half, Government Hyun Gong scored a try and a converted kick from the kickoff to end the game with a 54-19 lead.
The match was followed by an awards ceremony. Hyundai Glovis’ Jeong Yeon-sik was named Most Valuable Player (MOM) of the match, while Timothee Ravati was named MVP of the tournament. Hyundai Glovis head coach Kim Yong-ho said after the game, “I’m grateful to all the players and staff for finishing the tournament without any major injuries. I think it was a victory for the entire Hyundai Glovis team. We are grateful to our staff, who always show a lot of interest and support.” The players showed no signs of fatigue as they celebrated their victory, while the Hyundai Glovis supporters cheered and applauded.
“It is great to win the Korea Rugby League Championship after the championship of the Korean National Sports Festival. We were determined to win no matter what, and we were able to do so because we were a team from the beginning, and I think our plan to defend well against the opposing Mercenary players who were very good at their game worked well. I think we were able to win the MOM because all of our players did a good job, and I would like to give the honor of the MOM to all of them. We will maintain our current good form and remain a Hyundai Glovis team for a long time.
I think the coach will be most pleased with today’s victory. He was wearing a poker face earlier, but I think he’ll be all smiles at the dinner table. What’s for dinner? Meat. Haha.”
“Before the game, the players were very confident, and we worked hard to win. It wasn’t an easy game today, but we played as a team, and said that we are a team and we will finish the game. The players did a great job, and we will win again next year. We had a lot of supporters, so it was a good feeling for all the players, so thank you.”
“It feels really good to win, and I was really emotional because I could see how much the players wanted to win throughout the game. The score gap opened up early and the players felt that we needed to widen it rather than maintain it, because even though our team is considered to be at a higher level than OKman, there is some fear on the part of the players because OKman has beaten them by a large margin in previous games. I think the fact that we never let our guard down and analyzed and prepared for our opponents perfectly was a factor in our victory. I think our simple goal of “catching two mercenaries well” also worked well today. Personally, as captain, I didn’t want to be greedy to make myself stand out, I just wanted everyone on the team to do well.
Our goal now is to win the rest of Korea Rugby League and the national championship. The players can do much better with a lot of supporters, so please keep coming to the stadium. Thank you.”
“All the hard work has paid off. I’m really happy, and I’m going to enjoy it at the dinner table.”
“It is a great honor to start all three matches in my first tournament with Hyundai Glovis. I’m even happier to have won!”
Meanwhile, the Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team has won back-to-back titles, after winning the Korea Rugby League 2023 Second Division title in May last year and the gold medal at the 104th National Sports Games in October, and has won 12 matches in a row. This is the fruit of the sweat and hard work of the players, managers and coaches on the field and the support of the Hyundai Glovis fans. In its eighth year of existence, the Hyundai Glovis Rugby Team has proven to be the strongest rugby team in Korea and has risen to the top.
By Editorial Department
2024.05.10