A less rowdy version of rugby

Expats enjoy touch rugby at Yongsan Family Park, central Seoul, last Saturday. By Moon Gwang-lip

As the sun beats down and sweat streams from his brow, Choi Jae-sub, 25, maintains his smile as he fixes his eyes on the pitch where he’s just finished playing one of his favorite sports.
Early last Saturday, Choi and 11 others, mostly expats, lined up on the grass-covered field at Yongsan Family Park, Seoul, to play touch rugby.
Choi, who played wing on a Yonsei University rugby team, says touch rugby is no less serious and no less fun than full-contact rugby.
“Playing touch rugby, you run as much as you do in rugby. It takes a lot of speed and stamina,” said Choi from the sidelines, waiting for his turn to come back into the match.
“The sport itself is fun and so is mingling with many different people.”
The sport drew as many as 40 expatriates and Koreans together Saturday, according to Duncan Cole, one of the organizers.
The group gets the same turnout just about every week, Cole added.
He attributes the simpler and safer nature of touch rugby to the sport’s rising popularity in Korea.
In a match of two six-member teams, a team can score through a try, which is when any of its members carries the rugby ball onto the other team’s side and touches it to the ground over the goal-line.
The only way to prevent the other team from scoring is if an opposing player touches the ball or body of the player holding the ball. The play resumes from where the touch was made.
A turnover takes place when a player misses a pass and the ball falls to the ground. With little risk of inury, touch rugby is open to anyone, regardless of gender or age, which makes the sport unique.
Some female players last Saturday proved their speed and skill on the field.
“I love this sport because it is co-ed,” said Maryszka Clovis, a 23-year-old Canadian, who scored a touch during one game. A touch is when a player carries the ball over the touch-line.
"We just play the sport, and don’t worry about gender and all that nonsense," she said.
Coed play is just one reason why people enjoy touch rugby. The game also allows people of different vocations to play together.
Take Paul Schenk, a 34-year-old Australian who works as senior chef at the InterContinental Hotel in Seoul.
With 500 chefs working under him, cooking is much more difficult than playing touch rugby, Schenk said.
“This is purely for fun. Cooking is great fun, too, but this is a little bit more physical,”he said with a chuckle.
Cole, one of the organizers, is the trade commissioner at the Australian Embassy in Seoul. He said he wants to see more Korean participants.
“It is open to anyone,” Cole said.
“Everyone can play. That’s the beauty of it. We would like to see as many Koreans as possible come and play.”

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]