The Emmen rugby team has made a firm resolution ahead of its first tournament in 2025.
OK Financial Group noted, "The OK Emmen rugby team (hereafter referred to as Emmen rugby team) will participate in the '39th Chungmu-gi National Rugby Championship' held at the Jindo public stadium from the 18th to the 29th." This will be the first official tournament for the Emmen rugby team in 2025, where the general division for industrial teams will compete in a group stage to determine the winning team, and the Emmen rugby team will face Korea Electric Power Corporation on the 18th, POSCO on the 24th, and Hyundai GLOVIS on the 29th.
Entering its third year as an industrial team this year, the Emmen rugby team has emerged as a strong team that does not fall behind compared to the previous strongholds of industrial teams. Last year, the team won the runner-up position in the global entertainment service 'Netflix' reality show 'Ultimate Rugby: Win or Die,' and also earned a silver medal in the rugby general division at the 105th National Sports Festival, achieving visible success. The Emmen rugby team is determined to continue its upward trend from last year by winning the trophy at its first tournament in 2025.
The Emmen rugby team has also begun preparing for this tournament early through overseas training this year. Along with intensive training, the team conducted two practice matches with NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes, which belongs to the Japan Rugby League One Division 2, enhancing technical skills and boosting teamwork and match experience.
The team also strengthened its squad with the recruitment of new foreign players. The Emmen rugby team has signed Brandon Moodzekenihedi, Dillon Utete (both from Zimbabwe), and Michael Roswood (from Australia), as well as Korean-Japanese player Choi Chang-hyun this year. Among them, Zimbabwean players Brandon Moodzekenihedi and Dillon Utete have already showcased their skills in front of Korean rugby fans last year.
Brandon and Dillon participated as Zimbabwean players in a test match between the South Korean rugby team and the Zimbabwean rugby team held in November last year, displaying outstanding skills. Due to their impressive performance at that time, they were signed as new foreign players for the Emmen rugby team, with Brandon expected to contribute significantly in the center and wing positions, while Dillon is expected to be a strong asset in the flanker and lock positions.
Emmen rugby team coach Oh Young-gil said, "Thanks to Chairman Choi Yoon’s support, we achieved last year’s results and can prepare for this year’s tournament without any issues. I would like to express my gratitude once again," and added, "We will do our best with the players to achieve a positive result starting from the first tournament this year."
Emmen rugby team captain Yoo Gi-jung stated, "We confirmed multiple times through various tournaments that we do not fall behind other industrial teams, which has boosted the confidence of the team. Based on this confidence, I will lead by example so that the Emmen rugby team can step up another level."
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