24 Feb 2010, Posted by Kiwi Admin in Home-Middle,News, 0 Comments

Rugby Legend Visits Korea

02-23-2010 20:43

Rugby Legend Visits Korea

Left: John Kirwan, left, a former rugby player, coaches children and adults in a game at the Seoul Foreign School sports field, last Wednesday. Right: Kirwan, center, talks with local students.

/ Korea Times Photos by Shim Hyun-chu

By J.R. Breen
Contributing Writer

Most rugby teams kick off the season with a friendly and some regular training sessions. Local team Seoul Survivors Rugby Football Club has begun its year with something a bit more special.

Last Wednesday, rugby legend John Kirwan — in Korea to speak at the Kiwi Chamber (New Zealand Chamber of Commerce) — spent an evening at Seoul Foreign School teaching the Survivor’s and the Colts, their youth team, a few tips.

“(The Kiwi Chamber) asked me to come over and speak tomorrow night at the dinner and they said will I be available to coach kids, and I think it’s fantastic, this is the grass roots,” Kirwan said last Wednesday.

For rugby fans, New Zealander Kirwan is a legend. He was one of the youngest ever players to appear for the national team, the All Blacks, playing his first match at 19.

He is a rugby legend, perhaps best remembered for the 1987 world cup, which the All Blacks won, where he ran the entire field to score a try.

It may come as a surprise to fans, but throughout his All Black career Kirwan suffered from depression. Having recovered, he has become a spokesperson for depression awareness and recovery, working with New Zealand’s Ministry of Health by starring in a series of commercials on the subject.

Seoul Survivors’ player and Colts coach Dan Grover — watching from the sidelines due to a broken leg from last season — was awed by the Rugby veteran.

“He’s a big deal, he is a very big deal,” Grover said. “This is the man that won the 1987 World Cup with New Zealand, the only World Cup that New Zealand has ever won.

“I have never had a session with a guy as senior as this.”

Although the Survivors have trained a few times this year, bad weather and pitch conditions have prevented regular sessions.

“The (Survivors) have been training for a couple of weeks but it’s been very cold, so the seniors can’t really train on the hard ground,” he said. “There has only been 45 hours worth of training going on, it’s been pretty weak.”

For the younger side, the session with Kirwan marked the beginning of their year.

“The colts get started after this,” Grover said, “It’s a fantastic way to kick it off and we’re very lucky to have a guy like this.”

Whilst at Seoul Foreign School, Kirwan also found time to coach some students, age 10 to 14, on the basics.

“(This) is where the footy starts. I like giving out coaching to kids,” Kirwan said.

Thursday evening Kirwan spoke at the Kiwi Chamber. When he took to the podium he spoke not only about his extensive rugby career, but also about his turbulent personal life.

Kirwan managed to involve the crowd — 180 strong, including ambassadors, bankers, businessmen and rugby players — in some motivational exercises, including dancing and hugging.

Accompanying the event was an auction of John Kirwan-signed and All Black memorabilia. All items were sold, raising roughly 4.5 million won, proceeds are being used to help foster the development of rugby for foreign children in Korea.

Kirwan is the current head coach of the Japanese national rugby team. He says that he hopes to win the 2010 Asia Cup of Nations because it is also the qualifier for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Asia Cup of Nations was inaugurated in 2008, Japan has won the event both times — last year included South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and Singapore.

Previously the coach of the Italian national side, Kirwan has an Italian wife who lives in Italy with their three children. With his work in Japan, Kirwan is routinely traveling.

“I do 10 days in Japan and 10 days in Italy,” he said. “I commute to work. There’s no traffic though.”

When asked about South Korea’s rugby team, Kirwan doled out some advice.

“They are pretty physical I think for the Asian teams they are probably the biggest, strongest,” he said. “I think that fitness is going to be important for (South Korea) in playing at a high level.

“I think if I was coaching here I would be using their physique making sure they’re fit and strong and play hard football, because they are a lot bigger than the other Asian teams.”

jrbreen@koreatimes.co.kr