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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Yoon Kye-sang, Im Se-mi, Kim Yo-han
Latest Nielsen rating: 4.4 per cent
The latest sports K-drama ventures into the world of a game not typically associated with South Korea: rugby.
The sport may be unfamiliar to most local viewers but The Winning Try’s story is almost certainly not – a celebrated sportsman falls from grace and begins coaching a school team with a disastrous track record.


Yoon Kye-sang (The Kidnapping Day) plays the shaggy Joo Ga-ram, once the star player of the Korean national rugby squad. He led his team to victory at the Asian Cup only to be disgraced by doping charges in the aftermath.
Three years later, Ga-ram is brought by his old teacher Kang Jeong-hyo (Gil Hae-yeon, Trigger) to fill the rugby coaching vacancy at Hanyang Physical Education High School.
The team had not managed a single win the previous year, and several people at the school would like to disband the team.
In this environment, one would think that the team members would welcome the arrival of Ga-ram, who is all smiles and raring to go, but the former star quickly realises that he is facing opposition from both the school and his players.

Most dead set against Ga-ram’s appointment is team captain Yoon Seong-jun (Kim Yo-han of the K-pop group WEi).
In one scene, Seong-jun and his teammates are standing on the pitch, but the referee will not allow the game to start until a coach arrives. They plead with him to allow the game to start and then, in the nick of time, Ga-ram arrives.
But once Seong-jun recognises Ga-ram, he asks the referee to disqualify his team – he would rather not play at all than play under Ga-ram.
Another person at Hanyang who is against Ga-ram is shooting instructor Bae I-ji (Im Se-mi, The Worst of Evil), his ex-girlfriend whom he suddenly ghosted in the wake of his scandal.

One evening, I-ji is chatting with a friend, explaining that she would kill Ga-ram if she ever saw him again.
Moments later, he shows up, and I-ji makes good on her promise, or tries at least – rushing to unlock the armoury in the shooting training facility. Ga-ram tries to be playful but makes his getaway before she can get inside.
In contrast to rugby, shooting is familiar to many Korean viewers. Korean athletes – such as Kim Ye-ji, who became a global sensation during the Paris 2024 Olympics for her style and poise – are among the world’s top contenders in the sport.

The only person in Ga-ram’s corner is Jeong-hyo, his old teacher and the principal of Hanyang. She is able to protect the rugby team to some degree, but her retirement is only six months away and the vile vice-principal Seong Jong-man (Kim Min-sang, Hunter with a Scalpel) is already acting like the job is his.
This is partly because he has been superciliously currying favour with superintendent Na Guy-won (Jang Hyuk-jin, Taxi Driver), who will do anything to support his daughter Na Seol-hyun (Sung Zi-young, Resident Playbook), a member of Hanyang’s shooting team. This includes disbanding the rugby team.
A petition to fire Ga-ram is introduced almost immediately after he arrives, and since both faculty and players seem to be against him, he has his work cut out for him. But Ga-ram is no quitter.
He makes his presence known when the rugby team, who have been denied access to crucial training facilities, are forced to prepare the annual rite to bless the year ahead despite being the only sport not included in the display.

From deep within the ranks of the students stood to attention, he spins a rugby ball right into the mouth of the ceremonial pig head cake on the altar, splashing vice-principal Song with pink frosting.
While this would surely be grounds for immediate dismissal in the real world, in the feel-good sports comedy-drama The Winning Try, it is the symbol of Ga-ram’s arrival.
It serves both to win over the reticent rugby players – save for Seong-joon, who will need more of a personal touch – and to show the broader faculty that corruption within the school should not be tolerated.
From the outset, there is little mystery as to what trajectory the show will take, but when it comes to stories with rigid formulas such as these, what matters most is charisma and chemistry.
The amiable Yoon is bringing the charisma, but we will need to wait a little longer to see if chemistry develops between him and Im.
The Winning Try is streaming on Netflix.


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Netflix K-drama The Winning Try: Yoon Kye-sang and Im Se-mi lead feel-good rugby drama

Yoon Kye-sang as disgraced rugby star turned school coach Joo Ga-ram in a still from The Winning Try, which has got off to a promising start.

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Im Se-mi as Ga-ram’s ex-girlfriend Bae I-ji in a still from The Winning Try.

Kim Min-sang as vile vice-principal Seong Jong-man in a still from The Winning Try.

Yoon Kye-sang in a still from The Winning Try.

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Yoon is the coach of a rugby team captained by Kim Yo-han in The Winning Try, a fun but formulaic sports K-drama that shows promise


Yoon is the coach of a rugby team captained by Kim Yo-han in The Winning Try, a fun but formulaic sports K-drama that shows promise.


Netflix K-drama The Winning Try: Yoon Kye-sang and Im Se-mi lead feel-good rugby drama

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Yoon is the coach of a rugby team captained by Kim Yo-han in The Winning Try, a fun but formulaic sports K-drama that shows promise

Yoon is the coach of a rugby team captained by Kim Yo-han in The Winning Try, a fun but formulaic sports K-drama that shows promise