Quest for a Greater Challenge
What led the younger Koo to play for Japan, rather than South Korea?
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Ji-won and his brother, Koo Ji-yoon, two years his senior, began playing rugby at the same time. Their father sent them for an 18-month homestay in Wellington, New Zealand, a country known for its prowess in rugby, believing that the more competitive setting would help them to become better players. After New Zealand, the brothers set their sights on Japan.
Reflecting on their move, Dong-choon observed that “Rugby was only a minor sport in Korea—where soccer and baseball are almighty. Japan seemed like the only option for them after New Zealand. I knew that the rugby environment was far better in Japan than in Korea.”
Dong-choon once played for the Honda Motor Suzuka Factory Rugby Football Club, the predecessor to the Honda Heat, where his sons now play and he coaches. [On May 29, Koo Ji-won announced he would leave the team at the end of the 2020–21 season.—Ed.] “Even practice games attract spectators—this would be unthinkable in Korea.”
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Ultimate Rugby
But the Koo brothers faced a hurdle to studying in Japan—few schools accepted rugby exchange students from South Korea. Dong-choon asked his contacts, and his sons finally found placements in Ōita Prefecture, although they knew no one there.
The boys studied at Tsuruya Junior High, in the city of Saiki, and lived in the school’s dormitory. They continued on to Nippon Bunri University High School before entering Takushoku University, in Hachiōji, Tokyo. Throughout their school and college years, neither brother displayed any outstanding performances in national tournaments. Ji-won, the younger of the two, however, was chosen to play on the national U-20 and youth squads while still in high school, and earned a reputation as a strong prop, gradually gaining wider attention.


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