Korea Super Rugby League
Current season
2023 Korea Super Rugby League
SportRugby union
Formerly known asKorea Rugby League (2003–2008, 2018-2021), Korea Spring League (2008-2018)
Inaugural season2003
Number of teams10 (4 Corporate teams), (5 University teams), (1 Military team)
Country South Korea
ChampionsKEPCO Rugby
(2022)
Most titles
  • KEPCO Rugby
(6 titles)
Website

The Korea Super Rugby league (formally he Korea Rugby League and Korea Spring League) is a semi professional rugby union league based in South Korea. It is run by the Korean Rugby Union. KEPCO Rugby is the reigning champion of the 2022 season.

2023 season

Format

The season was split into two stages, the first stage will have the four corporate teams face of and the four university league teams face off against each other separately. It will run from March 25th to 8th April.

The second stage will be composed of three levels; the Top 4 (level one) and will have Hyundai Glovis, KEPCO Rugby, POSCO Rugby and KAFAC or OK Financial Group Okman. Division 2 (level two) which will be composed of the top two university teams as well as the OK Financial Group Okman or KAFAC. Division 3 (level three) which will be composed of the bottom two university teams and the champion of the Spring Rugby League 2023. The second stage will run from May 6th to May 20th.[1][2]

Teams

Corporate Division

University Division
Will not feature until stage two
  • KAFAC - Unable for stage one due to participating in World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.[9][1]
  • [Yet to be decided] - Champion of the Spring Rugby League 2023.

History

In 2003 with Japan, South Koreas creates rival, having a much larger player pool and the possible liquidation on Koreas largest club (KEPCO) the South Korean rugby federation decides to merge the corporation and university championships to form a single league: The Korea Rugby League. The announcement was made on the 29th of April 2003 with the championship launching in May that year. With 7 teams with a single round robin format Samsung SDI became inaugural champions of the Korea Rugby League.

In 2008 the Korea Rugby League merged with the National Spring League, to for the Korea Spring League. Unfortunately in 2010 Daesim rugby (joined in 2007) filed for bankruptcy causing them to leave the league, POSCO Rugby (formally Pohang Steel) replaced them as the 4th team in the 2010 season.

In January 2015, Samsung SDI decided to dissolve its rugby team after record losses from the parent company. Samsung SDI was the backbone of South Korea's national team and was composed of many professional players.

The club thus had an annual budget of 1.5 million euros. Its loss caused great difficulty for South Korean rugby, which was then on the verge of disappearance. In December 2015 there was the launch of the Hyundai Glovis.[10] The latter will primarily recruit many players from the missing Samsung SDI rugby team. However it was not enough and the league was suspended for 2 years.

The championship returned three years later in 2017 with three teams: KEPCO, POSCO and Hyundai Glovis. KEPCO won its 4th title, the 3rd consecutive. From 2018, the championship renamed back to the Korea Rugby League.

From 2020, South Korean rugby is hit like all of Asia by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Korea Rugby League will be reduced to two games, a semi final and a final since POSCO was forced to forfeit. Hyundai Glovis won its 3rd title.

In 2021 Korean Rugby Union President Choi Yoon decides to create a new league: The Korea Super Rugby League.

The season takes place over six days, with each club playing six games (regular round trip phase). The numbers of the teams increase to at least 30 players (with the reinforcement of university players) to ensure the smooth running of the championship.

The new league will also be able to rely on the mass return from Japan of South Korean internationals such as Na Kwan Young and Chang Yong Heung who signed for KEPCO.[11]

President Choi Yoon announced that the Korea Rugby Union, now with a large budget thanks to nearly 30 major sponsors of major national companies, will issue the package financially in 2023.[12]

Season overview

2003, 2004 - 7 teams: Samsung SDI, Pohang Steel, KAFAC, Korea University, Yonsei University, Kyung Hee University and Dankook University.

2005 - 8 teams: Samsung SDI, Pohang Steel, KAFAC, Korea University, Yonsei University, Kyung Hee University and Dankook University, KEPCO.

2006 - Season not played, to allow the national team to focus on 2007 RWC qualification.

2007 - 6 teams: Pool A (Daesim, Korea University and Yonsei University) and Pool B (KAFAC, Dankook University and Kyung Hee University).

2008 - 5 teams: KAFAC, Samsung SDI, KEPCO, Pohang Steel and Daesim. Renamed Korea Spring League.

2009 - 3 teams: KAFAC, KEPCO and Daesim.

2010, 2011 - 4 teams: KAFAC, KEPCO, POSCO and Samsung SDI.

2012 - 4 teams: Incheon City Sports Association, KEPCO, POSCO and Samsung SDI.

2013, 2014 - 3 teams: Samsung SDI, KEPCO and POSCO.

2015, 2016 - Does not take place due to financial difficulties.

2017 - 3 teams: KEPCO, POSCO and Hyundai Glovis.

2018,2019 - 4 teams: KEPCO, Hyundai Glovis, KAFAC and POSCO. In 2018 the league was renamed back to Korea Rugby League.

2020 - 3 teams: KEPCO, Hyundai Glovis and KAFAC.

2021 - 2 teams POSCO and KEPCO.

2022 - 4 teams: KEPCO, Hyundai Glovis, POSCO Rugby and KAFAC.

2023 - 10 teams: Corporate Division (KEPCO, Hyundai Glovis, POSCO and OK Financial Group Okman), University Division (Korea University, Yonsei University, Kyung Hee University, Dankook University) and teams set to feature in stage two (KAFAC, Champion of the Spring Rugby League 2023).

Champions

Season Champions
Korea Rugby League
2003 Samsung SDI
2004 Samsung SDI
2005 KAFAC
2006 Tournament not held
2007 KAFAC
2008 Samsung SDI
Korea Spring League
2009 KEPCO Rugby
2010 POSCO Rugby
2011 POSCO Rugby
2012 Samsung SDI
2013 KEPCO Rugby
2014 KEPCO Rugby
2015 Tournament not held
2016
2017 KEPCO Rugby
2018 Hyundai Glovis/KEPCO Rugby/KAFAC
Korea Rugby League
2019 Hyundai Glovis/POSCO Rugby
2020 Hyundai Glovis
2021 POSCO Rugby
Korea Super Rugby League
2022 KEPCO Rugby

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hinato (6 February 2023). "Korea Super Rugby League 2023: Le calendrier et le format dévoilés". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  2. ↑ Hinato (20 March 2023). "Plusieurs changements majeurs en Korea Super Rugby League cette année". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Hyundai Glovis". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "OK Financial Group Okman". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Hinato (20 March 2023). "OK Financial Group lance le club corporatif de rugby OK Financial Group Okman". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "POSCO". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  7. ↑ 스포츠단, 포스코이앤씨. "포스코이앤씨 스포츠단". sports.poscoenc.com (in Korean). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "KEPCO". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "KAFAC". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Hyundai Glovis History". Hyundai Glovis.
  11. ↑ "- 구단연혁 | KEPCO -". home.kepco.co.kr. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  12. ↑ Hinato (14 November 2022). "De son lancement en 2003 à nos jours: L'histoire de la Korea Rugby League". Asierugby (in French). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
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