La jugada ganadora

It was fun in the first few episodes but then, it's like almost all of the preceding episodes were full of false hopes and disappointments . It gets boring eventually. Definitely not a feel-good drama !

Would have been nicer to watch the rugby team play more games , trying to win, giving more meaning to the drama title .

The promotional posters would have you believe The Winning Try is a feel-good rugby sports show. It's kinda not.

Instead, what you get is a massive amount of school drama with some rugby on the side. Rugby is just icing on the cake. The actual screen time of rugby being played is shockingly low.

Rather, what's really here is a bunch of old crusty men scheming episode after episode with annoying little plans to set themselves up for promotions and to get rid of Joo Gam-ram (ML) from his coaching job.

Then there is the entire storyline the female lead goes through as an air pistol coach. Of course there's romance between the ML and her. But you can't forget that each individual player on the rugby and air pistol teams needs development too! Don't forget, the ML has his own problems he has to deal with alongside trying to keep his job every episode. Did I mention the entire air pistol sport takes just as much screen time as the rugby segments?

Simply put, the show is doing too much with so little time.

If you manage to enjoy the different storylines, it is rather enjoyable.

The kids have heart, and the ending is satisfying.

The 1st episode sets up the premise.

The 2nd episode gets interesting. The story goes deeper into the meaning of sports/rugby that can be applied to life. It is exciting to see how the underdogs will overcome all odds.

Overall, the drama covers serious social & system issues, peppered with humour. Lastly, tons of eye-candies.

Watch this if you want to see the most charming series ever. It has everything you want in a simple K-drama: lots of adorable men, strong women, a few villains, a little bit of intrigue, comedy and whimsy, just enough romance, and many heartwarming sport bits.

Highly recommended if you want to watch something uncomplicated and addictive.

A thoroughly entertaining and (for the most part) well-crafted series. Rugby is so little known in some countries that the opening show feels the need to carefully explain how the game works. Fortunately we get past that quickly and into this very physical sport and understanding the boys who play it. But the rules of rugby are not what this drama is about. It's about people, trust, and caring.

The secondary plot about the shooting team appears to be there so that the show is not exclusively about male bonding and to introduce the mandatory romances. It is OK, but minor.

Most of the members of the seven member rugby team are fully written, but by the end of the series we realize we know very little about some of them - a mistake or a deliberate choice? Some blank canvases there waiting to be fully painted.

I couldn't wait for each new episode, so it clearly worked for me. But I have one technical quibble: why does this director (and a number of others in Korea) ignore or deliberately break the 180 degree rule (sometimes know as "crossing the line")? It exists for a good reason, and has served movies and TV well for many decades. Is it ignorance of the rule, or a desire to be different? It certainly bothered this viewer.

Nevertheless, a very entertaining series. Congrats.