The Winning Try Episode 1 Review: This Made Me Laugh Out Loud!

Once a rising star in Korean rugby, a former athlete finds his promising career cut short by a scandal that forces him out of the spotlight. Years later, he makes an unexpected return, not as a player, but as the coach of his struggling high school team. However, that comes with its fair share of challenges.

The Winning Try Episode 1 has a runtime of 67 minutes.

The series is expected to have 12 episodes, streaming every Friday and Saturday from July 25, 2025, to Aug 30, 2025.

The Winning Try Episode 1 Recap

This episode starts with a thrilling rugby match between the strongest team of the league, Japan and the most promising team, South Korea.  Even though Japan has the edge being the best, South Korea has Ju Ga-ram, the MVP of the Korean rugby team. He leaves the finals with a magnificent win, but everything comes crashing down when he gets embroiled in a doping scandal. This not only finishes his career as a professional rugby player, but also takes away the title that he helped his country win.

After years, Ga-ram comes back to the field as a coach for his alma mater’s rugby team, which is struggling to get by, as this team is on a losing streak with talented but unmotivated players. They all have the potential to be great, but each of them comes with quirks that hinder their progress. Among them, the most talented one is Seong-jun, who is the captain of the team and also the most responsible player. However, when he finds out Ga-ram will be their next coach, Seong-jun outright refuses to accept him.

Sadly, the rugby team has way more problems on their plate than the new coach. First of all, the Vice Principal and other coaches do not like the fact that the rugby team gets a budget because they want to hog that money for themselves. On top of that, the head of PTA is also conspiring with the Vice Principal because he wants to further his own daughter’s career, who is in the shooting team.

We also get a romance angle in the series, as we see Ga-ram used to have a romantic relationship with I-ji, a coach of the shooting team. After the scandal with drugs, Ga-ram leaves I-ji without explaining anything, and now that he’s back, I-ji wants nothing but to shoot him.

Towards the end of this episode, things really looked bleak for the rugby team as Seong-jun himself voted to kick Ga-ram out as the coach without consulting with his teammates. He does this because he was promised a new coach after the Rite of Passage ceremony by the Vice Principal. However, things do not go accordingly, and Ga-ram showcases how he is not going anywhere in an entertaining but explosive way.

The Winning Try Episode 1 Review

I absolutely loved the first episode of the series because it has all the elements to become an entertaining sports drama in the long run. The comedy used here is really good, as it does make you laugh. Other than that, we also have a set of likeable and unlikable characters who do not come off as one-dimensional. I am definitely eagerly waiting for the next episode to see what the fate of the rugby team will be.

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