SBS’s Friday-Saturday series 'The Winning Try' (written by Lim Jin-a, directed by Jang Young-seok) is a comedic coming-of-age sports drama about freewheeling coach Joo Garam leading perennial underdogs Hanyang High’s rugby team on a wild run at Korea’s National Sports Festival title. The show opened with a peak 4.8% rating and climbed to 8.3% by Episode 6, charting a feel-good upswing.
Blurring fiction and reality, the series is boosting engagement by expanding the team’s universe onto social media. Cast members hop online in character―posting, replying, and keeping the story going between episodes.
The official SBS Drama account even jokes in its bio, “This is the SBS Drama account―borrowed occasionally by Hanyang High,” and styles its feed like the team’s own page. New 'The Winning Try' content lands weekly in short-form clips that look exactly like the videos real high-school boys would post, dialing up the “is this real?” factor.
Ahead of the premiere, a playful intro video of the rugby members racked up about 3.5 million cross-platform views, drawing comments like “I thought they were actual students” and “Convinced they were a real team,” which helped turbocharge interest. The top-performing bit so far―a “read your friend’s lips and say it for them” challenge―has amassed around 5.4 million views, spotlighting the seven teammates’ easygoing, real-friend chemistry.
In another clip, Hwang Sung-bin (who plays Kim Ju-yang) turns on the charm with a cream bun, prompting the entire Hanyang High lineup to pile into the comments from their personal accounts: “Kim Ju-yang, what are you doing?” “Is that a bulgogi burger in your hand?” “You scared me,” “Was that you, Ju-yang? See you back at the dorm.” A real professional rugby team even jumped into the bit, commenting, “We’ll be keeping a close eye on Hanyang High,” and sparking even more buzz.
As 'The Winning Try's universe widens through social content, affection for Hanyang High keeps rising. Online communities are flooded with in-character hype like, “Sign me up for the rugby team,” “Let’s go win nationals!” “Protect the rugby boys’ happiness,” “Hanyang High, my team―see you at the Presidential Cup,” and “Their in-character replies are ridiculously cute.”
Episode 7 of 'The Winning Try' airs Friday, the 15th, at 9:50 p.m.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)