The Winning Try episode 3 review: One shot, one recruit, one heartbeat away from collapse

The third episode of The Winning Try begins in chaos, veers into comedy, and then lands a gut-punch so sincere it might knock the wind out of you like it did to me.

The Winning Try has never hidden the odds stacked against Hanyang’s rugby team, but episode 3 proves that desperation is only part of the story. What really matters here is grit, and the glint of hope that refuses to die no matter how many times they try to blow the final whistle.

Blood sport, boardrooms, and backstabbing

The third episode of The Winning Try picks up in the aftermath of Tae-pung’s sudden exit, another calculated move by Vice-Principal Seong and Coach Kim to sabotage the team from within. They have weaponized every rule and deadline to push the rugby club toward extinction, and this time they almost succeed. Ga-ram has three days to find a new player. If he fails, the team folds. And of course, he lies and says he already has someone lined up.

So begins a mad scramble that is part spy caper, part rom-com, and entirely unhinged in the best way. The Winning Try gives it all to us. Ga-ram raids the school files, dodges surveillance, and ends up tackled by both the school alarm system and the cops, all while still refusing to ask I-ji for help directly. Their dynamic remains the spiciest subplot on the field, with Ga-ram's earnest confessions meeting I-ji's bulletproof emotional armor.

But the chaos masks something deeper in The Winning Try. Underneath the slapstick desperation lies a man who still believes. Not just in the game, but in the people around it, and in the idea that failure does not make you unworthy of trying again.

Enter Mun Ung: a legacy packed in silence

The emotional core of this episode of The Winning Try does not fully reveal itself until Ga-ram tracks down Mun Cheol-yeong, the rugby legend known as Rhino, and his son Ung.

Cheol-yeong, now a worn-out diner owner numbing the past with soju and silence, has buried his medals and his dreams. His knee injury might have put an end to his career, but it is the shame that truly benched him. He refuses to let his son touch the ball, hoping to shield him from the same fall.

Ga-ram, of course, barges in like a tank on fire.

His tactics are absurd: feeding the U-20 national team just to lure the Rhinos to a practice session. But they work. One casual pass from Ung is all it takes to confirm what Ga-ram already knew: talent does not hide forever. And once it surfaces, it demands a future.

Ga-ram and Rhino: confession as confrontation

The van crash shifts the tone hard. When Cheol-yeong assaults Ga-ram in the hospital, it is not just rage. It is fear, guilt, and the echo of dreams that still ache. But Ga-ram does not retaliate. He bargains for a walk instead.

What follows is the kind of conversation that elevates the entire show.

Ga-ram does not sugarcoat anything. He admits to doping, admits he did not trust himself or his team enough to win clean. He paints his fall as real, not sabotage, not injustice, just plain self-destruction. And that is exactly why he refuses to let Cheol-yeong do the same to Ung.

"You are punishing him for your choices," he says, and you can feel the weight of it. Two men whose bodies and careers cracked under pressure, now facing the one thing harder than failure: choosing to hope again.

The return: a victory worth shouting about

The final minutes are electric. Just as the vice principal prepares to declare the team finished, Ga-ram storms in with Ung, flanked of course by Seok-bong, because drama loves backup dancers. The team in The Winning Try explodes with joy. Seong’s face crumples like a paper villain. And for a few moments, it feels like the world might be fair again.

The medal that Cheol-yeong once hid now hangs proudly in the diner. The ticket Ga-ram gives Ung marks the beginning of a life he was never allowed to imagine. It signals a return to school, but also a step toward everything he was denied.

And honestly, that is the kind of emotional play you cannot train for. It just hits.

Rating with a touch of flair (Placard)

Emotional impact: 5 out of 5 — one of the best “recruitment arcs” ever done in under 60 minutes

Sports trauma therapy: it's about rugby, regret, pride, and the courage to let go.

Performance of the episode: Yoon Kyesang as Ga-ram: he turns comedy into gravitas in a heartbeat.

Highlight moment: Cheol-yeong quietly saying “sorry” as he sends Ung off. More powerful than any monologue.

Surprise factor: Off the charts. We thought we were getting a silly sports caper, not a full-blown redemption drama. More than welcome.

The Winning Try: Let them play

The Winning Try celebrates more than the fight to keep a rugby team alive. At its core, it’s a story about reclaiming belief. Episode 3 throws a spotlight on what it means to get a second chance and actually take it, even when the odds and the officials are against you.

Ga-ram sees the game for what it truly is: not a path to glory, but a place where people can start over, where fathers can say what they could not, where young players can carry the weight of old dreams and still run forward and where medals once hidden can finally shine.

And if that is not worth fighting for, what is?