The Winning Try episode 7 review — Secrets revealed, bonds tested, and the game ignited

Scene from The Winning Try | Image via: Netflix
Scene from The Winning Try | Image via: Netflix

The Winning Try shows once again that it is more than a sports drama, with Episode 7 weaving romance, comedy, and heavy revelations into a seamless whole. The lack of rugby until the final minutes feels like a statement: the game is everywhere, even in the way people fight for each other off the field. By the time the whistle blows in this episode of The Winning Try, every interaction already feels like part of the match.

The storytelling in this episode, as always in The Winning Try, feels precise and intentional. Every shift from laughter to tears lands where it should, and the rhythm is so fluid that the changes seem invisible. Such consistency keeps the drama strong week after week. The emotions strike with the clean force of a breakaway try, sudden yet perfectly set up.

Ga-ram’s sacrifice and I-ji’s awakening

The opening of episode 7 of The Winning Try takes us back three years, to Ga-ram’s retirement and the silence that followed. It is a brutal reminder that sports careers end in locker rooms as much as in stadiums, and that missed conversations can haunt more than lost games. His present struggle, refusing surgery despite a worsening condition, adds urgency. For Ga-ram, coaching means protecting his players, even at the cost of his own health.

I-ji’s realization at this moment in The Winning Try lands with the weight of a crowd gasp after a sudden tackle. She learns his silence was sacrifice, a move made for her career when she did not even know the play was happening. It reframes years of resentment into empathy, and we follow that pivot with her.

In The Winning Try, Ga-ram embodies the kind of captain every locker room wishes for, someone who takes the pain so the rest can play freely. His gravitas sets the tone, not just for I-ji, but for the entire story.

Ju Ga-ram in The Winning Try | Image via: Netflix
Ju Ga-ram in The Winning Try | Image via: Netflix

Comedy, connection, and the team spirit

Then comes the shift, a genuine reset. I-ji covers for Ga-ram at the hospital, claiming her own “yips” are to blame. The penalty is removal from coaching, but the punishment becomes an opportunity. Suddenly she is running drills, sweating through cardio, and laughing alongside the team. These are training montages disguised as comedy beats, but they are also about rhythm, timing, and trust, the same qualities that make a try possible on the pitch. The Winning Try does have heart.

The rugby squad welcomes her and absorbs her energy, changing the chemistry of the group. The laughs between her and Ga-ram work like repetitions in practice, conditioning for the bigger emotional plays ahead. Watching her slide into the team dynamic feels like seeing a player find the perfect gap in the defense. It looks effortless, but it carries the polish of hours of unseen preparation. By the end, she belongs in the lineup.

The thrill of the game and looming tensions in The Winning Try

The President’s Cup arrives in The Winning Try, and the energy rises. The stadium buzz, the kick-off, the first surge down the field, this is rugby but also payoff for everything we have watched off the pitch. Hanyang opens with a try, a moment that carries vindication, momentum, and the roar of belief echoing through the team.

Triumph quickly gives way to unease. Ung freezes mid-tackle, and the hesitation hits as hard as a missed conversion. It reveals deeper scars, as raw and dangerous as any injury. Around this, side plots swell: Seong-jun juggling love and family pressure, Nak-gyun spilling secrets under the haze of alcohol, and Hui-tae arriving with the sharp eye of a journalist who carries an agenda. The episode sets the stage for future clashes, showing that every choice off the field finds its way back when the game is on the line.

Scene from The Winning Try | Image via: Netflix
Scene from The Winning Try | Image via: Netflix

A family worth embracing

By the final whistle, The Winning Try has once again proven it is playing a bigger game than rugby alone. Episode 7 blends strategy with sentiment, keeping viewers invested in both the scoreboard and the quiet moments between characters. The drama understands that a team is built in practice, in sacrifice, in laughter, and in truths spoken at the right time.

It leaves you with the urge to step onto that field, not to play, but to stand in the huddle with them. They are flawed, they are vulnerable, but they are a team you want to embrace. That feeling is the real victory.

Rating with a touch of flair: 5 out of 5 tries that start with love and end with resilience.

Edited by Beatrix Kondo