From zero to hero in a matter of months | Bay of Plenty Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Bay of Plenty

WhenN Jimin Suh arrived in New Zealand at the beginning of this year he had never even seen a game of rugby played.

Now he is about to make history as the first South Korean to represent Bay of Plenty in the code when he takes the field in this year's prestigious Northern Roller Mills schoolboy tournament!

A Year 8 student at Otumoetai Intermediate School, Jimin is "a natural" who has quickly gained a sound understanding of rugby's rules, according to coach Marcus Hughes.

His introduction to the game started with him "mucking about" with mates in the school playground last autumn and quickly developing excellent handling skills with the oval ball.

That caught the eye of the coach, who invited him to take part in trials for the school XV, where his general play and a 70-metre runaway try saw him selected, initially as a flanker.

Jimin has also played a couple of games as a prop, but now has found his niche at lock. He was selected for the Tauranga East team, which finished runners-up in this year's Bay of Plenty Tai Mitchell Shield tournament to Tauranga West and has subsequently been selected for the Roller Mills' XV.

From near Pusan in South Korea, softly spoken Jimin attended an English academy there but has been sent to New Zealand to improve his oral English. He is on his own in this country, homestaying with a local family, and initially expected to return to Korea at the end of this year.

But his parents now want him to continue studying here in 2011. What will happen after that he does not know.

"I really enjoy rugby - both the tackling and running with the ball," he says.

And Jimin can certainly run. He was a junior sprinter in Korea, and the fastest member of this year's Tai Mitchell team here. But hais talents don't stop at rugby - he is an equally talented striker with a soccer ball and scored all three goals for Otumoetai in a recent inter-school 3-nil win over Gisborne Intermediate.

"Actually Jimin could equally easily play basketball for us in this month's national AIMS Games," says Marcus. "However he can only play one code and we have decided his rugby talents will be the most useful to the school."

That suits the young Korean sportsman, who says rugby is his preferred code right now. But he has no idea how far he might be able to go in the game. Rugby has a very small following in his homeland and Jimin has no knowledge if there is even a formal club structure there.