8 March 2023
The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF) is drawing near, with kick off taking place on 6 April. This year’s event will feature four teams from KZN, three from the Eastern Cape, two from Gauteng, one each from the Western Cape and Northern Cape, and English power, Hartpury College.
Festival participants
Nine of the schools played in last year’s Festival: Kearsney, Glenwood, Westville Boys’ High, DHS, Monument, Noord-Kaap, Marlow, Dr EG Jansen, and Framesby. Dale College, oftentimes a participant, returns to the fray.
The sole South African newcomer is Worcester Gimnasium, a co-ed and dual-medium school, which has exhibited strong all-round sporting prowess in recent years. The school ranked among the upper tier of 1st XVs in South Africa in 2022.
Hartpury has a big reputation to defend as they are the reigning champions in England’s leading under-18 programme for performance players, the Academy Colleges and Education (ACE) League. Since the competition began, Hartpury has dominated it, claiming the title 10 times in 12 years. In the ACE League, leading schools partner with top English clubs, and Hartpury is paired with Gloucester Rugby.
KZN Schools’ goals
The KZN schools enter the season off the back of vastly differing years in 2022. DHS enjoyed a strong season, which included a clean sweep of the Border’s Selborne College (16-13), Queen’s College (24-7) and Dale College (39-0) at the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival. They will, no doubt, be encouraged by their success and looking to build upon it.
Their traditional rivals, Glenwood, meanwhile, will be aiming higher. By most schools’ measures of success, the Green Machine had a good year in 2022, but by Glenwood’s high rugby standards it was slightly underwhelming.
Their Easter Rugby Festival results in 2022 were Glenwood 27-12 Pretoria Boys’ High, Glenwood 15-14 Selborne College, and Glenwood 10-17 Dr EG Jansen.
Aiming higher
Westville had an extraordinarily successful sporting year in 2022, with the school producing 22 boys who earned SA Schools colours across 14 sports. However, they were a little off the pace last season on the rugby field, by their own estimation, and are determined to change that narrative. The rugby programme is now under the leadership of former Natal Shark, Dusty Noble, who took over as Director of Rugby late last year.
At the 2022 KERF, Westville beat Noord-Kaap 24-0, but went down 20-33 to Monument, and lost 7-20 to Selborne.
Kearsney were inconsistent in 2022, recording some excellent wins and some head-scratching losses. Their 1st XV will be buoyed, however, by the addition of boys from the very successful under-16 A team of 2022 that roared its way to 13 wins in 14 matches.
At last year’s Festival, Kearsney fell 10-14 to Marlow in their opener, eked out an impressive 12-10 win over Waterkloof in their next outing, and were then well beaten by Framesby, who recorded a 26-6 victory, in their last match.
Hartpury open their South African adventure against Dr EG Jansen, a school with a rich rugby pedigree, and then face Westville and Kearsney. A win for the KZN schools would be a clear signal that the improvements they are seeking are present.
Sponsors
Standard Bank, a loyal supporter of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, remains the headline sponsor, while The Sharks, Sharks Academy and KZN Rugby Union continue their strong support of the event, with The Sharks Academy set to present the Festival’s leading players with bursaries at its conclusion. The Halfway Motor Group, too, remains a key sponsor.
Fixtures and Festival information will be made available on the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival App, and is also accessible on the school’s website Standard Bank Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival – Kearsney College and social media platforms.
All matches will be streamed live on the SuperSport Schools App.
FIXTURES
Thursday, 6 April
08:00 KZNRU Ibutho/Mark Godefroy u13 vs Umhlali Prep School
09:00 Kearsney College vs Dale College
10:20 Durban High School vs Worcester Gimnasium
11:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Hoërskool Framesby
13:00 Westville Boys’ High School vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
14:20 Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen vs Hartpury College (UK)
15:40 Glenwood High School vs Hoër Landbouskool Marlow
Saturday, 8 April
08:00 KZNRU Ibutho/Mark Godefroy u13 vs Highbury Prep School
09:00 Hartpury College (UK) vs Westville Boys’ High School
10:20 Worcester Gimnasium vs Hoër Landbouskool Marlow
11:40 Glenwood High School vs Dale College
13:00 Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen vs Kearsney College
14:20 Durban High School vs Hoërskool Framesby
15:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
Monday, 10 April
08:00 Westville Senior Primary School vs Hillcrest Primary School
09:00 Worcester Gimnasium vs Glenwood High School
10:20 Hoër Landbouskool Marlow vs Durban High School
11:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Dale College
13:00 Westville Boys’ High School vs Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen
14:20 Hoërskool Framesby vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
15:40 Kearsney College vs Hartpury College (UK)
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