1 July 2024
Durban in the winter must have been a welcome destination for the seven schools that travelled to be the guests of Clifton College for the u14 Independent Schools Rugby Festival. The event was played over the course of four days, from 28 June to 1 July, with each team playing three matches. The two KZN participants did themselves proud.
Clifton’s u14A team has enjoyed a fine season and they continued their winning ways, tacking on three more victories to the 10 they had previously achieved in 2024.
At the Riverside Sports Club, they opened with a 32-12 victory over Cornwall Hill College on Friday, which was followed with a 36-3 defeat of St Stithians on Saturday.
Then, on Monday morning, they closed off the festival with a superb performance at the Crusaders Club to overwhelm St David’s Marist Inanda 57-0.
St Charles College matched Clifton, finishing as the only other team to go through the festival undefeated. They, too, comfortably won their three matches.
They brushed aside St David’s Marist Inanda 38-7 in their opener and then outplayed Cornwall Hill 39-5. Like Clifton, they finished on a high, cruising to a 41-10 victory over St Benedict’s College.
Woodridge came close to matching the two KZN schools, beating St Benedict’s 26-12 and St Andrew’s School 19-5, but they were narrowly defeated by St Stithians in their first match, going down 19-20.
In a hard-fought clash on the final day, St Stithians and Cornwall Hill shared a 17-17 draw.
In 2023, at the u18 Independent Schools Rugby Festival, which was played at St Andrew’s School in Bloemfontein, the four KZN schools – Clifton, St Charles, Kearsney and Hilton – put together 12 wins without defeat, which spoke volumes about the strength of those schools within the sporting sphere of the independent schools’ space.
The performances of Clifton and Saints at the 2024 u14 festival suggests that the standards remain strong within KZN throughout the age groups.
Clifton’s rugby featured good movement of the ball, with the width of the field being well utilised. They were also very effective at contesting the ball in the rucks, demonstrating good technique at clearing out opposition players.
Saints, meanwhile, was blessed with size, athleticism and exciting runners. They play an attractive game.
RESULTS
Day one
Clifton 32-12 Cornwall Hill
St Benedict’s 33-14 St Andrew’s School
St Stithians 20-19 Woodridge
St Charles 38-7 St David’s Marist Inanda
Day two
Clifton 36-3 St Stithians
St Charles 39-5 Cornwall Hill
Woodridge 26-12 St Benedict’s
St David’s Marist Inanda 31-0 St Andrew’s School
Day three
Woodridge 19-5 St Andrew’s School
St Charles 41-10 St Benedict’s
Cornwall Hill 17-17 St Stithians
Clifton 57-0 St David’s Marist Inanda
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