Author: asawula

42 – That is the number of tries scored on day one of the Standard Bank Kearsney College Easter Festival at the Stott field.

The opening day produced six highly contested matchups and saw some unexpected upsets, with only three teams (Monument, Westville Boys High, and Glenwood High School) running away with convincing victories.

Newcomers Worcester Gimnasium pulled off a 36–31 shock victory against Durban High School in the second match of the day. Two tries by wing Alungile Mothibe and 11 points from the boot of inside center Carick Kustoor secured the historic win for the Western Cape side. 

After trailing 20-5 early in the second half, Dale College edged host Kearsney College (23-21) with a penalty kick from the boot of Lindo Ndlela in the dying seconds of the match.

The most anticipated match of the day was undoubtedly the clash between Dr. EG Jansen and Hartpury College from Gloucestershire (England). 

The South Africans started the brightest, opening the scoring after a tense 10 minutes through lock Reon Pretorius. However, it only took the visitors two minutes to hit back as they camped in EG’s half, playing several phases before a gap opened for Sam-Morton-Smith (scrumhalf), converted by his half-back counterpart Sonny Greenman. 

Fullback Toby Maddock added to his team’s tally to see Hartpury take a 14-7 lead to the interval. 

The second stanza resumed with an even higher intensity, as it only took four minutes for the UK side to register on the scoreboard. Explosive hooker Henry Walker brushed off four defenders on his way to scoring in the far corner.

EG looked dead and buried until a charge-down score by Juandre Jacob and a penalty try (for illegally collapsing the maul) in the 45th minute brought them back into the game.

Tied at 28-all with nine minutes to go, EG Jansen had an opportunity to win the match, but scrumhalf Gordon Smith passed the ball to his teammate, resulting in a knock-on and scrum for the visitors. The match ended 28–28. 

Lock, Reon Pretorius, and vice-captain David Twala played well, whereas Toby Maddock, Sonny Greenman, and Mason Watkin put their hands up for Hartpury. 

In other matches, Hoërskool Monument proved too strong for Gqeberha side Hoërskool Framesby, and a brace by Likhona Finca earned Westville a hard-fought 31-19 victory over Noord-Kaap.

Glenwood concluded the day’s proceedings with a 22-10 win over Marlow. Zuki Tom played well and scored two tries in the first half. 

Scorers:

EG Jansen 28 (7) – Tries: Reon Pretorius, Juandre Jacob, Ruan van Heerden, Penalty Try. Conversions: David Twala (3). Hartpury College 28 (14) – Tries: Sam-Morton-Smith, Toby Maddock, Henry Walker, Sonny Greenman. Conversions: Greenman (4).

Dale College 23 (5) – Tries: Cole van Staden, Lindokuhle Xozwa, Linamandla Peter. Conversion: Lindo Ndlela. Penalties: Ndlela (2). Kearsney College 20 (15) – Tries: Junior Dlamini, Siso France, Salusiwe Mqobongo, Chad Croshaw. 

Worcester Gimnasium 36 (10) – Tries: Alungile Mothibe(2), Alton Hendricks, Ryan Jacobs, Hope Dliso. Conversions: Carick Kustoor (4). Penalty: Kustoor. Durban High School 31 (17) – Tries: Florensen Ockhuis, Ntando Mavuso (2), Maurice Willemse, Khanyisa Stamper. Conversions: Deano Boesak (3). 

Monument 28 (14) – Tries: Ceano Everson (2) Nathan Erasmus, Michiel Burger. Conversion: Daylon Myners (4). Hoërskool Framesby 7 (0) – Tries: Jaco Pretorius. Conversion: Logan Muller.

Westville Boys High 31 (19) – Tries: Likhona Finca (2), Michael Satade (2), Tshegofatso Ramaloko. Conversion: Ramaloko (2) Unathi Mlotshwa. Noord-Kaap 19 (12) – Tries: Liam Harmse, Junior Kettledas, Shaw Lourens. Conversion: Eldridge Jack (2).

Glenwood 22 (17) – Tries: Zuki Tom (2), Sisipho Dwayi. Conversions: Johandre Van Rooyen (2). Penalty: Van Rooyen. Marlow Landbou 10 (5) – Tries: Leonard Booysen, AK Schenk.

 

Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen and Hartpury College played out a scintillating 28-all draw in the penultimate game of the first day of the annual Standard Bank Kearsney College Easter Festival in Durban.

Hartpury, the first overseas team to participate at KERF since Christ College back in 2011, produced a manful defensive shift late on, to deny the Boksburg boys at the end of what was a brutal affair.

The tourists spent the majority of the opening ten minutes defending inside their own half, and they were eventually breached when Reon Pretorius barged over.

From there it was all Hartpury though, with a converted Sam Morton-Smith effort levelling the scores in no time, before a prolonged period of possession and territory was rewarded when Toby Maddock went over to put the boys from Gloucestershire 14-7 ahead at the interval.

They extended their lead through powerful hooker Henry Walker, but EG Jansen responded against the run of play, when Juandre Jacobs charged down a kick on halfway to bring it back to within seven.

Sonny Greenman, who nailed all four conversions on the day, hit back for Hartpury but the momentum swung again in EG Jansen’s favour.

The South Africans replied immediately when they were awarded a penalty try following an illegal collapse of a powerful driving maul, before flyhalf Ruan van Heerden dived over to level the scores.

EG Jansen launched a number of attacks in the Hartpury red zone at the death, but some desperate defending from the boys in red kept them out and sealed the draw.

Westville Boys’ High School held off Hoërskool Noord-Kaap in a hard-fought 31-19 victory in game four.

The KZN boys started the first half brightly, but some lapses in concentration on defence allowed Noord-Kaap back into the contest. Deon Carney’s side did well to fight back in the face of a hard-nosed Westville line-up, and they enjoyed some good moments at times.

Ultimately though, Westville’s physicality was too much for Noord-Kaap to handle, as the local lads got their festival campaign off on a winning note.  Midfielder Likhona Finca opened the scoring for Westville just a few minutes in, with No 14 Michael Satade bagging a brace soon after.

After initially struggling to break Westville down, Noord-Kaap hit back through hooker Liam Harmse and winger Junior Kettledas to make it 19-12 at the break.

Fullback Tshegofatso Ramaloko extended Westville’s lead in the second half before Finca positively barnstormed his way over for his second of the encounter.

A Tyron China break set up Shaw Lourens for Noord-Kaap’s third, but they couldn’t get any closer to closing the deficit.

Worcester Gimnasium earned a late 36-31 victory over Durban High School in a counter-attacking feast in game two of the Standard Bank Kearsney College Easter Festival in Durban.

Both schools were brilliant with ball in hand, with Worcester taking their opportunities when they mattered to fight back against an accurate DHS team.

A great run saw Alton Hendricks take Worcester into an early lead, before DHS’s Deano Boesak put half-back partner Florenson Ockhuis away with a delicious offload inside their opponents’ 22.

DHS made use of their lineout maul often and one such drive opened up plenty of room for Ntando Mavuso to dot down off first phase, with the diminutive right winger adding his second not long afterwards.

A 40m penalty by Carick Kustoor, excellent from the tee all morning, made it 17-10 at the break, but a Maurice Willemse touchdown extended the DHS lead after the interval.

Alungile Mothibe got one back for Worcester against the run of play, before Thando Luthuli hit back soon for the Durbanites.

However, a Ryan Jacobs effort, as well as Mothibe’s second, brought the scores level at 31-all with under 10-minutes remaining on the clock.

Then, with under a minute to go, Hope Dliso scored the winner in the corner to earn the Western Cape outfit a dramatic win.

Kearsney College and Dale College got the first day’s play underway, with the visitors pulling off a remarkable comeback to open their campaign with a thrilling 23-20 win.

The festival hosts dominated territory and possession early on, twice turning down kickable shots at goal in favour of a lineout drive. The decision-making paid off when Junior Dlamini dotted down on the left touchline to get them off to a flyer.

The Eastern Cape boys came back swinging, proceeding to set up camp in Kearsney territory for the better part of the first half and initiating wave after wave of attack. Although the hosts put on an admirable defensive effort, a high hit by Jarred van Staden earned him a yellow, with the visitors eventually making the most of the one-man advantage through Cole van Staden.

Kearsney went on to bag further five-pointers through Siso France and Salusiwe Mqobongo to set up a commanding 15-5 lead at the break and, when a fantastic individual score by scrumhalf Chad Croshaw gave Kearsney a 15-point lead, it looked as though the floodgates had opened.

Royden Kennedy’s side had other ideas though, and, in the space of a few minutes, a Lindokuhle Ndlela penalty and tries to namesake Lindokuhle Xozwa and Athi Msileni brought the scores level with just over a quarter to play.

The sides continued to trade blows before a typical Dale counter attack earned them a penalty on Kearsney’s 22, from which Ndlela slotted the winning kick with time up on the clock to record a cracking victory.

Scorers:

EG Jansen 28 (7) – Tries: Reon Pretorius, Juandre Jacobs, Ruan van Heerden, Penalty Try. Conversions: David Twala (3). Hartpury College 28 (14) – Tries: Sam Morton-Smith, Toby Maddock, Henry Walker, Sonny Greenman. Conversions: Greenman (4).

Westville Boys’ High 31 (19) – Tries: Likhona Finca (2), Michael Satade (2), Tshegofatso Ramaloka. Conversions: Ramaloka (2), Unathi Mlotshwa. Noord-Kaap 19 (12) – Tries: Liam Harmse, Junior Kettledas, Shaw Lourens. Conversions: Eldridge Jack (2).

Monument 28 (14) – Tries: Ceano Everson (2), Nathan Erasmus, Michiel Burger. Conversions: Daylon Myners (4). Framesby 7 (0) – Try: Jaco Pretorius. Conversion: Logan Muller.

Worcester Gimnasium 36 (17) – Tries: Alungile Mothibe (2), Alton Hendricks, Ryan Jacobs, Hope Dliso. Conversions: Carick Kustoor (4). Penalty: Kustoor. Durban High School 31 (10) – Tries: Mavuso (2), Florenson Ockhuis, Maurice Willemse, Thando Luthuli. Conversions: Deano Boesak (3).

Dale College 23 (5) – Tries: Cole van Staden, Lindokuhle Xozwa, Athi Msileni. Conversion: Lindokuhle Ndlela. Penalties: Ndlela (2). Kearsney College 20 (15) – Tries: Junior Dlamini, Siso France, Salusiwe Mqobongo, Chad Croshaw.

The annual Oakdale Rugby Week kicks off this weekend just outside Riversdale with 33 first teams from around South Africa that will be showcasing their talent.

The annual tournament, which stands out as one of the oldest and largest high school rugby tournaments in South Africa, has gone from strength to strength in recent years, expanding the pool of matches played and the quality of teams invited to the rugby week.

Unfortunately, Oakdale Landbou‘s First XV will miss the tournament due to participation in the NMI Toyota Menlyn Noord-Suid tournament.

However, despite the rugby week coming at a busy time with many schools taking part in festivals all over the country, viewers can still expect exciting matchups. 

The pick of the fixtures for day one is undeniably Duineveld taking on Hoërskool Middelburg from Mpumalanga at 16:20. The Velties are usually an outfit who are very physical in their approach while the Middies like to run the ball at every opportunity that presents itself. 

Duineveld suffered a humiliating 59-0 defeat against Wynberg Boys’ High two weeks ago, they’ll surely want to beat their Middelburg counterparts.

Brackenfell, who are coming off a 27-0 victory against Hoërskool Belville in their sports day last week, will also look to dominate when they face Merensky from Limpopo. 

The Eastern Cape is also represented with Pearson, Die Brandwag from Uitenhage, Graaff Reinet Volkskool, Westering, and Port Rex THS set to take the field.

Die Brandwag has been struggling so far this season and suffered defeats against Worcester Gimnasium (12-39), Hilton College (3-48) and Queen’s College (0-22) thus far.

The match against Worcester Gimnasium was during the Outeniqua Centenary Festival, while the two defeats against Hilton and Queen’s came during the Graeme College Festival in celebration of their 150th anniversary.

The team from Uitenhage was one of the top team’s during last year’s Oakdale Rugby Week and the Rusties won’t underestimate them.

In the main match on the opening day Oakdale’s second team without their touring members sitting on the bench for the firsts in Pretoria will take on Augsburg Gimnasium of Clanwilliam.

The fixtures for the rest of the festival will be selected based on performances using a strength versus strength method. 

Fixtures – Day 1:

A FIELD 

08:45 – Upington vs Die Anker
09:55 – Strand vs Potchefstroom Gimnasium
11:05 – Hugenote vs Merensky
12:15 – Brackenfell vs Transvalia
14:00 – Pearson vs Oos Moot
15:10 – Hermanus vs Lichtenburg
16:20 – Duineveld vs Hoërskool Middelburg
18:00 – Die Brandwag (Uitenhage) vs Hoërskool Rustenburg
19:10 – Oakdale XV vs Augsburg Gimnasium

B FIELD 

08:45 – Overberg vs Port Rex THS
09:55 – Montagu vs Parel Vallei
11:05 – Bredasdorp vs Westering
12:15 – Swartland vs Vryburg
14:00 – Robertson vs Graaff Reinet Volkskool
15:10 – Langenhoven Gimnasium vs Sentraal
16:20 – Jim Fouche vs Kemptonpark 

C FIELD

09:55 – Labori vs Oosterlig 

 

Wynberg Boys’ High scored eight unanswered tries to record an emphatic 59-0 victory against Duineveld on day two of the Wynberg Festival on Saturday.

The home side, who were playing their first match of the season in front of a packed crowd with a fairly inexperienced team dominated their opponents, showing intent from the get-go.

The forward pack, led by captain, Xola Nyali, was ruthless in attack and managed to get over the advantage line several times within the early exchanges. The scrums were also a noticeable weapon from the home side with tighthead prop, Aiden Reid, and loosehead, Leo Addinall, stamping their authority in that department.

In their pursuit of consistent domination, Wynberg scored 38 points in the first half, tries which were all converted by flyhalf, Yaqeen Ahmed, and a penalty in the dying seconds of the half.

Firing in the first quarter, one would’ve thought that the hosts would drop the ball in the second half, however, Nic Groom‘s men kept their foot on the peddle, and despite scoring less, a further three tries from seasoned campaigner Amier Adams, accompanied by Matteo Pascoe, and Ahmed sealed the win for the home side.

In other fixtures on the day, Durbanville defeated HTS Bellville 55-0 in the first match of the day on a wet field after persistent rain the night before.

SACS was also in action taking on Hoërskool Bellville in another match which turned out to be one-sided. After a slow start, the boys from SACS came back to their senses, scoring nine tries against a disjointed Hoërskool Belville side.

Jack Benade was arguably the standout player, scoring a hattrick to help his side to a 59-14 win.

Rondebosch and Bishops also kicked off their seasons on a high with convincing victories against Windhoek Gimnasium and St Benedict’s respectively. Whereas Noord-Kaap claimed their third win of the season in a tightly contested affair against Milnerton.

Winger James Nero scored a hat-trick of tries as Hoërskool Durbanville eased past HTS Bellville by 54-0. Nero scored 32 tries for Durbies during the 2022 season and it seems that he will once again rack-up the tries in 2023.

Scorers: 

Wynberg Boys’ High 59 (38) – Tries: Xola Nyali (3), Ethan Thomas, Matthew Ould, Amier Adams, Matteo Pascoe, Nicholas van Schalkwyk, Yaqeen Ahmed. Conversions: Ahmed (6), Sange Mbuto. Duineveld 0.

Hoërskool Durbanville 54 – Tries: James Nero (3), Blaine Marais, Shaun Klein, Jayden Nell, Liam Baird, Naldo Klein. Conversions: Monray Daars (4), Shaun Klein (3). HTS Bellville 0.

SACS 59 – Tries: Jack Benadé (3), Seth Kros (2),Daniel Dayaram (2), Seth Bradford, . Conversions: Raashied Conrad (4), Rayaan Solomons (3). Hoërskool Bellville 14.

Diocesan College 42 – Tries: Wa-keem Fortuin (2), CJ Gorodn, Gilermo Mentoe, Olo Sopotela, Jake Skillicorn. Conversions: Mentoe (5), Lucca Mynhardt. St Benedict’s College 7 – Try: Troy Deyzel. Conversion: Onkopotshe Mohaheng

Noord-Kaap 38 – Tries: Keante Pienaar (2), Eldridge Jack, Carlo Cupido, Melvin Diedericks, Shaw Lourens. Conversions: Jack (3), Abdul Fischer. Milnerton 24 – Tries: Liberty Nyashanu (2), Qhamani Mangele, Seth Kleynhans. Conversions: Devon Damons (2).

Other result: Rondebosch Boys’ High 45, Windhoek Gimnasium 3.

The festival will return to action on Monday.

Fixtures – Monday, 20 March 2023:

15:55 – Bergvliet vs Jan van Riebeeck
14:45 – Wynberg Boys’ High vs Durbanville
13:35 – Rondebosch Boys’ High II vs Durbanville II
12:25 – Rondeobosch Boys’ High vs Duineveld
11:15 – Diocesan College vs Noord-Kaap
10:05 – Hoërskool Bellville vs Hoërskool Windhoek
08:55 – Milnerton vs St Benedict’s College
07:45 – HTS Bellville vs SACS II