{"id":90430,"date":"2026-02-13T08:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90430"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:04:19","slug":"international-teams-spice-up-kearsney-easter-rugby-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90430","title":{"rendered":"International teams spice up Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mike
Mike de Kock, Tera Mtembu, Grant Bashford, and Keegan Daniel will ensure that a very talented Kearsney 1st XV gives a good account of itself in the 2026 rugby season. Photo: Supplied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Widely regarded as one of the country’s most entertaining and successful school rugby events, the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF)<\/strong> returns this year with an impressive field of 28 participating teams, including international visitors from Europe and neighbouring Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

Now in its 17th year, the prestigious festival promises another thrilling showcase of top-level schoolboy rugby, while offering local spectators a unique glimpse into the school rugby styles of Ireland and Italy, which adds an exciting international dimension to the Easter weekend spectacle.<\/p>\n

Touring teams from the Catholic University School<\/strong> (Dublin, Ireland), Verona Rugby<\/strong> (Northern Italy) and Peterhouse<\/strong> (Zimbabwe) will be joined by four strong local KwaZulu-Natal schools in the senior boys’ division – Durban High School (DHS)<\/strong>, Westville Boys’ High<\/strong>, both top 10 teams in South Africa last year, Glenwood High,<\/strong> and the hosts, Kearsney College<\/strong>, who are a dark horse team that could be one to watch in 2026.<\/p>\n

Included in the lineup are two tough Gauteng teams – Ho\u00ebrskool Dr EG Jansen<\/strong> (Boksburg) and newcomers, Helpmekaar College<\/strong> (Braamfontein); as well as Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg<\/strong> (North West); the Eastern Cape’s always-exciting Ho\u00ebrskool Framesby<\/strong> (Gqeberha) and Milnerton High School<\/strong> (Cape Town).<\/p>\n

The three playing days over Easter weekend are Thursday, 2 April, Saturday, 4 April, and Monday, 6 April.<\/p>\n

Confirming the participating teams, Kearsney headmaster Patrick Lees<\/strong> said the success of the festival, which last year included three divisions for the first time, highlighted its invaluable role in the development of the country’s school rugby culture and growth since Kearsney’s inaugural festival in 2008.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged the immense contribution of festival sponsors, whose invaluable support has enabled the event to grow each year.<\/p>\n

Headline sponsor Standard Bank South Africa<\/strong> said their sponsorship of the festival highlighted their desire to support youth development.<\/p>\n

“We recognise the powerful role that sport and education play in building character, confidence and unity. Through platforms like this festival, we are not only nurturing athletes, we are shaping responsible, resilient and inspired leaders for tomorrow,” said Tshiamo Molanda<\/strong>, Head of the Youth and Mass Market at Standard Bank’s personal and private banking division.<\/p>\n

Carrie-Ann van Heerden<\/strong>, the Dealer Principal at first-tier sponsor, Halfway Ford Waterfall<\/strong>, said they were looking forward to another unforgettable KERF weekend, where families, friends and rugby enthusiasts can celebrate the game.<\/p>\n

“There is nothing quite like the electric atmosphere at the festival – the roar of the crowd, the crunch of hard tackles, and the pride that rugby ignites in all of us,” she said.<\/p>\n

Coenraad de Villiers<\/strong>, the High Performance Manager at The Sharks Academy<\/strong>, said he was impressed by the consistently high standard of rugby on display at KERF, adding that many of the players would go on to contribute meaningfully to the growth and success of rugby in the country.<\/p>\n

Building on the success of an initiative at last year’s festival, four u16 girls’ teams will play during lunchtime slots. They are Mowat Park High<\/strong>, from Montclair, Grosvenor Girls’ High<\/strong>, from The Bluff, Inanda’s Ohlange High School<\/strong>, and Ogwini Comprehensive Technical High School<\/strong>, from Umlazi. The latter two teams boast five and six provincial rugby players, respectively.<\/p>\n

Twelve primary school teams will also enjoy the excitement of playing festival rugby in front of large crowds.<\/p>\n

Joining the touring Peterhouse u13 team, from Zimbabwe, will be local teams from Ashton Ballito<\/strong>, Atholl Heights Primary<\/strong>, Chelsea Prep<\/strong>, Highbury Prep<\/strong>, Hillcrest Primary<\/strong>, Kloof Senior Primary<\/strong>, Northlands Primary<\/strong>, Umhlali Prep<\/strong>, Westville Senior Primary<\/strong>, and Winston Park<\/strong>, as well as the KZN Ibutho Development<\/strong> side.<\/p>\n

Teams travel with families and supporters to enjoy KERF’s spectacle of running rugby in a family-friendly festival atmosphere on Kearsney’s beautiful campus. \u00a0Adding to the ambience, there will be a fun KidZone<\/strong> for the little ones, ample parking, as well as numerous food outlets and a refreshment tent to ensure spectators can fully enjoy the weekend’s sporting entertainment.<\/p>\n

For those unable to attend the festival, games will be live-streamed on the SuperSport Schools<\/strong> app. Additional festival information, results, match reports, and action photographs will be available on www.kearsney.com<\/strong><\/a> during the festival.<\/p>\n

To avoid the queues, tickets can be purchased online now, at Quicket.co.za<\/strong><\/p>\n

FIXTURES: STOTT FIELD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day one, Thursday, 2 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

08:00 – Helpmekaar Kollege vs Glenwood High
\n09:20 – Framesby vs Peterhouse
\n10:40 – Westville Boys’ High vs Catholic University School (Ireland)
\n13:00 – Kearsney College vs Ho\u0113rskool Rustenburg
\n14:20 – Milnerton vs Dr EG Jansen
\n15:40 – Durban High School vs Verona Rugby (Italy)<\/p>\n

Day two, Saturday, 4 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

08:00 – Peterhouse vs Milnerton
\n09:20 – Durban High School vs Ho\u0113rskool Rustenburg
\n10:40 –\u00a0 Verona Rugby (Italy) vs Dr EG Jansen
\n13:00 – Glenwood High vs Framesby
\n14:20 – Kearsney vs Catholic University School (Ireland)
\n15:40 – Westville Boys’ High vs Helpmekaar Kollege<\/p>\n

Day three, Monday, 6 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

08:00 – Helpmekaar Kollege vs Framesby
\n09:20 – Glenwood High vs Dr EG Jansen
\n10:40 – Peterhouse vs Dr EG Jansen
\n12:50 – Closing ceremony
\n13:00 – Westville Boys’ High vs Milnerton
\n14:20 – Durban High School vs Catholic University School (Ireland)
\n15:40 – Kearsney vs Verona Rugby (Italy)<\/p>\n

FIXTURES – GIRLS’ U16<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, 2 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

12:00 – Ogwini Comprehensive Technical vs Grosvenor Girls, Stott
\n12:00 – Ohlange High vs Mowat Park High, Roberts<\/p>\n

Saturday, 4 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

12:00 – Ogwini Comprehensive Technical vs Ohlage High, Stott
\n12:00 – Grosvenor Girls vs Mowat Park High, Roberts<\/p>\n

Monday, 6 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

12:00 – Ogwini Comprehensive Technical vs Mowat Park High, Stott
\n12:00 – Grosvenor Girls vs Ohlange High, Roberts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Widely regarded as one of the country’s most entertaining and successful school rugby events, the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF) returns this year with an impressive field of 28 participating teams, including international visitors from Europe and neighbouring Zimbabwe. Now in its 17th year, the prestigious festival promises another thrilling showcase of top-level schoolboy rugby, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":90434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}