DURBAN HIGH SCHOOL 31-14 HOERSKOOL ZWARTKOP
Durban High School (DHS), unbeaten in the previous two Kearsney Easter Rugby Festivals, faced newcomers, Hoërskool Zwartkop, in the final game of the opening day of the event in Botha’s Hill on Friday.
Zwarries, beaten only once in 20 matches in 2025, returned 12 players. A humdinger was on the cards.
The Horseflies were the first onto the attack after a superb 50-22 from fullback Cilermo Carolus, but Zwartkop passed their first defensive test. Carolus then sparked a second DHS attack with a massive side-step and made it into the Pretoria school’s 22, but his pass was dropped. Zwartkop breathed a sigh of relief.
Zwarries worked their way into the DHS half and tested School with long passes covering the width of the field. After winning a kickable penalty, they opted to set up a lineout rather than take a kick at goal, and that paid off.
Hooker Regan Blignaut charged over from close range and scored just to the left of the uprights, leaving flyhalf Tilon Baron with a simple conversion kick.
DHS returned the favour when they won a kickable penalty, but chose to kick to the corner, resulting in left-wing Richard Gyamfi ducking under an attempted tackle to score in the left-hand corner. Tanwil Onkers was wide with the attempted conversion, but DHS soon grabbed the lead.
A counterattack down the left flank exposed Zwarries after inside centre Byron Klaasen broke a tackle before putting Gyamfi away for his second five-pointer.
Zwartkop fought back well and put DHS under pressure, but a loose pass in the Horseflies’ 22 was intercepted, and a kick ahead resulted in Zwarries having to carry the ball over their try line, which gave DHS an attacking five-metre scrum.
That was a tough blow to stomach, and it hurt even more when outside centre Nathan Aneke sliced through for a try after a strong DHS shove.
Onkers slotted the conversion to put the Durban boys 10 points clear at 17-7.
Early in the second half, Zwartkop laid siege to the DHS try line, maintaining possession and launching wave after wave of attacks. With typical grit, School resisted stubbornly. Their efforts brought reward when Zwarries spilt a pass under threat of an interception, and DHS won a put-in.
A brilliant break by SA Schools centre Nathan Aneke then shredded Zwartkops’ defence, but Zwarries’ desperate scrambling forced Aneke to run a weaving line, and a last-gasp tackle saw Aneke’s pass go forward to prevent a try being scored.
DHS, though, crossed for a try with seven minutes to play when 8th-man Daniel Kazambo burst away off a scrum inside the Zwartkop 22, beating two defenders with the speed of his attack before splitting two others to power over for five points.
Onkers was on target with the conversion to put DHS 24-7 ahead.
Zwartkop was not done. They showed their character by mauling their way over with loosehead prop Matthew Smith taking the ball to ground. Baron’s conversion was successful.
It took until the last play of the game for DHS to reply. Jose Lottering burst over from a scrum near the Zwartkop posts, and Tanwil Onkers converted to make it 31-14 at the final whistle.
Scorers
Durban High School 31 (17) – Tries: Richard Gyamfi (2), Nathan Aneke, Daniel Kazambo, Jose Lottering. Conversions: Tanwil Onkers (3)
Zwartkop 14 (7) – Tries: Regan Blignaut, Matthew Smith. Conversion: Tilon Baron (2)
