Graeme College Rugby Festival is set to ignite the Rugby season in 2025!
The schools rugby season in the Eastern Cape is set for another cracking start next year when the early shots are fired at the annual Graeme College Festival in Makhanda from March 20 to 22.
A total of 26 first teams will be involved in matches from Thursday to Saturday on the Somerset field, while the age-group teams will also have a chance to showcase their talents on the Marais fields.
An exciting inclusion next year is Johannesburg school St John’s, who place an emphasis on playing a skilful, smart brand of rugby and will definitely pose a threat to their opponents.
St John’s have been regular participants in the annual Grey High Festival in Gqeberha, but this will be their first visit to the Graeme College event and they are sure to be motivated to make a statement.
Graeme, in fact, will host the Johannesburg outfit in the festival finale on the Saturday afternoon and it should make for an absorbing conclusion to three days of exciting schoolboy rugby.
Another team making a rare appearance in Makhanda will be Woodridge College, based at Thornhill just outside Gqeberha.
Although their smaller numbers mean they battle to match the bigger schools, Woodridge have worked hard at their sport and it will be an interesting exercise for them against East London opponents Port Rex Technical High.
Woodridge will be involved in only the one match, as will one of Makhanda’s top sides in St Andrew’s. They will be in action only on the Saturday, but it should be a humdinger against Gqeberha team Framesby, who will also play just one game.
Graeme College kick off their programme on the Thursday with a tough opener against Brandwag from Kariega, whose perennially hard forward play, linked to speedy backs, always makes them a threat.
In addition, the top guns in Eastern Cape rugby will all be in action, with Gqeberha’s Grey High and East London’s Selborne College playing only on the Friday.
Grey have what has become something of a traditional fixture with Hudson Park, whom they don’t play in their annual schools programme, and Selborne will be up against the resilient Marlow Agricultural team.
Pearson and Queen’s College from Komani will have a rematch after the Gqeberha side won 19-11 in this year’s festival, and that should be one of the highlights of the opening day. It is the main curtain-raiser to the Graeme-Brandwag showdown.
After some strong performances in recent seasons, Kingswood will be looking to lay down a marker when they play Stirling on the Thursday and Muir on the Saturday.
The scheduled first team fixtures are:
Thursday, March 20
9.15: Port Alfred v Mary Waters, 10.30: Muir v Otto du Plessis, 11.45: Cambridge v St John’s, 1pm: Kingswood v Stirling, 2.15pm: Pearson v Queen’s, 3.30pm: Graeme v Brandwag,
Friday, March 21
9.15: PJ Olivier v Mzansi Academy, 10.30: Woodridge v Port Rex, 11.45: Daniel Pienaar v Union, 1pm: Grey High v Hudson Park, 2.15: Nico Malan v Dale, 3.30pm: Selborne v Marlow
Saturday, March 22
9.15: Cambridge v Otto du Plessis, 10.30: Stirling v Pearson, 11.45: Queen’s v Brandwag, 1pm: Kingswood v Muir, 2.15: St Andrew’s College v Framesby, 3.30: Graeme v St John’s
RELEASED BY:
Neale Emslie Cell: 071 850 0865 Email: emslien@arena.africa
On behalf of: Graeme College