Kearsney College is a hive of activity with final touches being made to the campus and the arrival of the first teams from around the country, in anticipation of Thursday’s kick off of the 2024 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival.
The organisers are looking forward to delivering a magnificent 15th festival and spectators at the family-friendly event can expect some exhilarating rugby from the 14 participating high school teams.
Festival first-timers are Rondebosch Boys’ High from Cape Town, Pearson High School from Gqeberha and Hoërskool Rustenburg from North-West.
In addition to the high school battles, there will also be exciting primary school action with 10 local u13 teams. Historically there has been an u13 curtain-raiser each day, but this year a full primary schools festival will run concurrently on an adjacent field.
On Day 1 (Thursday) the opening encounter will feature Worcester Gimnasium tackling newcomers Hoërskool Rustenburg. The second day’s play is on Saturday 30 and Day 3 on Easter Monday, 1 April.
Kearsney’s 1st XV got the better of the Boksburg boys on the second day of last year’s event and will be eyeing a repeat of that hard-earned result. Neil van Heerden and Tera Mtembu’s charges open their festival account against a solid Hoërskool Framesby on the first day, ahead of a much-anticipated matchup with Rondebosch Boys’ High in the final game of Day 2.
The hosts are well placed to improve on last year’s one from three record at KERF, having enjoyed a promising start to their 2024 season, winning three of their first four matches, including beating Maritzburg College.
DHS looks to be the KZN side to beat, boasting another team full of talent. The remaining KZN schools are Glenwood High School and Westville Boys’ High.
The Green Machine won all three of their festival games last year, but will look to rebound from an uncharacteristic season-opening defeat to Welkom-Gimnasium. Westville, who opened their 2024 account with a loss to Michaelhouse, will be aiming for improvement too.
Rustenburg will fancy their chances, having narrowly beaten Glenwood last year, after the latter went unbeaten at KERF, while Pearson and Rondebosch remain litmus tests for any side.
The remainder of the competitors include Krugersdorp powerhouse Hoërskool Monument, Hoërskool Noord-Kaap from Kimberley, Hoër Landbouskool Marlow from Cradock and Humansdorp-based Nico Malan High School.
Participating u13 teams are Highbury Prep, Hillcrest Primary, Kloof Senior Primary, Westville Senior Primary, Winston Park Primary, Ashton International College Ballito, Chelsea Prep, Glenwood Prep, Umhlali Prep and the KZNRU Ibutho Development Team.
Numerous food outlets, a refreshment tent and a fun KidZone for little ones will be available, with ample on-site parking.
Fixtures are on www.kearsney.com and, for those unable to attend the festival, it will be live-streamed on SuperSport Schools. Online tickets can be purchased through Quicket at R45pp to avoid queues, or at the gate for R40pp. Children under six years of age are free.
Fixtures:
Day 1: Thursday 28 March
09h00 Worcester Gim v Rustenburg; 10h20 Noord-Kaap v Dr EG Jansen; 11h40 Glenwood v Marlow; 13h00 DHS v Nico Malan; 14h20 Framesby v Kearsney; 15h40 Westville v Rondebosch
Day 2: Saturday 30 March
07h40 Noord-Kaap v Nico Malan; 09h00 Westville v Pearson; 10h20 Worcester Gim v Marlow; 11h40 Rustenburg v DHS; 13h00 Framesby v Monument; 14h20 Glenwood v Dr EG Jansen; 15h40 Kearsney v Rondebosch
Day 3: Monday 1 April
07h30 Marlow v Noord-Kaap; 08h50 Rondebosch v Rustenburg; 10h10 Framesby v Worcester Gim; 11h30 Glenwood v Nico Malan; 12h40 Closing Ceremony; 13h00 DHS v Pearson; 14h20 Monument v Westville; 15h40 Kearsney v Dr EG Jansen
