The school rugby season has only just kicked off, but the country’s top teams are already preparing to make their mark at several festivals taking place over the Easter holidays.
A talented mix of 12 top rugby-playing schools will participate at the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, including last year’s leading SA rugby school Grey College from Bloemfontein; Menlo Park and Affies from Pretoria; Dr EG Jansen from Boksburg and HTS Middelburg from Mpumalanga; Selborne, Dale and Framesby from the Eastern Cape; SACS from Cape Town; with Glenwood, Westville Boys’ High and Kearsney College from KZN.
The eighth annual Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival takes place at Botha’s Hill in KwaZulu-Natal from 2 to 6 April. Other rugby festivals over Easter will be hosted in Johannesburg by St Stithians, St John’s and KES, as well as Grey High School in Port Elizabeth.
The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival provides spectators with solid, exciting running rugby and an opportunity to witness some of South Africa’s fledgling talent. Many players from previous Kearsney festivals have become household names in Super and Currie Cup rugby.
Where there is talent, there are also talent scouts, and members of the KZN Rugby Union and Sharks Academy will be on the lookout for future players. The festival has been hailed as having boosted the depth of talent entering the province’s rugby through The Sharks Academy.
Etienne Fynn, managing director of The Sharks Academy, said the festival provided a great opportunity to bring together in KZN some of the top talented schoolboy rugby players from all over the country; and to expose these players and coaches to the Sharks brand. Rugby has become a realistic career opportunity and the festival is an ideal springboard for players to show their skill and flair for the game, whilst also providing obvious benefits to rugby in the province.
Play days are Thursday 2, Saturday 4 and Monday 6 April, with kick-off at 9.30am each day. A primary schools fixture between Umhlali Prep, Pelham Senior Primary and Highbury against the KZNRU u13 Ibutho Development team will take place at 8.30 each day.
Gate entrance is R50 per vehicle or R20 for pedestrians, which includes a 40-page glossy souvenir brochure with player statistics. Ample secure parking will be available; as well as food and refreshment outlets for those wanting to enjoy a day of entertaining rugby. For further information go to www.kearsney.com
Fixtures are as follows:
Day 1 Thursday 2nd April
09h30 Kearsney College v Selborne College
10h45 SACS v Dale College
12h00 Menlo Park v Westville
13h15 Dr EG Jansen v Affies
14h30 Glenwood v Framesby
15h45 Grey College v HTS Middelburg
Day 2 Saturday 4th April
09h30 Selborne College v Menlo Park
10h45 Westville v Dale College
12h00 Kearsney College v Grey College
13h15 Affies v SACS
14h30 Glenwood v HTS Middelburg
15h45 Framesby v Dr EG Jansen
Day 3 Monday 6th April
09h30 Westville v SACS
10h45 Framesby v Affies
12h00 HTS Middelburg v Selborne College
13h15 Glenwood v Menlo Park
14h30 Grey College v Dr EG Jansen
15h45 Kearsney College v Dale College