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The games I'd watch this Easter, If I could

 



Forgive me for repeating myself (again), but the great thing for us lovers of schoolboy rugby is that, for the last 30-odd years, the same thing happens every Easter weekend. The cream of the rugby playing schools are in action in Joburg, or down at Kearsney College, in one of the Standard Bank Festivals and there is a glut of fascinating matchups in prospect.

So, like last year, I am cherry-picking the games I’d really like to see and going on a fantasy trip around the various venues, imaging I work on the Starship Enterprise and that dear old Scotty has the power to beam me up, down and sideways, and even backward and forward in time, so that I’d be able to see:

On Thursday.
Paarl Boys’ High against Selborne. Booizhaai are at KES for the 1st time and it’s an opportunity to see a team that’s never outside of the top three in the land. Selborne are one of the top teams in the Eastern Cape and it would be good to see if they can match the WP powerhouse.
Then I’ll ask Scotty to spirit me down to Botha’s Hill for the EG Jansen vs Hartpury game at Kearsney. Hartpury is a College in Gloucester, England, associated with a University. It couldn’t be further away, in distance and spirit, from the working class district of Boksburg where EG Jansen is located. That in itself makes this the sort of game I’d love to watch.
From there its back into the teleporter and off to St Stithians for Michaelhouse vs St Andrew’s. Michaelhouse already have a win over their neighbours, Martizburg College, under their belts and the talk is that this is going to be a special year for them. I have great memories of exhilarating rugby played by St Andrew’s teams at the Saints festival down the years and I’d be there to see their 2023 edition, if I could.
There are always night games at St John’s on their opening day, so there’s time to get across for the last game there – the hosts against Welkom Gim. There’s always added drama when matches are played under lights. I’m actually going to be at this one.

On Saturday
First stop will be at Kearsney to see Dale College vs Glenwood. I’m on record that I’ll always watch a Dale team play, if I possibly can. Well, I can’t actually get to this one, but it would have been great to see if the all-out attacking style of Dale, along with the courage they always seem to display on defence, can match the juggernaut that Glenwood has become.
I’d love to be at Saints on Saturday to watch Bishops against Helpmekaar. Again, there’s nostalgia involved. I remember the 1st Saints Festival, back in 1985, and how we were all dumbstruck by Bishops with their non-contact offloading game. They’ve had to change since then and I fancy that they’ll bring the physicality against Helpmekaar, who are emerging as a top side around here.
Next, at St John’s would be Jeppe against Hilton. The black and white vs the black and white and a big test for what is looking like a special Jeppe team this year against last year’s top KZN side.
The last stop will be at KES for the Paarl Boys’ High vs KES game. There will be a massive crowd to watch the Reds and they might make a difference. KES were well beaten by the other Paarl School, Gimnasium, at the Noord-Suid Festival on Monday night, but they can take heart from their stirring second half comeback in that game. If they can produce a better first half, you never know.

On Monday
One of the early games at St John’s will be Grey High vs the Golden Lions XV. The Lions are a permanent fixture at the festival – the idea being to give boys at schools who aren’t invited to festivals like these a chance to test themselves against the top sides. They have had mixed results down the years and it would be good to see how this crop fare against one of school rugby’s top dogs.
Then, if I could, I’d scoot down to Kearsney for DHS vs Marlow. DHS had almost faded away from sight a year or two ago, but under a new headmaster, and a new coach, things have changed dramatically and they are looking like KZN contenders now. In Marlow they will face one of the unique features of SA schools rugby – the little platteland school that produces teams who compete at a level way above what you’d expect from them.
Northcliff High make their only appearance at Saints on Monday, against Wynberg. They are filling in for one of the teams that opted to play only two games at the festival. They did the same thing at KES last year, and made a lot of friends that day. I’d be hoping they do the same again this time around. They’ll have to lift their game against Wynberg, who are always competitive in the quality WP Schools “A1” league.
I’m actually going to be at the Hudson Park vs St David’s matchup at KES. This fixture reflects KES’ philosophy that their festival isn’t exclusively for the top-ranked schools in the country. Hudson Park is a sporting transformation success story, and St David’s always punches above its weight. It will make for an interesting encounter.

Easter Rugby Festivals

King Edward

Thursday 6 April
8.10am St David’s vs Nico Malan
9.20am Eldoraigne vs Parktown
10.30am Paarl Boys’ High vs Selborne
11.40.am Northwood vs Ben Vorster
12.50pm KES vs Hudson Park
2pm Queens vs Diamantveld

Saturday 8 April
8am Kempton Park vs Durbanville
9.10am Nico Malan vs Diamantveld
10.20am Eldoraigne vs St David’s
11.30am HudsonPark vs Northwood
12.40pm Queens vs Ben Vorster
1.50pm Selborne vs Parktown
3pm KES vs Paarl Boys’ High

Monday 10 April
8am Kempton Park vs Queens
9.10am Ben Vorster vs Nico Malan
10.20am Parktown vs Diamantveld
11.30am Hudson Park vs St David’s
12.40am Eldoraigne vs Durbanville
1.30pm Northwood vs Paarl Boys’ High
3pm KES vs Selborne

St John’s Festival

Thursday 6 April
12.30pm Maritzburg College vs Golden Lions XV
1.40pm St Charles vs Pretoria Boys High
2.50pm Nelspruit vs S Benedict’s
4pm Jeppe vs Graeme College
5.10pm Boland Landbou vs Noordheuwel
7.10pm Grey High vs Hilton
8.20pm Welkom Gim vs St John’s

Saturday 8 April
8.15am Noordheuwel vs Nelspruit
9.30am St Charles vs St Benedict’s
10.40am Welkom Gim vs Golden Lions XV
1pm Graeme College vs St John’s
2.10pm Boland Landbou vs Pretoria Boys’ High
3.20pm Jeppe vs Hilton
4.30pm Maritzburg College vs Grey High

Monday 10 April
8.30am Noordheuwel vs Graeme College
9.40am Grey High vs Golden Lions XV
10.50am Hilton vs St Benedict’s
12pm Boland Landbou vs Welkom Gim
2pm St John’s vs St Charles
3.10pm Nelspruit vs Pretoria Boys’ High
4.20pm Maritzburg College vs Jeppe

 St Stithians Festival

Thursday 6 April
11am St Sithians vs Bishops
12.15pm Kingswood vs Clifton
1.30pm St John’s Harare vs St Alban’s
2.45pm St Andrew’s vs Michaelhouse
4pm Wynberg vs Helpmekaar

Saturday 8 April
11am St Alban’s vs Wynberg
12.15pm St John’s Harare vs St Andrew’s
1.30pm Clifton vs Michaelhouse
2.45pm Helpmekaar vs Bishops
4.30pm St Stithians vs Kingswood

Monday 10 April
11am Bishops vs Clifton
12.15pm Wynberg vs Northcliff
1.30pm Michaelhouse vs St Alban’s
2.45pm Kingswood vs Helpmekaar
4pm St Stithians vs St John’s Harare

Kearsney Festival

Thursday 6 April
Dale vs Kearsney
DHS vs Worcester Gim
EG Jansen vs Hartpury
Framesby vs Monument
Glenwood vs Marlow
Noordkaap vs Westville

Saturday 8 April
Dale vs Glenwood
DHS vs Framesby
EG Jansen vs Kearsney
Hartpury vs Westville
Marlow vs Worcester Gim
Monument vs Noordkaap

Monday 10 April
Dale vs Monument
DHS vs Marlow
EG Jansen vs Westville
Framesby vs Noordkaap
Glenwood vs Worcester Gim
Hartpury vs Kearsney

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