In celebration of the school’s 150th anniversary, Graeme College has brought in a fresh dimension to their annual rugby day by extending it to a festival over three days in March next year.
And adding the cherry on the top will be the appearance of crack rugby schools such as Grey College from Bloemfontein, Hilton from KwaZulu-Natal and SACS from Cape Town, all of whom will provide fascinating opposition for their Eastern Cape opponents.
Naturally, Graeme has not forgotten the loyal support they have annually received from the local teams and the cream of Eastern Cape’s schools will again be in action in this traditional pipe-opener to the season.
The festival will take place from March 23 to 25, but not all teams will be in action for the full three days. The fixtures have been arranged so that those schools who play on Thursday will only be in action again on Saturday, while the programme on Friday will see those teams play only once.
Tournament director Nico van der Meulen said they had wanted to do something special to celebrate a significant year in the school’s history.
“We have enjoyed huge success with our traditional Graeme Rugby Day over the years, but we felt we just wanted to take it to the next level on the occasion of our 150th celebrations,” he said.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Grey College, who has appeared once before, SACS and Hilton to our event, and are also grateful for the outstanding support we have received from our Eastern Cape colleagues.
“It should be an excellent three days of rugby and an ideal opportunity for coaches to continue fine-tuning their sides for the season.”
As one of the perennially top teams in the country, Grey College will add a sharp edge to the competition when they take on Marlow Agricultural in Thursday’s feature match and then face Makhanda outfit St Andrew’s in the main curtain-raiser on Saturday.
Although these are daunting prospects for the local outfits, it will be a great opportunity for them to embrace the challenge of taking on one of the best rugby schools in the land.
Hilton faces two massive examinations against Brandwag and Framesby, while the festival looks destined for a cracking start when SACS take on St Andrew’s in Thursday’s opening fixture.
The hosts have not shied away from giving themselves two tough encounters, with a Thursday showdown against Framesby, followed by a clash with SACS on Saturday in what should be a fitting finale to the festival.
Grey High will be in action only on the Friday, playing the feature match against Hudson Park, while East London powerhouse Selborne also play only once, facing Nico Malan in the main curtain-raiser on the same day.
Besides the first team fixtures, Graeme will also be arranging age-group games on the Marais Field, with this line-up still to be confirmed. The U14 and U16 sections will play on Thursday and Friday, while Saturday will see an U13 festival taking place.
The first team fixtures are:
Thursday, March 23
Somerset Field, 10am: St Andrew’s v SACS, 11.20: Brandwag v Hilton; 12.40: Kingswood v Queen’s; 2pm: Graeme v Framesby; 3.20: Grey College v Marlow
Marais Field, 8am: U14 and U16 fixtures to be confirmed
Friday, March 24
Somerset Field, 8am: Port Alfred v Woodridge; 9.15: Mary Waters v Union High; 10.30: Cambridge v Daniel Pienaar; 11.45: Muir v Stirling; 1pm: Dale v Pearson;2.15: Selborne v Nico Malan;3.30: Hudson Park v Grey High
Marais Field, 8am: U14 and U16 fixtures to be confirmed
Saturday, March 25
Somerset Field: 10am: Brandwag v Queen’s; 11.20 Marlow v Kingswood; 12.40: Hilton v Framesby; 2pm: St Andrew’s v Grey College;3.20: Graeme v SACS
Marais Field: U13 Festival to be confirmed
Article by: Neale Emslie
