The St John's vs KES fixture are the oldest derby for both schools dating back to 1932 when both schools started playing rugby. KES has only played more games against Pretoria Boys High than against St John's. To date 96 games were played, 68 won by KES, 23 won by St John's and 5 drawn.
St John's have not won a game since 2004 when the Scott Spedding scored in the last minute to snatch the victory. In 2005 the teams drew 13-13 with 2014 30-28 and 2015 19-15 the closest games. In 2016 KES won this fixture at home with a record 59-10 score.
St John's season this far was a very successful one with only 3 losses from 13 games with the last loss last weekend against Pretoria Boys High. This loss was somewhat unexpected but with Pretoria Boys High improving every match not much can be taken from this match to write the boys of St John's off.
KES season this far has been spectacular with only the hard fought match against Monnas lost 19-24. The most famous "victory" was the one against Affies where KES was in control and leading when the game was called off due to bad weather.
KES must be the favourite in this match with their pack of forwards dominant and their backline very dangerous given the opportunity BUT the St John's I saw was like a pack of wild dogs hunting together, in the face of their opponents the whole time. Their scrums may not be as dominant as KES's but they did overpower St Stithians scrum with current Lions forwards in that team and with Kieran Houlston back to his early season brilliance the backline of St John's can score tries.
The deciding factor in this match could be the willingness of most of the KES players to risk injury and not participate at the Youth Weeks.
Fixtures:
Burger Field:
08:00 - 19D
09:00 - 19C
10:00 - 16A
11:00 - 19B
12:15 - 19A
Mitchell Field:
08:00 - 16B
09:00 - 16C
10:00 - 19F
11:00 - 19E
C Rugby:
08:00 - 15B
09:00 - 15A
10:00 - 15C
D Rugby:
08:00 - 14A
09:00 - 14B
10:00 - 14C