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Host school Graeme College will renew a rivalry with the tough Marlow Agricultural outfit when the Pam Golding Properties Graeme Rugby Day takes place in Grahamstown on March 14.
It will be another testing encounter for the home team, but they have never shied away from this in their own tournament and it should provide a fitting finale to the traditional pipe-opener to the Eastern Province schools season.
Tournament director Nico van der Meulen has again lined up a fascinating array of matches, one of the feature games being the 12.40 showdown between Grey High of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage powerhouse Brandwag.
These sides have regularly dominated the schools rugby scene in Nelson Mandela Bay, but have rarely played against each other.
With both teams eager to lay down a marker for the season, this should be a humdinger to whet the appetite for some equally appealing matches later in the day.
The Grahamstown schools, who will draw thousands of supporters to the Somerset field venue, will occupy the afternoon fixtures.
Kingswood have been handed one of the toughest matches in Eastern Cape schools rugby with a 13.50 showdown against Selborne.
The East London side are always a formidable outfit and the Grahamstown school’s credentials will be tested to the full.
The main curtain-raiser is an equally fascinating encounter, pitting St Andrew’s against leading Port Elizabeth school Framesby.
With their penchant for running rugby, the Andreans always delight, but they will need to match that with the forward power the Framesby outfit are sure to bring to the game.
The fixtures for the Pam Golding Properties Graeme Rugby Day to be played in Grahamstown on Saturday, March 14 are:
Somerset field: 8.00: Cambridge v Mary Waters; 9.10: Dale v Muir; 10.20: Hudson Park v Nico Malan; 11.30: Queen’s v Pearson; 12.40: Grey High v Brandwag; 13.50: Kingswood v Selborne; 15.00: St Andrew’s v Framesby; 16.10: Graeme v Marlow
Marais A: 8.00: Graeme U16 v Marlow; 9.00: PJ Olivier 1st v Graeme 2nd/3rd; 10.00: Port Alfred 1st v Albany Development; 11.00: Grey High U16 v Brandwag; 12.00: Selborne U16 v Outeniqua; 13.00: Dale U15 v Muir U16; 14.00: Hudson Park U16 v Nico Malan; 15.00: Queen’s U16 v Pearson
Marais B: 8.00: Graeme U14 v Marlow; 9.00: Graeme U15 v Marlow; 10.00: Grey High U14 v Brandwag; 11.00: Selborne U14 v Outeniqua; 12.00: Dale U14 v Muir; 13.00: Hudson Park U14 v Nico Malan; 14.00: Albany Development U16 v Graeme U16B; 15.00: Queen’s U14 v Pearson
Kingswood: Kingswood U14 v Cambridge, Kingswood U15 v Cambridge, Kingswood U16 v Cambridge
St Andrew’s: St Andrew’s U14 v Framesby, St Andrew’s U15 v Framesby, St Andrew’s U16 v Framesby
Article by: Neale Emslie