It’s wonderful to start the festival in bright sunshine, after last year’s mud bath. Keaarsney is ready to excite all schoolboy rugby supporters. A beautiful sunny, warm day heralded the start of this year’s Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival which kicked off today (Thursday). The Stott rugby field has been perfectly manicured in expectation of the exciting match-ups anticipated over the weekend.
Glenwood 22-10 Marlow
Day one action concluded with Glenwood seeing off HoërLandbouskool Marlow 22-10 in a fiery affair.
It took a while for the Green Machine to warm up the engine, but once they did, they looked really good. The KZN boys’ work at the breakdown and defensive organisation played a big part in what was a solid display against a tenacious Marlow outfit.
The Cradock-based team had their moments, particularly in the second half, and did well to match Glenwood’s physicality. In the end, though, they just couldn’t create enough with the ball in hand to properly challenge their Durban rivals.
The early stages were a topsy-turvy affair, with both schools seeing plenty of possession. Glenwood finally made their opportunities count though, with Zuki Tom going over twice to put his side in charge.
Marlow took advantage of a rare attacking chance through Leonard Booysen, but a Johandre van Rooyen penalty made it 17-5 at the break.
There wasn’t much to separate the sides in the second half, with SisiphiwoDwayi and AJ Schenk trading tries, but it was Glenwood that eventually held on for the win.
Tensions boiled over right at the death, with MC Strydom and Laythen Mfupieach receiving yellow cards, but it didn’t affect the score-line.
EG Jansen 28-28 Hartpury College (UK)
Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen and Hartpury College played out a scintillating 28-all draw in the penultimate game of the first day of the festival.
Hartpury, the first overseas team to participate at KERF since Christ College back in 2011, produced a manful defensive shift late on, to deny the Boksburg boys at the end of what was a brutal affair.
The tourists spent the majority of the opening 10 minutes defending inside their own half, and they were eventually breached when Reon Pretorius barged over.
From there it was all Hartpury though, with a converted Sam Morton-Smith effort levelling the scores in no time before a prolonged period of possession and territory was rewarded when Toby Maddock went over to put the boys from Gloucestershire 14-7 ahead at the interval.
They extended their lead through powerful hooker Henry Walker, but EG Jansen responded against the run of play, when Juandre Jacobs charged down a kick on halfway to bring it back to within seven.
Sonny Greenman, who nailed all four conversions on the day, hit back for Hartpury but the momentum swung again in EG Jansen’s favour.
The South Africans replied immediately when they were awarded a penalty try following an illegal collapse of a powerful driving maul, before flyhalf Ruan van Heerden dived over to level the scores.
EG Jansen launched a number of attacks in the Hartpury red zone at the death, but some desperate defending from the boys in red kept them out and sealed the draw.
Westville 31-19 Noord Kaap
Westville Boys’ High School held off Hoërskool Noord-Kaap in a hard-fought 31-19 victory in game four. The KZN boys started the first half brightly, but some lapses in concentration on defence allowed Noord-Kaap back into the contest. Deon Carney’s side did well to fight back in the face of a hard-nosed Westville line-up, and they enjoyed some good moments at times.
Ultimately though, Westville’s physicality was too much for Noord-Kaap to handle, as the local lads got their festival campaign off on a winning note. Midfielder Likhona Finca opened the scoring for Westville just a few minutes in, with No 14 Michael Satade bagging a brace soon after.
After initially struggling to break Westville down, Noord-Kaap hit back through hooker Liam Harmse and winger Junior Kettledas to make it 19-12 at the break.
Fullback Tshegofatso Ramaloko extended Westville’s lead in the second half before Finca positively barnstormed his way over for his second of the encounter. A Tyron China break set up Shaw Lourens for Noord-Kaap’s third, but they couldn’t get any closer to closing the deficit.
Monnas 28-07 Framesby
In game three, Hoërskool Monument outmuscled Hoërskool Framesby to ease to a comfortable 28-7 win. Monnas were rewarded for their early dominance through scrumhalf Ceano Everson, who put the Krugersdorp boys ahead not long after kick-off.
A powerful counter-shove at scrum time gave the ever-present Everson the chance to steal possession inside Framesby territory, which eventually resulted in Nathan Erasmus extending Monument’s lead.
Framesby didn’t have much in the way of territory or possession in the first half, living mostly off scraps and unable to stamp their authority on an uber-physical Monument outfit, who took a 14-0 lead into half-time.
The second half went much the same way as the first, with the boys from Gqeberha struggling for a foothold in the game. A try by Michiel Burger and Everson’s second added to the tally. Jaco Pretorius pulled one back for Framesby but it wasn’t to be.
Durban High School 31-36 Worcester Gimnasium
Worcester Gimnasium earned a late 36-31 victory over Durban High School in a counter-attacking feast in game two. Both schools were brilliant with the ball in hand, with Worcester taking their opportunities when they mattered to fight back against an accurate DHS team.
A great run saw Alton Hendricks take Worcester into an early lead before DHS’s Deano Boesak put half-back partner Florenson Ockhuis away with a delicious offload inside their opponents’ 22.
DHS made use of their lineout maul often and one such drive opened up plenty of room for Ntando Mavuso to dot down off first phase, with the diminutive right winger adding his second not long afterwards.
A 40m penalty by Carick Kustoor, excellent from the tee all morning, made it 17-10 at the break, but a Maurice Willemse touchdown extended the DHS lead after the interval.
AlungileMothibegot one back for Worcester against the run of play, before Thando Luthuli, hit back soon for the Durbanites.
However, a Ryan Jacobs effort, as well as Mothibe’s second, brought the scores level at 31-all with under 10 minutes remaining on the clock. Then, with under a minute to go, Hope Dliso scored the winner in the corner to earn the Western Cape outfit a dramatic 36-31 win.
Kearsney College 30-23 Dale College
Kearsney College and Dale College got the first day’s play underway, with the visitors pulling off a remarkable comeback to open their campaign with a thrilling 23-20 win.
The festival hosts dominated territory and possession early on, twice turning down kickable shots at goal in favour of a lineout drive. The decision-making paid off when Junior Dlamini dotted down on the left touchline to get them off to a flyer.
The Eastern Cape boys came back swinging, proceeding to set up camp in Kearsney territory for the better part of the first half and initiating wave after wave of attack. Although the hosts put on an admirable defensive effort, a high hit by Jarred van Staaden earned him a yellow, with the visitors eventually making the most of the one-man advantage through Cole van Staden.
Kearsney went on to bag further five-pointers through Siso France and SalusiweMqobongo to set up a commanding 15-5 lead at the break and, when a fantastic individual score by scrumhalf Chad Croshaw gave Kearsney a 15-point lead, it looked as though the floodgates had opened.
Royden Kennedy’s side had other ideas though, and, in the space of a few minutes, a Lindokuhle Ndlela penalty and tries to namesake Lindokuhle Xozwa and Athi Msileni brought the scores level with just over a quarter to play.
The sides continued to trade blows before a typical Dale counterattack earned them a penalty on Kearsney’s 22, from which Ndlela slotted the winning kick with time up on the clock to record a cracking victory.
