South Africa, strap yourself in the Noord/Suid will be brutal In Stellenbosch. The Noord/Suid Rugby Festival had four "moments of brilliance" to transform from "just" another rugby festival into the best rugby festival in South Africa.
The Noord/Suid Rugby Festival started in 2014 with Menlopark, Waterkloof, Paarl Gim and Harrismith, the schools attending. Despite growing steadily, the organisers were missing three heavyweights, namely Affies, Paarl Boishaai and Grey College. In 2019, these three schools attended the festival for the first time and made the Noord/Suid a true contender for one of the best schoolboy rugby festivals in South Africa.
However, the "heavyweights" of the English schools were still missing. In 2023, DHS made a cameo appearance, followed by Jeppe and KES in 2024. Who will forget Jeppe's brilliant 22-19 win over Grey College, which cost them the crown of the best 1stXV in South Africa?
This year, the "South" gets its first bite hosting the festival at the epic Markotter Stadium. And the organisers will not disappoint, with Paul Roos pulling out all the stops to make it the best Noord/Suid ever.
28 March 2025
08:30 Parel Valley vs Mzwandile Mali XV
The first match of the day may be an "ag siestog" match for most of South Africa, however, these boys and their coaches will never forget March 28 2028. Let the boys play.
10:00 SACS vs Welkom Gim
Welkom Gim started the season with two wins, however, they were bullied by Grey College (17-60) and beaten by a struggling Monnas (26-39). SACS lost 15-00 to Paarl Boishaai in 20-minute halves at the WP Schools Rugby Day and then beat Parel Vallei, who I called an "ag siestog" team, by just 14-12. Unfortunately, we do not know if it was SACS's best team that played against Parel Vallei or not. They did look a lot better against a highly rated Paarl Boishaai. Taking everything into account this should be an exciting match with Welkom Gim known for their high-octane rugby no matter what. However, the "home ground" advantage might just be the difference between the two schools.
11:30 Outenqiua vs Menlopark
Outeniqua had a "confident" start to the season, beating Nico Malan, Boland Landbou and Ligbron. Menlopark beat Eldoraigne and Piet Retief convincingly. Apart from Boland Landbou, who is surprisingly struggling this year, the rest of the opponents mentioned are "good" schools, but unfortunately, just that. I had the privilege to attend Menlopark against Eldoraigne and I do think that they will improve a lot more. The backline especially has some stars that could become matchwinners. Ouetniqua, on the other hand, will once again have some speedsters that can convert a shiny Friday morning in Stellenbosch into a nightmare within seconds. My vote is definitely for Menlopark, however .................?
13:00 EG Jansen vs Boland Landbou
Everybody who "knows" predicted a "not so good" 2025 for EG Jansen, and they did not disappoint, losing to Middelburg HTS (12-32) and Nelspruit (22-24) at the start of their season. On the other hand, a lot was expected from Boland Landbou, however, they had a "shaky" start to 2025, losing to Outeniqua at home 34-49, then drew to Wynberg 10-10 at the Western Province Rugby Day before beating Durbanville 40-31. This once again could be an interesting match with physicality that might just determine the winner with a "small" margin, 15 points to Boland Landbou.
14:30 Monnas vs Durbanville
If there is one team in South Africa, apart from maybe one or two schools, that we all want to see succeed, it must be Monnas. They beat Welkom Gim 38-26 but then were given a proper hiding by Grey College (47-03). Hopefully, the new men in charge at Monnas are not trying to reinvent the wheel and accept that the junior structures at Monnas are capable of developing the boys sufficiently on the way to 1stXV glory. I just felt that Monnas was stuck trying to do the basics which they already mastered in Grade 8 at 1stXV level. Just me. Durbanville lost both their matches already played. They lost 15-20 to Milnerton and 31-40 to Boland Landbou, and if they are not at their best against Monnas, it could become the first mismatch of the Noord/Suid 2025.
16:00 Affies vs Drostdy HTS
Drostdy HTS beat Upington 65-07 in the season opener; however, they lost to Paarl Boishaai 19-55 and then surprised all with their five-point 20-25 loss to Paul Roos. It is rumoured that Paul Roos "rested" about half of their team against Drostdy as it was Paul Roos' second match in three days. Affies beat Diamantveld 45-24 and then were impressive beating Helpmekaar 40-08 at home. However, before we make them the best of 2025, after only two matches, they need to show that they learnt to think on the field under pressure and not depend on one game plan, even if they are losing. Expect the big boys of Affies to keep the ball up front and maul and drive their opponents until the gaps open out wide to score impressive tries. It should be Affies, cruising to a 20-odd-point win.
17:30 Paarl Boishaai vs Waterkloof
Paarl Boishaai showed with wins over Drostdy HTS (55-19) and SACS (15-00) that they will be serious contenders for the crown in 2025. They have a brilliantly balanced side that starts with game breakers out wide and monsters up front to demolish any team that will try to challenge them. Waterkloof, on the other hand, beat Ben Vorster 47-30 and were made to work hard for their 24-21 win over Oos Moot. It should be an easy day for Paarl Boishaai unless Waterkloof was hiding a lot in their first two outings.
19:00 Paarl Gimansium vs KES
Paarl gimnasium was brilliant in their 39-17 win against Stellenberg but then showed some weaknesses against Rondebosch in their 15-all draw against a very good Rondebosch team. However, expect Paarl Gim to be in a nasty mood against KES, not wanting to be surprised the way Jeppe surprised Grey College a year ago. KES had a close call (17-15) against St John's and then were outplayed in the second half by a very good Jeppe who bounced back from 23-6 down, to win 37-28. It should be Paarl Gim with at least 20.
