Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival kicks off tomorrow
The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, which kicks off tomorrow (Thursday), has again attracted the cream of the country’s rugby-playing schools and is expected to provide some thrilling play between participating teams, many of which don’t ordinarily play each other during the season.
Two international rugby referees, Craig Joubert and Marius Jonker, will be officiating at this year’s event; and rugby enthusiasts can expect exhilarating running rugby from the exciting match-ups scheduled for the three days of play.
It kicks off at 9.30am tomorrow (Thursday) and continues with six fixtures daily on Saturday and Monday.
In the opening game, hosts Kearsney College will take on HTS Middelburg, the 2013 NuPower-Tuks champs who return to the festival after four years’ absence. The game will be followed by Hoerskool Framesby from Port Elizabeth facing off against powerhouse Monument from Krugersdorp. The last game before lunch sees Westville Boys’ High face Nico Malan from Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape.
In the afternoon session festival stalwarts Selborne College from East London play Affies, the perennially strong Pretoria outfit which is one of South Africa’s elite rugby schools. Aside from the hosts, Selborne is the only team to have participated in every Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival since its inception in 2008.
Their game will be followed by a clash between local team Glenwood and Dale College from King William’s Town. Dale has won all six of their matches this year, with their biggest victory coming against Graeme College a month ago.
An anticipated tough encounter between Bloemfontein’s Grey College and EG Jansen from Boksburg ends the first day’s play. It is the fifth consecutive year that Grey has participated at the festival, and EG Jansen’s sixth outing to the Botha’s Hill event.
Emphasising the quality of participants at the Kearsney festival, half the players selected for last year’s SA Schools squad had played at the 2013 Kearsney festival a few months earlier.
A match between three primary school teams – Highbury, Westville Senior Primary and Umhlali Preparatory – and the KZNRU Ibutho u13 development team will kick off each day’s action at 8.30am. Senior teams will play from 9.30am daily.
Entry to the festival is R50 per vehicle, which includes a glossy souvenir brochure, and there is ample parking available. Food outlets and a refreshment marquee will ensure spectators are able to fully enjoy the family-friendly event.
Fixtures and up-dates are available on http://www.schoolrugby.mobi/school.aspx?s=366
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