2022 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival Preview for Day 2: Saturday 16 April

The second day of the Standard Bank Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF) promises further exciting games after a cracking start to the festival. On Thursday, the first day, the Stott field was in excellent condition despite the extreme rain experienced several days before.

Following tomorrow’s (Saturday) opening primary school match which sees Hillcrest Primary playing the KZN Mark Godefroy U13 Development Team at the early hour of 07h00, Noord-Kaap will take on Westville Boys’ High. Both lost their first matches on Thursday and will be keen for a victory. Noord-Kaap have some speedy players but are likely to be out-scrummed by the heavier Westville pack. The local team have a good pair of centres so Westville should prevail.

The second match sees Hoërskool Monument taking on Hoër Landbouskool Marlow. This is probably the first time these two schools have met on the rugby field. Monument, after their showing on the first day, appear the side to beat and should be too skilful for the farmers from Cradock. The ‘Player of the Day’ on day one was the flank and work-horse Xander Schoeman from Monument and, together with a strong pack of forwards and a skilful backline, will make them favourites to win their second encounter at the 13^th KERF.

Home side Kearsney College will be hoping for their first victory when they take on Hoërskool Waterkloof from Pretoria. The latter were disappointing in their loss against DHS on Thursday, while Kearsney went down narrowly against Marlow, both sides scoring two tries but Kearsney’s kicker missing both conversions. A hard-fought game is predicted.

Durban High School (DHS), who looked good in their win against Waterkloof, take on Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen. The latter were disappointed in losing to Hoërskool Framesby in the final minutes of the game. They appeared to have the game sewn up, but a late surge by the Eastern Cape side took them by surprise, as they were looking the better team. This match will be a good test for DHS and, if they can win today, will be a threat in KZN this season.

The penultimate match sees Framesby against Pretoria Boys High. Framesby have shown that they will fight to the end, but today they should win against the lads from the north. The latter have not had a good lead into the season and it is unlikely that they will be able to find the necessary energy and application against their high-riding opposition. There is however always a chance that Framesby may not be able to again produce a repeat of their effort from the first day.

Glenwood play Selborne College in the final match of the second day. The Durban side had a relatively easy win against Pretoria Boys, scoring four tries, but kept on the attack by their flyhalf Enrico Marx. Selborne scored six tries against Noord-Kaap, most of them in the second half. This promises to be another humdinger to close the second day of the festival.

Interestingly a number of coaching staff at this year’s festival have intimate knowledge of the event, having participated at previous KERF’s as players.  Selborne head coach Chase Morison played prop for Selborne in 2009 and 2010.  His current assistant coach James Allderman played in the same Selborne team at Kearsney. Selborne have played at every KERF since the first one in 2008.

The talented Lubabalo ‘Tera’ Mtembu donned the colours of Dale College at the inaugural KERF and returned to lead his school a year later. He is currently a rugby coach at Kearsney. Gate entrance is R30 per person with ample secure parking.  Food and refreshment outlets, a coffee shop, beer tent and KidZone ensure a full day of entertainment for the whole family. Fixtures and festival information are available on kearsney.com – and all matches will be live-streamed on the supersportschools.com app and website.

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Festival Fixtures: Saturday 16 April

07h00 Hillcrest Primary School vs KZN Ibutho/Mark Godefroy U13; 08h00 Hoërskool Noord-Kaap vs Westville Boys’ High School; 09h30 Hoërskool Monument vs Hoër Landbouskool Marlow; 10h45 Kearsney College vs Hoërskool Waterkloof; 12h00 Dr EG Jansen vs Durban High School; 13h15 Pretoria Boys High School vs Hoërskool Framesby; 14h30 Glenwood High School vs Selborne College