Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival 2024 Day Three – Monday 01 April. The 2024 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival has seen some exciting clashes, thrilling running rugby and a wonderful atmosphere on campus, with large festive crowds and lots of family fun. Another humdinger is expected for the final day today (Thursday), with many teams having points to prove; and five teams going into their last encounter unbeaten at the festival. Durban High School, Worcester Gimnasium, Dr EG Jansen from Boksburg and festival newcomers Rondebosch Boys’ High have won all their fixtures, with Hoërskool Monument from Krugersdorp winning the single match they have played so far. Results From Final Day

 High Schools Results – Hoër Landbouskool Marlow 30-26 Hoërskool Noord-Kaap; Rondebosch Boys’ High 22-13 Hoërskool Rustenburg; Framesby 36-34 Worcester Gimnasium; Glenwood 12-19 Nico Malan; DHS 38-07 Pearson High; Monument 22-25 Westville Boys; Kearsney College 22-25 Dr EG Jansen

Prep Schools Results – Kloof Senior Primary 29-21 Ashton Ballito; KZNRU Ibutho U13 Development Team 5-15 Westville Senior Primary; Hillcrest Primary 26-12 Winston Park Primary; Umhlali Prep 38-0 Highbury; Glenwood Prep 10-12 Chelsea Prep

 Match Reports: Day 4, Match 7  Kearsney College – Hoërskool Dr Eg Jansen Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen’s 36-11 win over Kearsney College in the final match of KERF 2024 ensured they finished their campaign with an impressive three from three record.The hosts, who had already copped losses to Rondebosch Boys’ High and Hoërskool Framesby, were hoping to replicate last year’s 17-12 victory over the same opponents. Unfortunately for them, their final outing was marred by a frustrating tendency to concede soft tries and lapses in concentration on attack.EG Jansen were slow out of the blocks but found their feet as the match progressed to follow up their victories over Hoërskool Noord-Kaap and Glenwood with yet another, from which they will build plenty of momentum going forward this season. Daniel Eagar nailed a three-pointer on his second attempt to break the deadlock for Kearsney, but Zaide-Leigh Rippenaar hit back with a try within a minute to put Egies ahead.

Kearsney were beginning to make more opportunities count, while EG Jansen were leaking penalties and another Eagar penalty made it 6-5 at half-time.It was then that the One Stripe’s second row Simo Mnqokoyi scored one of the tries of the festival: breaking, chipping, regathering and stepping his way to a magnificent finish in the corner, complete with a swan dive that even Bryan Habana would have been proud of. Again, however, Kearsney were guilty of conceding immediately from kick-off as the ever-present Matthew Bergman broke through to set up centre Jeandre Jacobs for EG Jansen’s second. Eighth man Gerhard van Aswegen scored soon thereafter and suddenly all of Kearsney’s hard-fought momentum had evaporated. The visitors added to their tally through Keanu van Loggerenberg, Jacobs and Bergman as they saw out the game without conceding again.

Point scorers

Kearsney College

• Tries: Mnqokoyi
• Pens: Eagar (2)

Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen

• Tries: Rippenaar, Jacobs (2), van Aswegen, van Loggerenberg, Bergman
• Cons: Bergman (3)

Kearsney wing Valentino Lenge in the game against EG Jansen

EG Jansen try scorer Zaide-Leigh Rippenaar in the Kearsney game

 Day 3, Match 6 Hoërskool Monument 22 -25 Westville Boys’ High In one of the biggest upsets of the festival, an inspired Westville Boys’ High School performance lifted them to a hard-fought 25-22 win over Hoërskool Monument in the penultimate match of Day 3. Monnas were on top in the possession and territory stakes in the first half but just couldn’t make it count. They were later made to rue that inability to turn pressure into points as Njabulo Zulu’s outfit made the most of their limited opportunities, to race into a lead from which they never looked back.

Westville defended superbly in the first 20 minutes, absorbing everything Monument threw at them after the boys in white set up camp deep inside their territory. They were rewarded for their stoicism when Unathi Mlotshwa kicked a penalty to put the KZN side in front, but it would get even better a few moments later. A Monument set play was intercepted by Jadrian Afrikaner, who ran in from his own half unopposed, before Jade-Will Koopman raced through for his team’s second try in quick succession as Westville took an unlikely 15-0 lead into half-time. Michael Satade extended the Westville lead with another score, before Kealan Milton and Keenan Myners dragged two back for the Witbulle. Mlotshwa’s second penalty all but wrapped up the result, despite late tries to Milton and Vincent Robberts.

 Point scorers:

Hoërskool Monument

• Tries: Milton (2), Myners, Robberts
• Con: du Plooy

Westville Boys’ High

• Tries: Afrikaner, Koopman, Satade
• Cons: Mlotshwa (2)
• Pens: Mlotshwa (2)
• Yellow card: McGough

Action from the penultimate Monument – Westville clash

Day 3, Match 5 Durban High School 38 – 07 Pearson High School Durban High School made it three wins out of three at KERF after another convincing display in their 38-7 victory over Pearson High School in match five of Day 3. As they did in their previous two outings on Stott, DHS employed a slow poison approach, sucking the life out of their opposition through their slow tempo and territorial control.  Their ascendency was never really in question, and they remain well-placed to rule the roost amongst the rest of the KZN schools this season.

Pearson looked promising with ball in hand on occasion, but several unforced errors in the opposition red zone let DHS off the hook time and again. Adriano Jackson scored his fourth try of the festival to put the Horseflies ahead, before Marcwin Nero finished off a swift backline play to double their tally. Skipper Kian Rademeyer’s converted try earned Pearson their seven-points – and the only ones DHS conceded all weekend – but Nero struck again as the locals went into the break leading 21-7. Allston Cedras, Jordan van Wyk and Hlumelo Madikane each dived over in the second half, to extend the Durbanites’ advantage.

Point scorers:

Durban High School

• Try: Jackson, Nero (2), Cedras, Van Wyk, Madikane
• Cons: Boqwana (3), Cedras

Pearson High School

• Tries: Rademeyer
• Cons: Friskin

DHS scrumhalf Marcwin Nero scores his second try in the game against Pearson High School

 Day 3, Match 4 Glenwood High School 12 – 19 Nico Malan High Nico Malan outclassed Glenwood High School 19-12 in a convincing performance in match four of Day 3. It was all Nico Malan from the get-go, with the Green Machine hardly firing a shot the whole game. The Humansdorp side looked far hungrier and were relentless in the first half, as they bagged their second win of the week. The scoreline was not a true reflection of Nico Malan’s dominance, and they may well feel aggrieved that they couldn’t finish off more of the chances that presented themselves. Glenwood were lucky to come so close; they hardly had any possession to speak of and had no answer to wave after wave of Nico Malan attack.

Jean Joubert broke the deadlock with two penalties, before Aya Blaauw finally got his side’s first try after prolonged periods of pressure, to lead comfortably at the break. Nico Malan picked up where they left off in the second half, with Joubert adding another six points from the boot to extend the lead and all but wrap up the results. Sthabiso Dube and Nkululeko Khumalo scored for Glenwood after rare periods of possession, but that was as good as it got for the KZN side, as Nico Malan romped home to their second festival win.

Point scorers

Glenwood High School

• Tries: Dube, Khumalo
• Cons: Weber

Nico Malan High School

• Tries: Blaauw
• Cons: Joubert
• Pens: Joubert (4)

 Day 3, Match 3 Hoërskool Framesby 36-34 Worcester Gimnasium Logan Muller nailed a penalty in the final play of the game, for Hoërskool Framesby to pip Worcester Gimnasium 36-34 in a firecracker of a third match on Day 3. The Gqeberha boys’ physicality was on full display from the first whistle, but the Bosvarke weathered an early storm to hit back hard and come within a whisker of claiming what would have been their third one-point win of the week. As it happened, Muller’s three-pointer with time up on the clock won it for Framesby, who bounced back well from their Day 2 loss to Hoërskool Monument. Despite both teams being shown a plethora of cards, nothing could deter from what was one of the games of the festival. Framesby scored within seconds of kicking-off through big tight-head Sean Vermaak, before doubling their lead through Jason Niemand.

A Jayden Brewis try extended their advantage, and Worcester were living off scraps before a breakaway try from Tyron Abrahams against the run of play pulled five back to keep the Western Cape outfit in the game. Whatever head coach Jeff Fransman said at half-time worked wonders for Worcester, who came out of the break flying, immediately scoring twice through fullback Lorenzo Harmse, whose second, a sublime chip and chase effort, went down as one of the tries of the week. They weren’t done there though, and a score to loosehead Amaan Adendorff took Worcester into the lead for the first time in the contest.

Framesby counter-punched through their trusty driving maul, with eighth man Johan van Zyl going over, before opposite number Ryan Jacobs showed great feet to score Worcester’s fifth. Valentino Namodluka and Eden Calitz traded further tries with less than 10 minutes left, the latter off the back of yet another Framesby driving maul. But when Chris O’Neil received his second yellow for Worcester, the boys in red and blue began to pick up steam. After earning a penalty within striking distance, up stepped Muller to secure a famous win for a delighted team and head coach Louis Gerber.

Point scorers

Hoërskool Framesby

• Tries: Vermaak, Niemand, Brewis, Van Zyl, Calitz
• Cons: Muller (4)
• Pen: Muller
• Yellow card: Van Leewen, Wium

Worcester Gimnasium

• Tries: T. Abrahams, Harmse (2), Adendorff, Jacobs, Namodluka
• Cons: Abrahams, Harmse
• Yellow card: A. Abrahams
• Red card: O’Neil (two yellows)

Framesby #8 Johan van Zyl in the win against Worcester

Worcester fullback Lorenzo Harmse scored two tries in the game against Framesby

 Day 3, Match 2 Rondebosch Boys’ High 22 – 13 Hoërskool Rustenburg. Rondebosch Boys’ High sealed their third win of KERF with a 22-13 victory over fellow festival debutants Hoërskool Rustenburg in the second game of Day 3. Despite resting several first-choice players, Bosch were again a cut above on the day, after having already seen off the challenges of Westville Boys’ High and hosts Kearsney College. Rustenburg, who had fallen to Worcester Gimnasium and Durban High School on Days 1 and 2, played some impressive rugby on the backfoot, but just couldn’t hang onto the ball long enough to create more than a handful of meaningful chances. Rusties’ mauling was working to good effect though, and it was only some well-organised Rondebosch defence that kept them at bay in the opening exchanges. Their early pressure finally told when Lorenzo Snyers slotted a three-pointer to edge ahead.

The Southern Suburb school came storming back through eighth man Travis van den Berg and hooker Ismaeel Conrad before Snyers kicked his second penalty. Towering Tom Barnard added another for his team to head into half-time in a comfortable 17-6 lead. Despite dominating possession and territory for the duration of the second-half, Rondebosch couldn’t capitalise, and a break-away try by flyhalf Jaden Meyer brought Rustenburg back to within four against the run of play. But Justin Amos had the final say of the game for the boys in navy, who return to Cape Town unbeaten.

Scores

Rondebosch Boys’ High School

• Tries: Van den Berg, Conrad, Barnard, Amos
• Cons: Belelie

Hoërskool Rustenburg

• Tries: Meyer
• Cons: Meyer
• Pens: Snyers (2)

Rondebosch prop Matthew van der Merwe in the game against Rustenburg

Rustenburg’s Lorenzo Snyers in the game against Rondebosch

Day 3, Match 1 Hoër Landbouskool Marlow 30 – 26 Hoërskool Noord-Kaap Gideon Jordaan’s personal tally of 20-points lifted Hoër Landbouskool Marlow to a 30-26 win over Hoërskool Noord-Kaap in the first game of the final day of this year’s Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival. Neither side had yet tasted victory on Stott field, meaning this one was always going to be decided by the slimmest of margins. As it turned out, mature decision-making and the accurate goal-kicking of flyhalf Jordaan proved the difference for the boys from the Karoo, in a match set by quintessential Botha’s Hill mist.

Jonaden Links opened the scoring for Noord-Kaap after accelerating in from close range, but Marlow pulled a penalty back through the boot of Jordaan. The Kimberley-based side were as physical as ever at set piece time and were awarded a penalty try after Marlow illegally brought down a driving maul just out from their try line. Jordaan knocked over another penalty, before crossing the whitewash himself, with his ensuing conversion and another penalty pushing Marlow out to a 16-14 half-time lead. Loosehead Hermanus Steyn’s try just after the break gave Marlow a big psychological bump, and a further score to No 8 Jan Els placed them well in control. An Abdul Fisher touchdown kept Noord-Kaap in the game, before they were awarded their second penalty try of the morning, following a high hit by Els on Bjorn Olfinger. It was too little too late, however, as Marlow hung on for an important win.

Point scorers:

Hoër Landbouskool Marlow

• Tries: Jordaan, Steyn, Els
• Cons: Jordaan (3)
• Pens: Jordaan (3)
• Yellow card: Els

Hoërskool Noord-Kaap

• Tries: Links, penalty try, Fisher, penalty try
• Cons: Fisher

Marlow kicker Gideon Jordaan in the game against Noord-Kaap

Marlow point scorer Gideon Jordaan in the game against Noord-Kaap

Photographs: Hannah Shirley