THE school rugby season has only just kicked off, but the country’s top teams are well prepared to make their mark at the 12th Standard Bank Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival which kicks off on Thursday, 18 April.
At the event, locals will witness how three of the top-ranked KZN schools, hosts Kearsney, Glenwood and DHS, fare against some of the country’s finest.
This year Hoërskool Transvalia from Gauteng will participate for the first time. They will join Pretoria Boys’ High, Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen, HTS Middelburg and Welkom Gimnasium from Gauteng; the Eastern Cape’s Selborne College (East London) and Hoërskool Framesby (Port Elizabeth); HTS Drostdy from Worcester in the Western Cape and Hoërskool Noord-Kaap (Kimberley).
The festival will offer thrilling match-ups and exciting running rugby that makes this style of the game so popular.
Where there is talent, there are also talent scouts, and members of the KZN Rugby Union and Sharks Academy will be on the lookout for future players. The festival has been hailed as having boosted the depth of talent entering the province’s rugby through The Sharks Academy.
Etienne Fynn, the managing director of The Sharks Academy, said the festival provided a great opportunity to bring together, in KZN, some of the top talented schoolboy rugby players from all over the country; and to expose these players and coaches to the Sharks brand.
“Rugby has become a realistic career opportunity and the festival is an ideal springboard for players to show their skill and flair for the game, while also providing obvious benefits to rugby in the province,” said Etienne.
Festival play days are Thursday, 18, Saturday, 20 and Monday, 22 April, with kick-off at 9.30am each day. This is followed by a primary schools’ fixture at 8.30am between primary school teams that include Highbury Preparatory, Hillcrest Primary, Umhlali Preparatory against the KZNRU Ibutho/Mark Godefroy U13 development team.
The gate entrance is R25 per person and there is ample secure parking. There will be food and refreshment outlets as well as an exciting KidZone.
Fixtures:
Thursday, 18 April: 8.30am Umhlali Prep v U13 KZN Ibutho; 9.30am Kearsney v Pretoria Boys; 10.45am Hoerskool Framesby v Welkom Gimnasium; noon Selborne v. Hoerskool Noord-Kaap; 1.15pm HTS Middelburg v HTS Drostdy; 2.30pm Glenwood v EG Jansen and 3.45pm DHS v Hoerskool Transvalia.
Saturday, 20 April: 8.30am Hillcrest Primary v U13 KZN Ibutho; 9.30am Hoerskool Noord-Kaap v HTS Middelburg; 10.45am Hoerskool Transvalia v Pretoria Boys; noon Kearsney v Framesby; 1.15pm Welkom Gimnasium v HTS Drostdy; 2.30pm DHS v EG Jansen; 3.45pm Selborne v Glenwood
Monday, 22 April: 8.30am Highbury v U13 KZN Ibutho; 9.30am Hoerskool Noord-Kaap v EG Jansen; 10.45am HTS Middelburg v Pretoria Boys; noon Selborne v Hoerskool Framesby; 1.15pm DHS v HTS Drostdy; 2.30pm Glenwood v Hoerskool Transvalia and 3.45pm Kearsney v Welkom Gimnasium.
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