Johannesburg - The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival kicked off on Thursday under sunny skies at the Durban school and there were wins for Glenwood, Westville, Monument and Worcester Gim while England’s Hartpury College drew with Dr EG Jansen.
Glenwood High School 22 – 10 Hoër Landbouskool Marlow
Day one action concluded with Glenwood seeing off Marlow 22-10 in a fiery affair.
It took a while for the Green Machine to warm up the engine, but once they did, they looked really good. The KZN boys’ work at the breakdown and defensive organisation played a big part in what was a solid display against a tenacious Marlow outfit.
Hoërskool Dr Eg Jansen 28 – 28 Hartpury College (Uk)
EG Jansen and Hartpury College played out a scintillating 28-all draw in the penultimate game of the first day of the festival.
Hartpury, the first overseas team to participate at KERF since Christ College back in 2011, produced a manful defensive shift late on to deny the Boksburg boys at the end of what was a brutal affair.
Westville Boys’ High 31 – 19 Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
Westville held off Hoërskool Noord-Kaap in a hard-fought 31-19 victory in game four.
The KZN boys started the first half brightly, but some lapses in concentration on defence allowed Noord-Kaap back into the contest. Deon Carney’s side did well to fight back in the face of a hard-nosed Westville line-up, and they enjoyed some good moments at times.
Ultimately though, Westville’s physicality was too much for Noord-Kaap to handle, as the local lads got their festival campaign off on a winning note.
Hoërskool Monument 28 – 7 Hoërskoolframesby
In game three, Monument outmuscled Framesby to ease to a comfortable 28-7 win.
Monnas were rewarded for their early dominance through scrumhalf Ceano Everson, who put the Krugersdorp boys ahead not long after kick-off.
A powerful counter-shove at scrum time gave the ever-present Everson the chance to steal possession inside Framesby territory, which eventually resulted in Nathan Erasmus extending Monument’s lead.
Framesby didn’t have much in the way of territory or possession in the first half, living mostly off scraps and unable to stamp their authority on an uber-physical Monument outfit, who took a 14-0 lead into half-time.
Durban High School 31 –36 Worcester Gimnasium
Worcester Gimnasium earned a late 36-31 victory over DHS in a counter-attacking feast in game two.
Both schools were brilliant with ball in hand, with Worcester taking their opportunities when they mattered to fight back against an accurate DHS team.
Kearsney College 20–23 Dale College
Kearsney and Dale got the first day’s play underway, with the visitors pulling off a remarkable comeback to open their campaign with a thrilling 23-20 win.
The festival hosts dominated territory and possession early on, twice turning down kickable shots at goal in favour of a lineout drive. The decision-making paid off when Junior Dlamini dotted down on the left touchline to get them off to a flyer.
The Eastern Cape boys came back swinging, proceeding to set up camp in Kearsney territory for the better part of the first half and initiating wave after wave of attack. Although the hosts put on an admirable defensive effort, a high hit by Jarred van Staaden earned him a yellow, with the visitors eventually making the most of the one-man advantage through Cole van Staden.
Festival Fixtures:
Day 2 Saturday 8 April
09:00 Hartpury College (UK) vs Westville Boys’ High School
10:20 Worcester Gimnasium vs HoërLandbouskool Marlow
11:40 Glenwood High School vs Dale College
13:00 Hoërskool Dr E G Jansen vs Kearsney College
14:20 Durban High School vs HoërskoolFramesby
15:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
Day 3 Monday 10 April
09:00 Worcester Gimnasium vs Glenwood High School
10:20 HoërLandbouskool Marlow vs Durban High School
11:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Dale College
13:00 Westville Boys’ High School vs Hoërskool Dr E G Jansen
14:20 HoërskoolFramesby vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
15:40 Kearsney College vs Hartpury College (UK)
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