Durban — A successful 14th Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival wrapped up on Monday with three teams remaining unbeaten.
They were Hoërskool Monument from Krugersdorp and two KZN teams, Glenwood High School and Westville Boys’ High.
The Spirit of the Festival trophy was awarded to Worcester Gimnasium and the Player of the Tournament was Ceano Everson, Monument’s scrumhalf.
KEARSNEY COLLEGE 24 – 26 HARTPURY COLLEGE (UK)
English school Hartpury ensured they didn’t leave Botha’s Hill empty-handed after knocking over hosts Kearsney in the final game of the weekend.
The Brits, who drew their opener with Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen 28-28, before falling to Westville 14-9, carried and tackled strongly to earn a well-deserved win in the end.
For Kearsney, who were beaten 23-20 by Dale College on day one before seeing off EG Jansen 17-12 in their second outing, it’s a case of taking the positives out of what was a very challenging fixture list.
By the time the match got underway, conditions had become extremely challenging, with a persistent drizzle making ball handling increasingly difficult.
HOëRSKOOL FRAMESBY 35 – 7 HOëRSKOOL NOORD-KAAP
Framesby took their chances when it mattered, to put Noord-Kaap away in the penultimate game of the festival.
Both sides were searching for their first wins, with the Gqeberha boys heading into this one having already been beaten by both Monument and Durban High School. Noord-Kaap lost out to Westville in their opener, before being humbled by an excellent Monnas outfit in the final game of day two.
WESTVILLE BOYS’ HIGH 22 – 10 HOëRSKOOLDR EG JANSEN
Westville beat EG Jansen in another absorbing encounter on the final day.
EG Jansen head home winless, having drawn with Hartpury and narrowly falling to beat Kearsney, during the first two days’ action.
HOëRSKOOL MONUMENT 41 – 5 DALE COLLEGE
Monument saw off 13-man Dale College in the third game of day three.
Outside centre Athi Msileni was shown his marching orders just six minutes into the encounter for a high hit on Monnas scrumhalf Hanno du Toit but the Eastern Cape boys did well to keep the score tight in the first half, before running out of steam in the second.
Dale were reduced to 13 players, with just minutes remaining, after Linembasa Mayoyo earned himself a red but the game was as good as done by then.
HOëR LANDBOUSKOOL MARLOW 25 – 32 DURBAN HIGH SCHOOL
DHS secured a dramatic win over Marlow in the second game of day three.
They enjoyed the majority of possession but a number of handling errors stunted their momentum time and again. The accuracy of their passing left a lot to be desired and they may have made more opportunities count had they been better in this department.
Marlow’s defence stood up strongly to the KZN boys’ initial onslaughts, and they did well to remain patient before launching attacks of their own.
WORCESTER GIMNASIUM 8 – 57 GLENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
Glenwood ensured they left Botha’s Hill with a 100% record after dispatching of Worcester Gimnasium in the opening game of the final day’s play.
The Green Machine, buoyed by another well-structured attacking and defensive effort, dominated the collisions and barely gave their opponents an inch all morning.
Worcester, who beat DHS on the first day before falling to Marlow on the second, just couldn’t live with Glenwood’s physicality and spent the majority of the match playing well behind the advantage line.
IOL Sport