Some outstanding play at the House of Paint Schools’ Easter Rugby Festival taking place at Kearsney College, Botha’s Hill shows great promise for the future of rugby in this country.  Hans Scriba, managing director of the Sharks Academy, said the first day had seen some superb individual play – with the overall standard being superior to that at last year’s Festival.

In the first game of the Festival, host team Kearsney College beat Upington 19-6 in a slow-starting match.  Kearsney dominated in the second half, with flyhalf Warren Seals kicking three vital penalties.  Kearsney ran in two tries from Matt Gregory and Brynne Campbell.  Upington was strong at the breakdown, with second phase ball coming out cleanly.

The second match up was a clash between the other two home province teams. DHS (Durban High School) outplayed the KZN Development XV 27-0, in a game of two halves.  The first part was full of errors and penalties, with the Development XV putting up a strong fight.  DHS, however, came out strongly in the second half, with number 10 Dumi Dyonese running in an awesome individual try.

In the game against Marais Viljoen from Alberton, the Queen’s College back-line dominated, running from all areas of the field.  Left wing Leon Makiwane scored a hat-trick, before his replacement Kantu Mfenyana went on to score another two tries.  Although Marais Viljoen lost the match 50-7, they never gave up, trying to score up until the last minute.

As predicted, the game between Selborne College from East London and Mpumalanga’s Hoer Tegnieseskool Middelburg was hard fought and very physical.  Selborne’s swift hands resulted in two tries and two penalties, to ensure an 18-0 win.

The final match of the day provided some entertaining rugby when Eastern Province’s Dale College faced up to Festival newcomers Hoerskool EG Jansen from Boksburg. Both teams were equally matched, displaying impressive, slick handling and superb backline interplay.  In the final minutes of the game, Dale scored two tries to wrestle the lead 33-22.  EG Jansen represented South Africa in the Youth Tournament in Japan in 2007.

Members from the KZN Rugby Union and Sharks Academy are on the lookout over the weekend for potential Sharks players. 

Two participants at the Festival, who will each receive a R60 000 contract with the Sharks Academy and an academic bursary from Varsity College, will be announced after the final game on Saturday.

The Currie Cup, which currently resides at The Absa Stadium Durban after last year’s Sharks’ victory, will be on display at the Festival at lunchtime on Saturday.

Day 2 - 11 April 2009

The outstandingly high level of play at the House of Paint Schools’ Easter Rugby Festival at Kearsney College, Botha’s Hill led to the awarding of three Sharks Academy - Varsity College bursaries today (Sat).  Morne Stassen, Leon Makiwane and Chris Cloete were each awarded a R60 000 bursary for the first year of their tertiary education at Varsity College and a contract with the Sharks Academy for 2010 after the final match at the Festival today (Saturday).  They will be eligible to have their bursaries renewed for the duration of their studies, based on academic and sporting performance.  Hans Scriba, managing director of the Sharks Academy, said due to the high standard of play, the selectors had decided to award three bursaries, and not two as previously offered.  Some superb individual play was evident over the weekend, he said, with the overall standard being superior to that at last year’s Festival.  This showed great promise for the future of rugby in this country.

Morne Stassen, captain and outside centre from Hoerskool EG Jansen, and Queen’s College winger Leon Makiwane, who has scored six tries at the Festival to date, were awarded for best backline play.  Flanker Chris Cloete, from Selborne College in East London, received his for outstanding loose forward play.

In the first match on Saturday, Selborne College beat Marais Viljoen from Alberton 23-13.  The score was not a true reflection of the game, with Marais Viljoen dominating a large part of the match, but failing to convert to points.  Selborne captain Matthew King initiated several slick tries.

Queen’s College put in a strong first half in their game against the KZN Development XV, with Leon Makiwane scoring another three tries, taking his tally to six for the Festival.  The Development team closed down Queen’s in the second half, scoring their first points of the Festival. 

In a surprise upset of the day, Upington beat Dale College from East London 18-13 – with Dale losing its first match in both the 2008 and 2009 Festivals.  The score see-sawed with each team scoring, before Upington touched down late in the second half to win a hard-fought match.  Dale seemed somewhat flat-footed and did not put passes together as smoothly as in past games.

The first half of the match between DHS and EG Jansen was a close physical one, with both sides winning ball at the breakdown, and scoring tries from that.  In the second half DHS made too many errors and gave away penalties, allowing EG Jansen’s class to show.  DHS lost 12-29.

HTS Middelburg’s size and physicality was too much for hosts Kearsney College, who went down 16-27 in the last game of the day.  Kearsney relied on Warren Seals’ boot to score points after great individual tries from Johannes Human and captain Dewald Boshoff.

Saturday’s results :
Selborne College 23 – Marais Viljoen 13
KZN Devlopment 3 – Queen’s College 39
Upington 18 – Dale College 13
EG Jansen 29 – DHS 12
Kearsney College 16 – HTS Middelburg 27

Wrap up of Festival 2009

A wealth of talented schoolboys, exciting play and interesting upsets over the weekend at the House of Paint Schools’ Easter Rugby Festival hosted at Kearsney College bodes well for the future of the game in this country.

After the final match on Saturday, Morne Stassen from Hoerskool EG Jansen, Queen’s College winger Leon Makiwane and Chris Cloete from Selborne College were each awarded a R60 000 bursary for the first year of their tertiary education at Varsity College and a contract with the Sharks Academy for 2010.  They will be eligible to have their bursaries renewed for the duration of their studies, based on academic and sporting performance.

An exciting brand of schoolboy rugby was displayed at the Festival where 10 top rugby-playing schools from around the country participated.  Hans Scriba, managing director of the Sharks Academy, said due to the high standard of play, the selectors had decided to award three bursaries, and not two as previously offered.

Some superb individual play was evident over the weekend, he said, with the overall standard being superior to that at last year’s Festival.  This showed great promise for the future of rugby in this country.

Morne Stassen, captain and outside centre from Hoerskool EG Jansen, and Queen’s College winger and top try scorer Leon Makiwane, were rewarded for best backline play.  Flanker Chris Cloete, from Selborne College in East London, received his for outstanding loose forward play.  The Queen’s College running style of rugby ensured it was the only team to win all its matches during the Festival.  The well-balanced and skilled Selborne College team won two and drew one match, showing itself to be a good all round side, whilst the third Border team, Dale College, depicted running rugby ‘par excellence’.  Contrasting this style of rugby were the Gauteng and Mpumalanga teams’ typical hard, strong games.  EG Jansen and HTS Middelburg both played a physical game, with Marais Viljoen being the most improved team at the Festival.  Similarly Hoerskool Upington, which is not often exposed to this level of competition, embraced the challenge and grew with the Festival.  Gutsy hosts Kearsney College played with heart and passion to win two of their games.  DHS, although ravaged by injury, showed grit and determination.  The final host province team of KZN Development XV displayed a never-say-die attitude and great enthusiasm.

Monday results:
Queen’s College 17 - DHS 7
KZN Development 0 - Upington 31
HTS Middelburg 27 - Dale College 21
Kearsney College 3 - Marais Viljoen 0
Selborne College 20 - EG Jansen 20

Review: 2008

Durbs at Eastertime! - and the inaugural festival   was fortunate to attract a cross-section of some of the country’s great rugby schools.  That formidable trio of Eastern Cape schools – Dale College, Queens College and Selborne College – arrived like a pack. Kearsney College, DHS and the enthusiastic lads of the KZN Development team represented the home province. From north of the Vaal came the mighty  Affies from Pretoria, as well HTS Middelburg from Mpumalanga, and Hoerskool Marais Viljoen from Alberton.  The final team was an outfit of those hardy lads from St John’s College in Zimbabwe.