Kearsney, Westville seek first wins at festival
THE second day of the Standard Bank Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival promises further exciting games after a cracking start to the festival.
On Thursday, the first day, the Stott field was in excellent condition despite the extreme rain experienced several days before.
Following today’s opening primary school match which sees Hillcrest Primary playing the KZN Mark Godefroy U13 Development Team at 7am, Noord-Kaap will take on Westville Boys’ High.
Both lost their first matches on Thursday and will be keen for a victory. Noord-Kaap have some speedy players but are likely to be out-scrummed by the heavier Westville pack. The local team have a good pair of centres so Westville should prevail.
The second match sees Hoërskool Monument taking on Hoër Landbouskool Marlow. This is probably the first time these two schools have met on the rugby field. Monument, after their showing on the first day, appear the side to beat and should be too skilful for the farmers from Cradock.
Home side Kearsney College will be hoping for their first victory when they take on Hoërskool Waterkloof from Pretoria. The latter were disappointing in their loss against DHS on Thursday, while Kearsney went down narrowly against Marlow, both sides scoring two tries but Kearsney’s kicker missed both conversions. A hard-fought game is predicted.
DHS, who looked good in their win against Waterkloof, take on Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen. The latter were disappointed in losing to Hoërskool Framesby in the final minutes of the game. They appeared to have the game sewn up, but a late surge by the Eastern Cape side took them by surprise, as they were looking the better team.
The penultimate match sees Framesby against Pretoria Boys High. Framesby have shown that they will fight to the end, but today they should win against the lads from the north. The latter have not had a good lead into the season and it is unlikely that they will be able to seriously challenge their high-riding opposition.
Glenwood play Selborne College in the final match of the day. The Durban side had a relatively easy win against Pretoria Boys, scoring four tries, but were kept on the attack by their flyhalf Enrico Marx. Selborne scored six tries against Noord-Kaap, most of them in the second half. This promises to be another humdinger.
FESTIVAL FIXTURES:
Today 16 April
Hillcrest Primary School vs KZN Ibutho/ Mark Godefroy U13 (7am); Hoërskool Noord-Kaap vs Westville Boys’ High School (8am); Hoërskool Monument vs Hoër Landbouskool Marlow (9.30am); Kearsney College vs Hoërskool Waterkloof (10.45am); Dr EG Jansen vs Durban High School (12noon); Pretoria Boys High School vs Hoërskool Framesby (1.15pm); Glenwood High School vs Selborne College.