A point to prove as Durban foes clash

DURBAN High School and Glenwood 1st XV rugby teams clash this weekend in one of Durban’s oldest schoolboy sporting rivalries, with both sides coming into the match with a point to prove after the Craven Week and Academy Week teams were announced yesterday.

Glenwood, the subject of a raging controversy after 29 of their players went to the provincial trials, are well represented with seven players in each squad, but they will want to prove, despite early season losses, that they deserve the lion’s share of representatives.

Hosts DHS, on the other hand, with just two players in the Academy side (effectively a KwaZulu-Natal B team), will be out to prove they are no pushovers.

Results suggest DHS will struggle to stay in the contest after they suffered big losses to Kearsney and Michaelhouse in successive weeks, and even their 34-0 victory over George Campbell last weekend was not as convincing as they may have hoped.

Glenwood will be well rested after a four-week lay-off following their trip to Wildeklawer Tournament in April, when they lost to EG Jansen and scraped a one-point win over Kynoch Noord-Kaap.

After a shaky, but unbeaten pre-season tournament, Glenwood started the proper season badly, with losses to Kearsney and Michaelhouse and then two out of three losses at the Kearsney Rugby Festival.

They clicked into gear with big and very convincing wins over Maritzburg College and Northwood before their tour to Wildeklawer.

Glenwood are easily the best represented school in the two KwaZulu-Natal teams, while unbeaten Michaelhouse, without doubt the undisputed top team in the province this season, have six in the 22-man Craven Week squad and just two in the Academy Week squad. – Sports Reporter