Article: Greg Cohen
Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival returned after a two year hiatus due to COVID. We were treated to fantastic displays of running rugby and never say due defense.
Day 1 kicked off with Marlow Landbou stunning hosts Kearsney on home soil to record an impressive win. Durban High School looked resurgent in their 23-5 win over Waterkloof, a traditional powerhouse from Pretoria. Monument was next up, beating Westville from Kwa Zulu Natal Xander Schoeman stood out for Monnas. Selborne had a mixed start to their 2022 campaign but beat Noord Kaap convincingly 45-17 in a polished display. Local boys Glenwood came away victors against Pretoria Boys High in a physical encounter. In the game of the day Framesby beat Dr EG Jansen 22-19. Both teams would not give eachother an inch, this game definitely stood out.
Day 2 saw Westville brush aside Noord-Kaap 24-0, bouncing back from their first day loss. Monument were pushed to the very end by a strong Marlow Landbou team who were punching well above their weight but the Wit Bulle came away 12-7 victors. Hosts Kearsney were determined to right their wrongs when they came up against Waterkloof and showed tremendous character to win 12-10 in front of their home crowd. Durban High were dead set on continuing their winning ways and did just that beating EG Jansen 20-15. Pretoria Boys High and Framesby locked horns in a tightly contested match which went down to the wire and ended in a deserved 14-14 draw. Glenwood lined up against Eastern Cape rivals Selborne in what promised to deliver fireworks. Selborne came out strong but were edged out on the line by the Green machine with Glenwood winning 15-14.
The Final day started with EG Jansen stopping Glenwood in their tracks stunning the Green Machine 17-10. Selborne beat Westville Boys 20-7 to end the festival with two games from three. Monument and Durban High clashed in a spectacular encounter where no team was given an inch to move, a conversion proved all the difference with Monnas winning 7-5. Pretoria Boys High ended the Marlow Landbou party beating them 21-10. Both teams had a strong festival. Waterkloof registered their first win of the festival against Noord-Kaap 27-7. In the final game hosts Kearsney went down to Eastern Cape boy Framesby 26-6.
After the tournament concluded a team of the tournament was named, congratulations to the following players who were selected:
15) Tshegofatso Ramaloko (Westville)
14) Ronaldo le Fleur (Glenwood)
13) Tholi Sibisi (DHS)
12) Dwight Peterson (DHS)
11) Mulusi Gamede (Glenwood)
10) Tylor Sefoor (Monument)
9) Ceano Everson (Monument)
8) Burrie van Heerden (Marlow)
7) Tiaan Jacobs (Selborne)
6) Xander Schoeman (Monument)
5) Lilitha Matsilliza (Pretoria Boys)
4) Dewan du Preez (Selborne)
3) Dylan du Plessis (Monument)
2) Devhan van der Walt (Kearsney)
1) Sfiso Magwaza (Monument)
Further awards were given to Tiaan Jacobs from Selborne who was named player of the tournament while Lilitha Matsilliza from Pretoria Boys was awarded the Dan Retief trophy.
A fantastic tournament and well done to the organizers!
