WIDELY regarded as one of the country’s most entertaining and successful school rugby events, the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF) returns this year with a field of 28 teams, including visitors from Ireland, Italy, and Zimbabwe.

The three play days over Easter weekend are Thursday, April 2, Saturday, April 4, and Monday April 6. Now in its 17th year, KERF will see touring teams from abroad joined by four KZN schools in the senior boys’ division – Durban High School (DHS), Westville Boys’ High, Glenwood High, and hosts Kearsney College.

The organisers said, “Included in this year’s line-up are two tough Gauteng teams, Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen and newcomers Helpmekaar College, as well as Hoërskool Rustenburg from North West; the always-exciting Eastern Cape’s Hoërskool Framesby and Milnerton High School from Cape Town.”

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Confirming this year’s participating teams, Kearsney headmaster Patrick Lees said the success of the festival, which last year included three divisions for the first time, highlighted its invaluable role in the development of the country’s school rugby culture and growth since Kearsney’s inaugural festival in 2008. He acknowledged the immense contribution of festival sponsors, whose support has assisted the event in growing each year.

Coenraad de Villiers, high-performance manager at The Sharks Academy, said each year they were impressed by the consistently high standard of rugby on display at KERF; with the knowledge that many of these players would go on to contribute meaningfully to the growth and success of rugby in the country.

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Building on the success of the initiative at last year’s festival, four U16 girls’ teams will play during lunchtime slots. They are Mowat Park High from Montclair, Grosvenor Girls’ High from the Bluff, Inanda’s Ohlange High School and Ogwini Comprehensive Technical High School from Umlazi. The latter two teams boast five and six provincial girls’ rugby players respectively.

Twelve primary school teams will also enjoy the excitement of playing festival rugby in front of large crowds.

Joining touring Peterhouse College’s U13 team from Zimbabwe will be local teams from Ashton Ballito, Atholl Heights Primary, Chelsea Prep, Highbury Prep, Hillcrest Primary, Kloof Senior Primary, Northlands Primary, Umhlali Prep, Westville Senior Primary, Winston Park, and the KZN Ibutho Development side.
For fixtures and results, visit www.kearsney.com. Tickets can be purchased online at quicket.co.za.

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