A BEAUTIFUL warm day heralded the start of this year’s Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival which kicked off yesterday (Thursday, April 2). The main Stott rugby field was lush and perfectly manicured in expectation of the exciting match-ups over the weekend between 12 top teams from across the country and Zimbabwe.

As the morning dew was burned away by the sun, handling improved, and spectators were treated to some exciting running rugby.

In the first game of the day, Helpmekaar Kollege beat Glenwood 24-5, scoring the first points of the festival after crossing for the first try only two minutes into the opening game.

Both teams struggled somewhat with their handling in the slippery early morning conditions, but Helpmekaar enjoyed slightly the better of the territorial battle.

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With just three minutes remaining in the game, the Green Machine found some momentum, taking the ball through eight phases before outside centre Cade Isaacs spotted a gap and forced his way over to make sure Glenwood didn’t finish the contest empty-handed.

With the morning dew evaporated, handling improved, and Hoërskool Transvalia and Peterhouse delivered a well contested clash in the second game. The team from the Vaal Triangle beat the boys from Zimbabwe 26-5.

Westville Boys’ High showed intent early in their clash against Framesby in Thursday’s third match of the day, when the jet-shoed Avumile Lisa sped clear for a long-range try to put the Griffins up 5-0 within the first few minutes. It was the start of an astonishing performance from the local side.

Unbeaten at KERF in 2025, Westville were full of running and quickly began punching holes in the Gqeberha side’s defensive line. After a tight first half, Westville let loose. Framesby couldn’t handle their speed, precision and execution, as the game was taken away from them 83-0.

A big roar greeted home side Kearsney College when they opened the afternoon’s action on Stott Field against Hoërskool Rustenburg in Thursday’s fourth game of KERF.

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Straight from the kick-off, the One-Stripe forced their way deep into Rusties’ half, winning a penalty in the 22, from which they set up a lineout 5m from the try line. Rustenburg escaped that threat, but Kearsney kept control of the territorial battle.

With a big lead, Kearsney was able to send on more substitutes. That led to the hosts losing some of the fluency that had caused Rustenburg so many problems, and Rusties took advantage of the slight respite to gain more possession and play the game in Kearsney’s half.

Their perseverance was rewarded late in the game when Wicus Arnold burrowed over for his side’s second try. Flyhalf Aldin Baaitjies nailed the conversion to make it 36-14, which felt like a fairer reward for the visitors’ never-say-die efforts.

There was a final sting in the tale, though, with Sibusiso Khuzwayo snatching a spilled ball out of the air to hare over for the last try of the game, which was converted by Daniel Miskey, leaving Kearsney the winners by a handsome 43-14 margin.

In game five, Dr EG Jansen snatched an early lead against Milnerton High in a mid-afternoon clash.

Milnerton had a chance to cut the deficit to two points when they were awarded a penalty on the EG Jansen 10m line. The successful kick at posts was  the first successful penalty kick of the day, and it made the score 22-20.

The final say belonged to EG Jansen, however, with Liam Hector stepping off his left foot to dot down in the left-hand corner with four minutes to play. A penalty kick, the last play of the game, was wide to the left of the uprights, leaving the scoreline at 27-20.

Durban High School (DHS), unbeaten in the previous two Kearsney Easter Rugby Festivals, faced newcomers, Hoërskool Zwartkop, in the final game of the opening day. Zwarries, beaten only once in 20 matches in 2025, returned 12 players. A humdinger was on the cards.

Early in the second half, Zwartkop laid siege to the DHS try line, maintaining possession and launching wave after wave of attacks. With typical grit, School resisted stubbornly. Their efforts brought reward when Zwarries spilt a pass under threat of an interception, and DHS won a put-in.

A brilliant break by SA Schools centre Nathan Aneke then shredded Zwartkops’ defence, but Zwarries’ desperate scrambling forced Aneke to run a weaving line, and a last-gasp tackle saw Aneke’s pass go forward to prevent a try being scored.

Zwartkop was not done. They showed their character by mauling their way over with loosehead prop Matthew Smith taking the ball to ground. Baron’s conversion was successful.

It took until the last play of the game for DHS to reply. Jose Lottering burst over from a scrum near the Zwartkop posts, and Tanwil Onkers converted to make it 31-14 at the final whistle.

The good-sized first-day crowd were treated to some excellent rugby, which bodes well for a humdinger on Saturday.

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