Kearsney’s annual fest showcases rugga talent

HISTORICALLY, the Standard Bank Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival provided a platform through which gifted young rugby players could springboard to the next level of the game, while at the same time provide spectators with the opportunity to watch the cream of the country’s emerging talent.

This is borne out by 43 per cent of players who participated at last year’s festival being selected a few months later for Academy and Craven Week, SA Academy and SA Schools’ teams.

This is a notable statistic, considering that in the past there have been several other school rugby festivals that took place during the Easter period.

Sadly, all have been cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 crisis.

From the participating teams at Kearsney last year, 72 players were selected to play at Craven Week, 38 for Academy Week, four for the SA Academy and five made the SA Schools’ team. These five who thrilled spectators last year were HTS Drostdy full back, Keane Galant; Welkom Gimnasium’s eighthman, Keke Morabe and three players from Selborne College: hooker Jacques Goosen; flank, Jarrod Taylor and inside centre, Mntungwa Mapantsela.

All three Selborne College players are now contracted to the Sharks Academy and Mntungwa was also awarded a bursary to the Academy after the final game of the 2019 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival.

ALSO READ: Kearsney cancels Easter Rugby Festival following Covid-19 crisis

While it offers players a platform to help secure a future in the professional game, spectators have enjoyed the fast-paced game of these young players, many of whom have gone on to play in Varsity Cup and U21 sides, provincial Super Rugby and Currie Cup teams, Springboks and SA Sevens since the inaugural festival in 2008.

Talent scouts converge on schoolboy festivals and, at the end of all of the previous Kearsney Easter Rugby Festivals, three or more players have received bursaries valued at R100 000 each to the Sharks Academy, which includes accommodation and a tuition bursary with one of its education partners.

Etienne Fynn, the managing director of The Sharks Academy, said for many players the festival was the culmination of years of training, aimed toward representing their 1st XV with pride and passion while exposing them to a wider platform where talent scouts keenly watched each game.

Next year is Kearsney’s centenary and a special edition of the festival is being planned with exciting new teams. These include a number of traditional rival schools with which Kearsney has had a long relationship over many decades, to ensure a suitable commemoration of the 100-year milestone.

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