What do you get when you attract some of the country’s oldest and most prestigious, tradition-bound schools to one city to compete in hockey and rugby games on one of the most historic school grounds in South Africa?

That’s exactly what lovers of these two sports codes at school level were able to enjoy during two prestigious sports festivals hosted by Pretoria Boys High School over the past two weekends.

This proud school with its historic site of more than 80 hectares on the slopes of Waterkloof Kop, surrounded by University Road, Lynnwood Road and Roper Street, is 125 years old this year and it was decided to celebrate this milestone with two prestigious sporting events – a Nomads Hockey Festival and an Easter Rugby Festival. These two tournaments were hosted during the first two weekends of the current school holidays.

Leading hockey schools from across South Africa were invited to the first event, the Nomads Hockey Festival, which was held from 28-30 March.

Hockey has been part of the Pretoria Boys High sporting programme since 1950, and the school today fields up to 20 teams, supported by a world-class artificial pitch, The Hill Astro, and two well-maintained grass fields that provide an excellent environment for player development.

The following schools were competing with Pretoria Boys High in the hockey festival: Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), Grey College from Bloemfontein, Grey High School from the Eastern Cape, Hilton College from the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Jeppe High School for Boys, Kearsney College from KwaZulu-Natal, King Edward VII School from Johannesburg, Maritzburg College, Selborne College from the Eastern Cape, St John’s College from Johannesburg and Wynberg Boys’ High School from Cape Town.

One of the highlights for spectators during the hockey festival was a Pretoria Boys High School Old Boys match, in which two teams competed on day one.

Rugby has also been part of the school’s sporting culture from the early days and Pretoria Boys High produced its first Springbok as early as 1924 when Nico Bosman was selected to represent South Africa against Ronald Cove-Smith’s British Lions that year. In the meantime, the school has produced three more Springboks – 1995 World Cup winner Robbie Brink, legendary Springbok captain and 2007 World Cup winner John Smit, and hooker Chilliboy Ralepelle.

The rugby tournament’s action took place on the school’s historic Brooks Field, which has arguably one of the best playing surfaces in schools rugby in the country.

Pretoria Boys High’s Headmaster, Greg Hassenkamp, said the festivals reflects the true purpose of school sport.

“Our role as schools is not to produce professional sportsmen, but to instil a love for the game, respect for opponents and officials, and an understanding that while winning is important, it is not what matters most,” he remarked.

He also highlighted the strong historical ties between the participating schools in the rugby festival, noting that five of them – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), Jeppe High School for Boys, Parktown Boys High School, Maritzburg College and Michaelhouse – also took part in the PBHS Centenary Rugby Festival 25 years ago, reinforcing long-standing relationships built through schoolboy sport.

The other schools that participated were Grey High School, South African College High School (SACS), Selborne College and Rondebosch Boys’ High School.

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