The 9th Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival will mark the debuts of Maritzburg College and Noord-Kaap at the event.
College attended the Saints Festival during Easter 2015 and will become the fifth different KZN school after hosts Kearsney, DHS, Glenwood and Westville to take part at KERF.
Noord-Kaap was at the TSRF in the Western Cape for Easter 2015. They will be just the second school from the Northern Cape Province to be part of KERF; Upington being the first.
KERF will downsize from 12 to 10 high schools for 2016.
Although the KERF organisers have retained the core of the teams that participate annually and managed to once again secure SACS who were outstanding at the 2015 Festival, the glaring omission is that of Grey College. The Bloemfontein rugby factory has been a crowd magnet at KERF since 2010. Grey has however opted out of playing any Easter Festival rugby in 2016, citing the lack of preparation time available due to a combination of Easter being so early in 2016 and rugby players being allowed to continue with summer sports almost up to the end of the first term.
After four consecutive years of entertainment another surprise absentee will Westville, who effectively switch places with College at the St Stithians Festival .
The second national powerhouse to bid KERF farewell in 2016 is Affies, who will be at the high profile St John’s Rugby Festival in 2016, along with the likes of big guns Monument, Paarl Boys’ High and Paul Roos.
After putting together arguably the most demanding fixture list of 2015, rising power Menlopark realised that something had to give and that something is KERF. After making their debut on Botha’s Hill in 2015, Menlo will focus on performing well at the very demanding Noord-Suid Festival, which takes place in the week before the main Easter Festivals.
Fixtures
| TIME | DATE | SCHOOL | SCHOOL | EVENT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:45 | Thu.24Mar | Kearsney | 55 | 10 | Noord-Kaap | Kearsney ERF |
| 14:30 | Thu.24Mar | Maritzburg College | 16 | 25 | Dale | Kearsney ERF |
| 15:15 | Thu.24Mar | Glenwood | 14 | 13 | EG Jansen | Kearsney ERF |
| 12:00 | Thu.24Mar | HTS Middelburg | 14 | 22 | Selborne | Kearsney ERF |
| 15:45 | Thu.24Mar | SACS | 19 | 13 | Framesby | Kearsney ERF |
| 10:45 | Sat.26Mar | Glenwood | 17 | 6 | HTS Middelburg | Kearsney ERF |
| 12:00 | Sat.26Mar | Kearsney | 39 | 36 | SACS | Kearsney ERF |
| 13:15 | Sat.26Mar | Maritzburg College | 7 | 18 | Selborne | Kearsney ERF |
| 09:30 | Sat.26Mar | Framesby | 17 | 46 | Dale | Kearsney ERF |
| 14:30 | Sat.26Mar | EG Jansen | 40 | 17 | Noord-Kaap | Kearsney ERF |
| 10:45 | Mon.28Mar | SACS | 10 | 10 | Selborne | Kearsney ERF |
| 12:00 | Mon.28Mar | Framesby | 66 | 17 | Noord-Kaap | Kearsney ERF |
| 13:15 | Mon.28Mar | Maritzburg College | 8 | 47 | EG Jansen | Kearsney ERF |
| 14:30 | Mon.28Mar | Glenwood | 32 | 5 | Dale | Kearsney ERF |
| 15:45 | Mon.28Mar | Kearsney | 10 | 24 | HTS Middelburg | Kearsney ERF |
Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival Schools
| SCHOOL | KERFs | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kearsney | 9 | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| 2 | Selborne | 9 | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| 3 | EG Jansen | 8 | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | x |
| 4 | Glenwood | 7 | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
| 5 | Dale | 7 | √ | √ | √ | x | √ | √ | x | √ | √ |
| 6 | HTS Middelburg | 5 | √ | √ | √ | x | x | x | x | √ | √ |
| 7 | Framesby | 4 | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x | x | x | x |
| 8 | SACS | 2 | √ | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| 9 | Maritzburg College | 1 | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| 10 | Noord-Kaap | 1 | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| 11 | Grey College | 6 | x | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
| 12 | Affies | 4 | x | √ | √ | x | √ | x | x | x | √ |
| 13 | Westville | 4 | x | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x | x | x |
| 14 | Menlopark | 1 | x | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| 15 | Monument | 4 | x | x | √ | x | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
| 16 | Nico Malan | 4 | x | x | √ | √ | x | √ | √ | x | x |
| 17 | Paarl Gim | 2 | x | x | x | √ | √ | x | x | x | x |
| 18 | Paul Roos | 2 | x | x | x | √ | √ | x | x | x | x |
| 19 | Outeniqua | 1 | x | x | x | √ | x | x | x | x | x |
| 20 | Boland Landbou | 1 | x | x | x | √ | x | x | x | x | x |
| 21 | Queens | 3 | x | x | x | x | √ | x | x | √ | √ |
| 22 | Upington | 3 | x | x | x | x | x | √ | √ | √ | x |
| 23 | Marais Viljoen | 4 | x | x | x | x | x | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| 24 | Helpmekaar | 1 | x | x | x | x | x | √ | x | x | x |
| 25 | Christs College (NZ) | 1 | x | x | x | x | x | √ | x | x | x |
| 26 | Invitation XV | 1 | x | x | x | x | x | x | √ | x | x |
| 27 | DHS | 2 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | √ | √ |
| 28 | KZN Develop. | 2 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | √ | √ |
| 29 | E/Cape Develop. | 1 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | √ |
| 30 | St Johns (Harare) | 1 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | √ |
| TOTAL | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 |
@GreenBlooded: Eish! There go my bragging rights.Our boys certainly didn’t embarrass themselves out there.Guess Glenwood were due a good performance,pity it and against us.Till next time
@Playa:
Sorry boet!! You didn’t make the double. Great team though. Best of good fortune for the rest of the season!
Well done, Selborne on coming back to clinch a draw against SACS. Ball handling let us down, especially in the 1st half.
@Grasshopper: Here’s to hoping Amadoda took their running boots to Bothas Hill!
@GCollege86:
I look forward to that! A mate’s lighty is playing in the primary school match first up this morning – so I’ll be heading up the hill in about an hour. Weather looks good today so hopefully some good rugger all round.
If I was the organiser of a festival the priority would be to ensure the website is slick and with all the teams listed by player, stats etc. That is what people are looking for…..pics and team lists….
@GCollege86: Greenblooded will probably wear his 2nd team prop jersey, I think No3 in my chappies bubble gum stripes……
Very confussing Thursday times! Anybody know the real starting times?
See you at Kearsney. Please wear your name tag in the beertent!
@GreenBlooded: I have just been at the field and a buzz to get everything ready for tommorrow. Beertent ready and field in perfect condition. Lets hope the weather is going to hold. Who knows, we might bump into each other in the beertent.
@Playa: I think it will be the Glenwood pack vs the Dale backs again. If Glenwood keep it in the forwards they should be fine…
@GreenBlooded:
it would be sweet to get one over both yours and your son’s alma maters in one festival 
@Grasshopper: Definitely not the end. I think because of the awkward positioning of Easter this year, a lot of schools opted for either festivals close to home/sticking to the ones they’ve attended consistently for ease of logistics or aren’t attending any.
@Playa:
I’ll be there for all the games. No reffing duties this year – so will be spending a large proportion of my time in the beer tent….
@Playa: Agree, but some buzz on Twitter. Still no team sheets/lists. Reduced to 10 teams this year. Maybe Grey Bloem, Affies and Westville not participating has rreduced the interest. Hoping it doesn’t spell the end for the tourno…
I’m surprised there hasn’t been much of the usual hype in the lead up to the KERF this year or is everyone ‘ doing time’ at the market to ‘buy time’ for the rugby days?
What about a co-hosted Glenwood and DHS festival?
Sorry my bad. There is a scheduled interschools between MC and MHS in 2016. So grad that one was fixed up.
I’d also prefer another KZN school in the mix – than an “Invitational” side that never tends to gel.
I’d still prefer cross border fixtures than a local derby at a Festival.
@beet: Keep the 3 from KZN, just rotate the 2 available spots between the balance. So a KZN school would get a 2 year run. Also, a local fixture like you suggested when they cannot find a normal weekend to play. Imagine the crowd if you had a MHS/College game on the Saturday afternoon.
@Buffel: With two slots available, Kearsney could get the best of both: Glenwood and Michaelhouse. More local schools on board definitely helps bring in more supporters than the out of province schools do but I guess the idea doesn’t exactly gel with one of the themes of festival rugby, which is to get a good number of touring schools to take part and too many locals also narrow down the fixture options at a fest. So perhaps you’re right it would have to be a rotation rather than an addition.
KZN’s had a few problems fitting all the fixtures in for a few seasons now. Last time I got an update, there was no College vs Michaelhouse fixture on the cards for 2016. In a case like that a festival game between the two would go down very well amongst supporters.
Agree Buffel – would be good to see all the local schools being at the festival. MHS, Hilton, College, GW, WV, DHS could all get the nod on a rotation basis. Would always be good for the local fans.
Great to see College there. It is about time. I think MHS could also gain an invite at the expense of Glenwood in the next edition – 2017. It is not that I have a dislike for Glenwood, just would like to see a rotation of the Natal schools sides. Put the top 5 schools in the province in a pool and rotate them. KC would be the common denominator .
also glad to see College (a different KZN school) in the KERF mix. But sad to see some of the others leave.
Awesome to see that SACS and 3 E Cape schools still making the trip.
Easter is very early this year – and will be interesting to note if the 10 school format is a one off or is it indicative of just too much Easter rugby. Sadly DHS did not get the nod in their 150th – but then I guess College would have forfeited?
Finally something to comment on, hahah! Glad to see College there but sad to see Westville, Grey Bloem and Affies go. Looking forward to attending in 2016