To celebrate 150 years, Graeme College will grow their very popular rugby day into a full-fledged festival consisting of three 1st XV match days.
Graeme rugby event set to soar in school’s 150th year by Neale Emslie In celebration of the school’s 150th anniversary, Graeme College have brought in a fresh dimension to their annual rugby day by extending it to a festival over three days in March next year.And adding the cherry on the top will be the appearance of crack rugby schools such as Grey College from Bloemfontein, Hilton from KwaZulu-Natal and SACS from Cape Town, all of whom will provide fascinating opposition for their Eastern Cape opponents.Naturally, Graeme have not forgotten the loyal support they have annually received from the local teams and the cream of Eastern Cape’s schools will again be in action in this traditional pipe-opener to the season.The festival will take place from March 23 to 25, but not all teams will be in action for the full three days. The fixtures have been arranged so that those schools who play on Thursday will only be in action again on Saturday, while the programme on Friday will see those teams play only once.Tournament director Nico van der Meulen said they had wanted to do something special to celebrate a significant year in the school’s history.“We have enjoyed huge success with our traditional Graeme Rugby Day over the years, but we felt we just wanted to take it to the next level on the occasion of our 150th celebrations,” he said.“We are extremely excited to welcome Grey College, who have appeared once before, SACS and Hilton to our event, and are also grateful for the outstanding support we have received from our Eastern Cape colleagues.“It should be an excellent three days of rugby and an ideal opportunity for coaches to continue fine-tuning their sides for the season.”As one of the perennially top teams in the country, Grey College will add a sharp edge to the competition when they take on Marlow Agricultural in Thursday’s feature match and then face Makhanda outfit St Andrew’s in the main curtain-raiser on Saturday.Although these are daunting prospects for the local outfits, it will be a great opportunity for them to embrace the challenge of taking on one of the best rugby schools in the land.Hilton face two massive examinations against Brandwag and Framesby, while the festival looks destined for a cracking start when SACS take on St Andrew’s in Thursday’s opening fixture.The hosts have not shied away from giving themselves two tough encounters, with a Thursday showdown against Framesby, followed by a clash with SACS on Saturday in what should be a fitting finale to the festival.Grey High will be in action only on the Friday, playing the feature match against Hudson Park, while East London powerhouse Selborne also play only once, facing Nico Malan in the main curtain-raiser on the same day.Besides the first team fixtures, Graeme will also be arranging age-group games on the Marais Field, with this line-up still to be confirmed. The U14 and U16 sections will play on Thursday and Friday, while Saturday will see an U13 festival taking place.
| SLOT | SCHOOL | SCHOOL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 : Thu 23-Mar-2023 | |||||
| 10h00 | St Andrew’s | 13 | 12 | SACS | |
| 11h20 | Brandwag (Uitenhage) | 03 | 48 | Hilton | |
| 12h40 | Kingswood | 21 | 12 | Queen’s | |
| 14h00 | Graeme | 18 | 14 | Framesby | |
| 15h20 | Grey College | 52 | 12 | Marlow | |
| Day 2 : Fri 24-Mar-2023 | |||||
| 08h00 | Port Alfred | 00 | 32 | Woodridge | |
| 09h15 | Mary Waters | 07 | 27 | Union | |
| 10h30 | Cambridge | 07 | 24 | Daniel Pienaar | |
| 11h45 | Muir | 21 | 10 | Stirling | |
| 13h00 | Dale | 22 | 20 | Pearson | |
| 14h15 | Selborne | 34 | 17 | Nico Malan | |
| 15h30 | Hudson Park | 07 | 27 | Grey HS | |
| Day 3 : Sat 25-Mar-2023 | |||||
| 10h00 | Brandwag (Uitenhage) | 00 | 22 | Queen’s | |
| 11h20 | Marlow | 05 | 34 | Kingswood | |
| 12h40 | Hilton | 19 | 03 | Framesby | |
| 14h00 | St Andrew’s | 00 | 48 | Grey College | |
| 15h20 | Graeme | 05 | 19 | SACS | |
@The Beast: Agree but still way less than Boishaai ,PRG ,Affies and Grey
@The Beast: Thanks
@Kantman: I dont really have an affiliation to those schools but I spoke to a friend and he says those numbers have been like that forever. He says St Andrews and Kingswood are full, not so sure about Graeme and Marlow as they are state schools.
@The Beast: Have those numbers stayed the same for many years? Just asking because some schools have increased intake the last few years. ANd how strong is demand for those limited 60-80 places for Grade 8?
@The Beast: Elke graad 8 leerder word gekeur by PG.
@Smallies: 600 is quite a lot compared to some of those EC Schools
@The Beast: Paarl gim also less than 600 boys
@Gimnasias: 48 0
@Strepie: Maybe some schools are not of the same size as these macro schools.
St Andrews have 480 boys
Marlow about 260
Kingswood about 220
Graeme about 400
I think they do pretty well with their numbers.
Hoe ver het GC toe vir St Andrews gewen?
@Palma: Watching these games, it is as clear as daylight the massive gap between your macro rugby entities and the balance.
Selborne 34-17 Nico Malan. Selborne their own worst enemy. Way too many discipline issues. A win is a win. Good luck Nico Malan for the rest of the season.
@Rainier: ek neem aan jy het bedoel vir Marlow!
Picks:
Woodridge
Union
Cambridge
Muir
Dale
Selborne
Grey
A lot harder to do for Saturday
I don’t know about Brandwag and Framesby, but Nico Malan are quite decent this year. They will give Selborne a good run tomorrow. Brandwag vs Queens on Sat should be interesting.
Greytness…..damn this team is good. Have seen better Framesby teams over the years though
Kingswood gee vir Queens pak.
Hilton gee vir Brandwag pak. Nat dag hier in Grahamstad.
Rainier & Palma do you gents know how strong Framesby and Brandwag are this year? And Nico Malan?
I will travel down for the GCB/Marlow game – that is going to be a titanic battle.
Absolutely fantastic festival from Graeme, sure to be a cracker.