Hats off to the St John’s Easter Rugby Festival organisers. The challenges facing Easter rugby festivals—particularly in securing access to high-profile schools—have certainly mounted in recent years. Despite boasting an iconic venue and a proud history, St John’s has not been spared these difficulties.
However, they have responded impressively ahead of the 2026 edition. Returning to the programme are three heavyweight schoolboy rugby brands: Grey College, Monument and Bishops.
Adding further interest are two highly rated touring teams in St Joseph’s Nudgee College from Brisbane, Australia, and Westlake Boys’ High from northern Auckland, New Zealand. Westlake, former World Schools Festival champions, bring plenty of pedigree. The only disappointment is that, during their Easter excursion, they appear to be avoiding match-ups against the big guns on St John’s Burger Field.
To top things off, the organisers have introduced some genuinely out-of-the-box thinking: a Monday (Day 3) schedule featuring several U16A teams, adding an exciting new dimension to the festival.
| ST JOHN’S EASTER R/F | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 : Thu 02-Apr-2026 | ||||||
| 1010 | FS | Grey College Cherries | 38-14 | Noordheuwel 2nds | LIO | |
| 1120 | LIO | Golden Lions XV | 38-36 | Welkom Gim | GRF | |
| 1230 | BUL | St Alban’s | 11-24 | Nudgee 2nds | AUS | |
| 1340 | LIO | St Benedict’s | 05-57 | Graeme | EP | |
| 1450 | EP | Kingswood | 40-05 | St David’s | LIO | |
| 1600 | LIO | Monument | 56-35 | Westlake | NZ | |
| 1710 | AUS | Nudgee | 29-26 | Grey College | FS | |
| 1910 | KZN | Hilton | 65-14 | Nelspruit | PUM | |
| 2020 | WP | Bishops | 24-07 | St John’s | LIO | |
| Day 2 : Sat 04-Apr-2026 | ||||||
| 930 | LIO | St David’s | 28-26 | Randburg | LIO | |
| 1040 | AUS | Nudgee 2nds | 48-07 | St Benedict’s | LIO | |
| 1150 | PUM | Nelspruit | 24-21 | St Alban’s | BUL | |
| 1300 | LIO | Monument | 43-27 | Kingswood | EP | |
| 1410 | LIO | St John’s | 24-19 | Golden Lions XV | LIO | |
| 1520 | EP | Graeme | 39-26 | Bishops | WP | |
| 1730 | GRF | Welkom Gim | 26-36 | Westlake | NZ | |
| 1840 | KZN | Hilton | 17-12 | Nudgee | AUS | |
| Day 3 : Mon 06-Apr-2026 | ||||||
| 1600 | NZ | Westlake | 42-08 | Randburg | LIO | |
@brentsw3 (Comment #17)
I see O’Ryan Kleyn’s season is over. Grey College 12, limped off after 40 minutes against Nudgee, only to return 5 minutes later with a heavily strapped leg. Some serious questions need to be asked…
Congrats to the organizers of this festival. So much goes into it. Very well done.
Take a bow Hilton! A real lesson in rugby
That Nudgee team was very professional in all senses.
@KES Oldboy (Comment #19)
My son looked forward to the KES, Jeppe, PBHS, Wynberg (at festival) games the most as: a) they got to test themselves against a higher standard; and b) every now and then they’d win and it would be a great memory – like when they beat Boys High.
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I can’t comment for all the other Saint school kids, but I suspect that most of the A & 1st team players felt the same way. As you say though, it gets rough down the line, so ensuring that there is a stagger for the B, C and D teams is the best plan.
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Far be it for me to tell the Saint schools how they should manage their affairs; however, like OldBoy1919 says, I don’t see why they can’t try to get closer to St Andrews, MHS, Kearsney, etc.
@KES Oldboy (Comment #19)
As an SJC old boy, I do agree its a tough sell, but it still allows the best of both worlds. I think with the ethos that Jackson has brought forth especially with sport that SJC can almost be a rugby destination like MHS in the way it has superb academics and you have a decent stage to play rugby on.
@Vleis (Comment #16) The last point that you made is probably why St. John’s are consistently the strongest of the Saint schools. But it’s a tough sell to the parents that their boys must play King Edwards, Jeppe and PBHS. The KES vs St John’s fixture worked well this year with only 4 of the 24 fixtures being strength vs strength. All A & 1st teams played SJ but 2nd and B teams played Northcliff A/1st. But this is not always easy to arrange…..
@Vleis (Comment #16) The last point that you made is probably why St. John’s are consistently the strongest of the Saint schools. But it’s a tough sell to the parents that their boys must play King Edwards, Jeppe and PBHS. The KES vs St John’s fixture worked well this year with only 4 of the 24 fixtures being strength vs strength. All A & 1st teams played SJ but 2nd and B teams played Northcliff A/1st. But this is not always easy to arrange…..
Nudgee delivered an incredible performance in what was a remarkable schoolboy rugby match. Their superior conditioning and coaching were clearly evident throughout the game. They appeared exceptionally well prepared for the challenge posed by Grey, quickly assessing their opponents, which led to three intercepts, one of which resulted in a try for their impressive number 10. Nudgee executed a textbook lineout try from five meters out, completely baffling Grey. The high level of coaching these boys receive is undeniable. It is difficult to believe this was their first game of the season, serving largely as their preseason, with their official season usually commencing in July.
Grey’s performance was commendable; it would be a mistake to assume they played poorly or appeared fatigued. They dominated large portions of the game, maintaining the majority of possession and territory, consistently appearing enterprising and threatening in attack. Nudgee, however, demonstrated exceptional defensive organization, kicked well from hand when necessary, and proved decisive and ruthless upon entering the red zone. A significant distinction, in my view, was the effort Grey expended for their tries compared to the relative ease with which Nudgee scored theirs. Nudgee’s lanky number 13, an impressive athlete, scored an outstanding try from approximately the halfway line. However, a somewhat shocking incident occurred around the 40-minute mark when Grey’s number 12 sustained what appeared to be a game ending leg injury. He was visibly limping and in considerable discomfort. He was removed from the field, leading me to believe his match was over, but he returned five minutes later with a heavily strapped left leg. While it could have been a superficial injury, I observed him limping badly at various points throughout the remainder of the match after several plays. The decision to continue playing him, despite the clear injury, is something I find concerning. The Grey medical staff would have had a better idea of the nature of the injury and who am I to second guess them, but the optics of it weren’t great….
Looking forward to Hilton v Nudgee tomorrow at 18.40. Will spend the entire day at the KES festival and walk down to St John’s for the Nudgee fixture!! That is a schoolboy side worth watching again!! Box office!!
@Roger (Comment #13) Yes, Nudgee 2nds beat St Alban’s 1sts…and a few weeks ago, Wynberg’s 2nds hammered St Benedict’s 1sts by 38 to 3, so I have no doubt that Nudgee 2nds will win beat the latter too. As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, the Gauteng Saint schools have dropped half a tier since they watered down their fixture lists some five years ago. St John’s is the only one that maintains a schedule that is consistently challenging.
A major problem in Australia is the fact that most of their schoolboy rugby stars sign very lucrative rugby league deals straight after school. The money is ten times ( if not more) in league than in union.
The private schools offer huge scholarships to these boys just to lose them to rugby league.
The Australian Rugby Union find it very hard to match these contracts.
@KES Oldboy (Comment #12)
Grey’s fixture list is insane and waay tougher than it was 30 years ago – coupled with the travel factor – not easy (or cheap) at all.
@KES Oldboy (Comment #7)
Will be one to watch for sure – I see the Nudgee 2nds beat St Albans 1st team – is that right? – and play the St Benedicts 1st team on Saturday? I mentioned earlier Grey must be cooked after two tough game at Wildeklawer (I meant Noord Suid obviously) but you are right, Grey is still the team to beat in SA and carry a huge target on their back. You could see what it meant to the Nudgee team and supporters at the final whistle.
@Bush (Comment #10)
I don’t agree. GCB’s schedule now is way tougher than it used to be in the 80s & 90s. They were not travelling like they do now and played a lot of local Bloem schools. Their tough matches in the 70s & 80s were Queens College & occasionally Maritzburg College. That said, they were still the best.
@Bush (Comment #10)
There are several additional factors but you are not wrong. I think it is medically unwise to play so many physical contact games in such a short period. Many of these boys play summer sports as well and cannot be conditioned adequately to take these knocks so early and in the season. Noord – Suid is a great tournament and so are all these worthy Easter tournaments but no school team can sustain both. Furthermore in the Western Cape most of our schools can at least compete in 10 games without substantial travel where Grey continuously has to travel and that also takes its toll. You are right though that the majority of schools rugby programs are now very professional with brilliant coaching, tactical preparation, conditioning, recruiting and mentoring. In my school days at least half of our games was relatively easy but there are no such games nowadays. That is why school boy rugby is so healthy. Grey is not getting weaker , everyone else are getting stronger.
What a game that was “SA vs Oz”. Can we say that recruitment in SBR has closed the gap between GCB and the rest of the country? Going back to the 70,80 and 90’s there were no soft games for GCB and they dominated.
@KES Oldboy (Comment #8) Agreed.
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I think that the powers that be at GCB are probably kicking themselves for agreeing to such a tough schedule. They should’ve insisted that they got a softer opponent at SJC, to allow some of the tired players to rest.
@Vleis (Comment #4)
Huge respect to them! To come to SA and take on our No 1 team (traditionally) is no mean feat. To then win it like they did is a helluva achievement. And of course – always great respect to Grey too. Everyone wants to beat them so they always have to be on their game.
@Roger (Comment #6)
Hilton are also looking like an impressive team. It will be a good contest.
@Vleis (Comment #4)
They were really impressive. Granted – Grey coming off two tough games at Wildeklawer – but Nudgee didn’t stand back at all. Hilton may take a smack on Monday….
Is the Bishops vice captain really named Boytjie????
@Roger (Comment #3) I was in Oz in Dec and Jan and my mate’s daughter is a teacher at St Joseph’s Nugee and the way she described their recruiting**, training, conditioning, etc, they sounded like a top 5 school in SA.
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** even recruiting as far as NZ – some of the okes on this blog would have a coronary if they lived in Oz!
ST JOSEPH’S NUDGEE
Super impressed with these guys – I had heard of St Joseph’s in Sydney (Joeys) but not of this school – to go toe to toe with Grey College and come away with a win at the death – brilliant!
Well done to the organizers for nudging in a slightly different direction vs. The norm. They have still managed to put 3 days of good match up together. Could this be saving their future as a profitable Easter Festival as a win for both themselves, participating teams Sponsors and spectators…
Time will tell