The Clifton College intake for Grade 8 this year is in the region of 100 boys, making it by far their biggest class since the high school came into being. Doing the maths suggests that if they continue to enroll this many students every year, they will be up to 500 boys in the high school by 2018.
Clifton School, the primary school in Morningside, Durban has been around for decades but the high school called Clifton College, situated at the same location was only established in January 2002. That makes it effectively 12 years old and in this time 8 matric classes have graduated, the first being in 2006. All this time, the high school has remained fairly small in student numbers. With the expansion, it looks like things are about to change on the sports field as well.
In terms of sport Clifton has an impressive aquatics centre and the emphasis placed on water polo has paid dividends through the achieving of outstanding national results. As far as rugby is concerned Clifton has had to punch above their weight for quite a while now but have recorded a few pleasing results against bigger and more well established KZN rugby schools in recent years. By 2018, if they do get up to 500 boys their prospects on the school rugby field could change significantly.
as long as they have no sports grounds at the school, it will be a problem, logistically. They were playing at College Rovers but have moved their home ground to Riverside-even further away from the school. Also with the history and fee structure at DHS and Glenwood , there will always be a stronger pull towards the old traditionals . It is going to be interesting to see who KC play, whether it is George Campbell or Clifton as we have played Campbell in the past and the KC 2nd team ,Clifton.
I wish them the best of luck for the years ahead and with an intake like 2014 , they should reap rewards down the line.
Can definitely see this school taking over from the likes of Glenwood and DHS in the near future as the premier school on the Berea. Great facilities and in a decent area, I think DHS and Glenwood will be more effected by Clifton’s rise than Westville and Kearsney.
@Beet
ive literally just got in from work myself and not had time to reply again till now.
It was quite funny actually.. his bro was in my year and i know just from school and being a westville boy and all. nice to hear him doing well.
Okay just going back. Jokes aside about Ross Saayman 1991. He was really a tough as nails uncompromising school player with a big heart. I don’t know him personally but sort of know enough about the work he does at Clifton to say he deserves a lot of respect for what he’s doing. No one paid me to write this
@beet: Never knew that. Yeah, about 96,97 and 98. He must have close to the highest number of caps for a Kearsney player. He was a real Afrikaner brought in on a scholarship from who knows where..
@Grasshopper: Ja I watched Nico. I think he played around about 1998. Very good SBR player. Do you know he helps out the Kearsney 1st XV as an assistant to Barend and Francois
@Gungets Tuft: Jeez, three times the cost of a gov school but still half the price of Hilton and Michaelhouse, seems a good inbetweener option…..I know old Gerry Goedeke (MCOB) is running things there now..
@beet: Best flank ever produced by Kearsney (even better than the Doops) was Nico Breedt, absolute animal at school level. He gave a new meaning to bouncing players.
@Rhino: Watching that game you must have remembered him asking his centres (Andre Fitt and Gavin Meyer I think) to clean out at the rucks so he could loaf off in midfield in an offsides position.
You should be with me on this one. Wasn’t post matric the best year of your schooling life.
@beet
haha Wouldnt have said or thought Ross is lazy.. sounds more opportunistic to me ;-) – he was quite a machine in his day if i remember.. i was a few years below him at wbhs.
R100k a year for dayboys, with a R10k acceptance fee, not for the faint hearted. Good school though, nice ethos, producing nice young men.
@oldschool: I remember old Saayman from the Kearsney 1991 game at Westville. Lazy blonde flank that stayed off the rucks + camped offsides in that first channel the entire game. His nickname should be OJ. He got away with murder that day
@oldschool: Retaining more of the Clifton Prep talent will also pay dividends. Too many in the past were lost to Kearsney
, Hilton, MC etc but this is starting to change.
@oldschool: Good for Clifton then, Westville and Kearsney now have some competition for the DPHS boys. Do you know if any went to Glenwood? I wonder what Glenwood’s rugby intake is like this year…
@Grasshopper: Already happening ….22 Prep lads this year !
@Grasshopper: Already happening ….22 Prep boys in this years grade 8 intake !
They managed t secure a fairly good bunch of rugby lads for this years grade 8 intake , the notable recruit is the KZN u13 flank Josh Brown .
Also there 1st team is very well coached , under Ross Saayman , ex Westville , whom every year manages to surprise many teams with committed hard rugby ……this year Clifton will be playing the 1st teams of KC , Hilton , DHS and Nwood …besides their usual fixtures ….there may be a surprise result here ……time will tell.
@Ballie: DPHS boys will start to go there if it’s rugby improves…
Attracting rugby talent is the challenge. Being without boarding facilities is a disadvantage, but it would be great to achieve relative success without having to rely on “imports” from EC / other regions.
So they will be the size of a Hilton or Michaelhouse by 2018, very good. How many boarders do they have?