KZN

The following 23 players are invited to attend next week’s training at PMB Varsity RFC and Hillcrest RFC (Shongweni); starting time is 14h45. It’s been a challenging process and these boys must be commended for reaching this point. Our intent is to announce the traveling 12 and non-traveling 4 by the end of next week. – Ryno Combrinck (Head Coach).

60 players were invited to attend the KZN trials today. The list was sent out before Saturday’s KZN Sevens tournament at Glenwood, which the hosts won. As a result they will be KZN’s representatives at the Champion of Champions tounament for all the winners of the various regional tounaments that are being staged around the country. …

Roelof Kotze, from the Sharks Academy is one of the two new selectors responsible for choosing this year’s provincial Sevens team.…

Following a dismal Craven Week there was salt to add to the wounds of the KZN Craven Week selectors when the Sharks Academy saw it fit to award Westville centre Bradley Ellse a big bursary.…

The annual KZN leg of the schools Sevens tournament takes place at Glenwood on Saturday, 17 August. It’s an all day affair starting at 8am and featuring 17 KZN teams along with 3 from Gauteng.…

There is a lot of enjoyment derived from watching KZN schoolboy rugby. It’s good rugby and there is a lot of passion and commitment on display. But lets face it, there’s also a ton of sidelines drama here in the province as well. So I couldn’t help but laugh when I found out that even when all rivals are at off-season peace with each other and things feel like they have settled down, along comes the Minister of Education to get in on the act and properly ….. ! There will be a lot of holidays during the 2014 KZN school rugby season. …

Maritzburg College and Glenwood, the only two KwaZulu-Natal teams that play third term rugby will be in action today on Dixons. The game will mark the end of the rugby careers of many open age group College boys who no doubt will all want to go out with a bang. It’s also the last game of the KZN tier-1 season. Glenwood still have one fixture after this weekend, an away trip to Bloemfontein to meet Grey College next week. Throughout today there are expected to be some very competitive match-ups all the way from under-14 up to the 1st XV game. All-in-all there are 24 games being played.…

I wanted to write this blog to add some counter balance to some of the comments that had been made about the Glenwood coach here and elsewhere over the years. This is by no means an attempt to change course on many of the issues that have impacted on KZN schools in recent times which I for one feel very strongly about but it is an effort to shed more light on the massive contribution that Sean Erasmus has made and continues to make as a rugby coach at various levels.…

Due to financial constraints, Kenya has withdrawn from the under-18 Academy Week which starts at Glenwood High School on Monday 01 July. …

Courtesy of Sharksworld.co.za. Written by Rob Otto.

The Mercury has this morning revealed that former Sharks flanker – and current Director of Rugby at Hilton College – Brad Macleod-Henderson is set to take take over the hands-on coaching reigns for the Sharks during the upcoming Currie Cup season.

[Final score: Michaelhouse 34 Hilton 43 (Hilton achieve a double in 2013)]

While all the other KZN school students enjoy the first day of their holiday, the two KZN Midlands private schools Michaelhouse and Hilton will meet on Saturday in the last game of their respective 2013 seasons. It seems like their second term was specially extended by one day just to accommodate this fixture.

The pressure is on the hosts Michaelhouse. …

Exchanges that occurred between a parent and a society referee during and possibly after the under-15A game between Maritzburg College and Westville are drawing quite a bit of attention. It’s believed that the matter is currently being investigated …

Kearsney ‘s last rugby match of 2013 is a rescheduled home game against Maritzburg College at 14:45 this afternoon. It’s an opportunity for the One-Stripes to end a good season on a high note and simultaneously increase there winning streak over College to a record of three. The team will be without their well-known Du Preez twins Daniel and Jean-Luc…

An outstanding comment posted by Parochial on 18 June 2013:…

“All Campbell wants from you…………………………….is all you have!”

After these words from their coach, who would’ve dreamt how the drama would unfold in their final match of a 25 game season.…

MISSION: To find a schoolboy that excels at school level cricket and rugby. Answer: Tristan Tedder!!  Tristan Tedder is a Kearsney College pupil who enjoys playing sports. He is multi talented and is capable of playing any sport. …

I just thought it was worthwhile to give a brief follow-up on 2 issues raised a few days back.…

Updated. KZN Schools comes from 5-14 down at one stage to beat the Pumas 36-14 with a great second half performance. The Academy team drew 13-13, The KZNCD won and the KZN Grant Khomo team lost.

The three KZN Schools teams will make the trip to Mpumalanga to play the Pumas on Monday, 17 June 2013 as part of the first stages of their preparation for the various age-group weeks coming up during the July holidays.

For the Craven Week team this match should pose quite a challenge. Two highly rated schools, Nelspruit and HTS Middelburg form part of the Pumas region’s feeder system. …

As part of a huge crowd, Kearsney Old Boys got to celebrate their Founders Day in style when their school ran out convincing 34-9 winners against Hilton in the end. Initially the visitors contributed well to an interesting and evenly contested first half. For 35-minutes and a bit more Hilton put up a brave resistance, did ever so well in the lineouts and employed their brand of kick-for-territory rugby that has severed them so well at there own Gilfillan home base. They closed out the half just one score behind at 9-15 without revealing anything of  their own attacking strength out wide. This situation required a change of tactics by the hosts in the second half but once Kearsney started getting it right to have their big forwards running at the Hilton outside backs, the mismatches caused the visitors resistance to crumble and changed the completion of the game for good. …

Westville achieved a remarkable result on Goldstones. They arrived in good form and did the unexpected. On a ground that had been mostly unkind to Westville 1st XV’s over the years and facing a  school which ‘Ville had last beaten in 2009 and against who they had a dismal overall head to head record of played 27 won 3, drew 2, lost 22;…

Former Springbok centre Brendan Venter will take up the position of Director of Rugby just as soon as he concludes his business with the Baby Bokke at the under-20 Junior World Champs in France.…

Here are some of the things that came up in the last few weeks which might make for interesting discussion. There are no guarantees that names might come into it and cause certain individuals to respond in set ways but for now there is opportunity to look past the personal attachments and discuss just the principles.…

Updated. Time is running out to determine the KZN Tier -1 no.1 team for 2013. Matters have not been helped by bad weather and disagreements…

Hilton beat Maritzburg College 38-22 in an entertaining match played on Gilfillan. Right from the start both teams set out to play positive rugby resulting in 70-minutes worth of action. Although Hilton took the lead in the third minute and never looked back, the result was really only secured by the home team in the last five or so minutes when they scored 10 unanswered points. Up until then College were still in with a shout.…

The KZN under-16 season definitely hasn’t been short of highlights. There have been some interesting results, exciting games and even times when games in this lower age-group has threatened to steal the limelight away from the more predictable outcomes of 1st team rugby due to the evenness of the competition that exists in the under-16 Tier-1 league this season. Saturday should be no exception when Westville hosts Michaelhouse, Hilton takes on Maritzburg College and St Charles plays at home to Northwood. DHS has been a bit of the boil but their current group of under-16’s have beaten Kearsney at under-14 and under-15 levels. Glenwood has their work cut out against Monnas.…

The huge crowd that had gathered at Goldstones to enjoy the Maritzburg College 150^th Reunion Day match against Glenwood was treated to a brand of all-out attacking schoolboy rugby. The action was literally non-stop. The match was played at a furious pace. Eleven tries were scored and the lead changed hands no fewer than seven times with the outcome being decided in the last move of the game, when Glenwood scored a try in the right-hand corner to clinch a 44-40 victory. …

For the second year in a row, a KZN CD team has been selected to play at Academy Week. Judging by the final trial match, they should combine to form a decent team, even though the players come from no fewer than 14 different schools across KZN.…

Glenwood (9), Maritzburg College (6), Kearsney (2), Hilton (2) and Westville (1)…