Original report by top journalist Neale Emslie (email: emslien@arena.africa) hip-hopified using AI:
Fo’ shizzle, lemme break it down in Snoop style:
Yo, the schoolboy rugby season in the Eastern Cape is ’bout to drop it like it’s hot next year, kickin’ off with some fly vibes at the Graeme College Festival in Makhanda from March 20 to 22, ya dig? A straight-up 26 first teams gonna hit the field, runnin’ game from Thursday to Saturday on Somersetfield. Meanwhile, the young guns gon’ flex their skills on the Maraisfields.
Now check it, we got a dope addition to the lineup next year—St John’s from Jozi rollin’ up with their slick and savvy rugby swagger. These cats are known for bringin’ that skilful, brainy game, and they ain’t playin’—their opponents better stay woke. St John’s usually show up at the Grey High Festival in Gqeberha, but this time, they makin’ their debut at Graeme. And guess what? They clashing with Graeme College in the grand finale on Saturday afternoon—it’s gonna be straight fire!
Woodridge College, hailing from Thornhill outside Gqeberha, is also showin’ up for a rare spin in Makhanda. They might be small, but these homies got heart and hustle. They’ll lock horns with Port Rex Technical High from East London—should be an interesting showdown, no doubt.
Woodridge and St Andrew’s gon’ roll up for just one match each. St Andrew’s, one of Makhanda’s top squads, is set to throw down with Framesby from Gqeberha on Saturday—it’s bound to be a banger.
Graeme College, tho—they hittin’ the ground runnin’ on Thursday, takin’ on the rugged Brandwag squad from Kariega. These dudes bring that hard-hittin’ forward play and some quick-footed backs, so Graeme best come correct.
And yo, don’t sleep on the Eastern Cape heavyweights. Grey High from Gqeberha and Selborne College from East London are showin’ up strong, both takin’ the stage on Friday. Grey got a classic face-off lined up with Hudson Park, while Selborne faces the tough-as-nails Marlow Agricultural team.
Thursday’s action gonna feature Pearson and Queen’s College squarin’ up again after Pearson bagged a 19-11 W at this year’s fest. That’s the warm-up before Graeme and Brandwag light up the pitch.
Lastly, Kingswood’s on a mission to flex their dominance. They takin’ on Stirling Thursday and Muir on Saturday, lookin’ to make big moves on the field.
Three days of schoolboy rugby magic, my peeps—it’s gon’ be off the chain! 🏉✨
| GRAEME RUGBY FESTIVAL | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 : Thu 20-Mar-2025 | ||||||
| 09h15 | EP | Port Alfred | vs | Mary Waters | EP | |
| 10h30 | EP | Muir | vs | Otto du Plessis | EP | |
| 11h45 | BOR | Cambridge | vs | St John’s | LIO | |
| 13h00 | EP | Kingswood | vs | Stirling | BOR | |
| 14h15 | EP | Pearson | vs | Queen’s | BOR | |
| 15h30 | EP | Graeme | vs | Brandwag (EP) | EP | |
| Day 2 : Fri 21-Mar-2025 | ||||||
| 09h15 | EP | PJ Olivier | vs | Mzansi Academy | EP | |
| 10h30 | EP | Woodridge | vs | Port Rex | BOR | |
| 11h45 | EP | Daniel Pienaar | vs | Union | EP | |
| 13h00 | EP | Grey HS | vs | Hudson Park | BOR | |
| 14h15 | EP | Nico Malan | vs | Dale | BOR | |
| 15h30 | BOR | Selborne | vs | Marlow | EP | |
| Day 3 : Sat 22-Mar-2025 | ||||||
| 09h15 | BOR | Cambridge | vs | Otto du Plessis | EP | |
| 10h30 | BOR | Stirling | vs | Pearson | EP | |
| 11h45 | BOR | Queen’s | vs | Brandwag (EP) | EP | |
| 13h00 | EP | Kingswood | vs | Muir | EP | |
| 14h15 | EP | St Andrew’s | vs | Framesby | EP | |
| 15h30 | EP | Graeme | vs | St John’s | LIO | |
It’s a pity that Kingswood and St Johns are not meeting at this festival. t would have been nice to take the SJC Old Boys and parents to the Wyvern afterwards…..
@OVERLOOKED LAD
TOUGH STARTS
@Overlooked lad (Comment #10)
Serios 0/14,0/15,0/16 all in the top10 last year
@RuggaFreak (Comment #9)
Grey high are on a downword spiral they lost to dale at one point, where as kingswood had a strong a strong XV which would comftably beat a queens side this year. Kingswood were up for a challange this year, shown in the fixtures vs the like of Hilton and Wynberg
@Overlooked lad (Comment #8)
Yeah im sure Queen’s play Grey High and avoid Kingswood. Queen’s team this year beats KC easily.
Its more of the big guns in the province schools avoiding kingswood as they proven in the past the 1st team can compete ,beating a strong hudson and Queens team comftably the last time they faced them
@RuggaFreak (Comment #6)
There are lots of schools involved in these practices around SA and the majority of them are associated with success.
Kingswood do not have it easy. The expectations are far higher than for a fellow local private like Woodridge. I’m sure there is plenty of pressure on the KC management to deliver success on the rugby field for a few reasons, the most important being their own financial sustainability in the face of stiff competition. A winning culture promoted by a good 1st XV does wonders. Their bridging year provided them with access to useful players in the past but since that option has fallen away, they have had to look at different ways to stay competitive. I think in exceeding expectations and becoming the number 1 1st XV in EC, that success has made them more of a target than when they just slotted in the EC domestic league in a position lower than number 1
Agree with Beet, I don’t feel sorry for Kingswood, quite a few Dale, Selborne and Hudson boys at Kingswood through bursaries which is uncalled for, Queen’s has always said they against this practice so therefore will never play Kingswood. If you want to improve your own rugby rather poach from outside the EC or give a kid from disadvantaged school and background and completely change their lives. I’m not even going to go on about the behaviour of KC boys on the field and stands
. Well-done QC and Selborne!
@Ystervark (Comment #3)
I know every circumstance is different but I would also steer clear of acquiring players from schools who form part of the same local league. Rather let those boys go find homes in other provinces if they are unhappy. Its better than damaging important sporting relationships. School officials always tend to focus solely on their own immediate needs when they really need to dedicate part of their attention to contributing to the overall health of their domestic league. The Eastern Cape still has a good thing going and the travel distances between the schools are manageable. Work together to keep it that way. It may turn out that trips to Gauteng, Cape Town, SWD, Boland, Bloem and the Northern Cape become every other week budget considerations in the future due to circumstances out of the richer schools’ control. But don’t speed it up by eroding a credible local rival to the point that they become uncompetitive and lose valuable sponsorship interest.
Kingswood could only realistically play Selborne or Queens at a festival. Their junior teams are far too weak and they struggle to have enough boys to make B teams for all age groups.
@beet (Comment #2)
The problem Kingswood have is that the lower teams are not competitive enough to fulfil fixtures against the bigger EC schools. Also, a school like Selborne won’t play them because they are taking players from them. It also doesn’t help their cause when they host home games and tell the opposition that they will stop games when it gets to 50 points.
@Farmer (Comment #1)
From my dealings with schoolboy rugby festival organisers from around SA, I’ve realised what a difficult job it is to put together a fixture list let alone one that pleases all parties. Under the circumstances the Graeme Fest organisers have done an excellent job.
I know one obstacle Kingswood faces is to cater for all their lower teams. The strength of their 1st XV in relation to the junior A-teams makes it a difficult prospect to find balance and they lack team numbers for the bigger schools. So their interschools vs Muir on that weekend makes sense.
But the main problem at Graeme 2024 is that the big guns do not want to play against Kingswood, rather than Kingswood not wanting to play against the big guns.
Ideally Grey High should target this fest or their own as the opportunity to play Kingswood. That would be super. A game against Framesby, Queen’s, Selborne or St John’s was also proposed but declined from what I’ve heard.
KINGSWOOD