Affies, fresh off a very respectable 16-all draw against Paarl Gim on a wet Jan Kriel Field in the Cape, now shift their focus to their next big challenge — Noordheuwel, who’ve been one of the surprise packages of the 2025 season so far.
One of the standout moments from Affies’ performance in Paarl was their ability to come from behind, scoring a try and converting it at the death to salvage a result. The WitBulle started brightly in the first half but were frustratingly guilty of not turning pressure and territory into points, although lots of credit has to go to the determination of Gim’s dogged defence. However, this time around Affies showed real composure and resilience, proving that this year’s Affies side has the BMT (big match temperament) needed in test match-like encounters, after losing yet another close one to Paarl Boys’ High in Stellenbosch recently.
All in all, it was a brilliant Affies interschools rugby performance across the board, played 1,400km from home, and made even more memorable by the testing weather conditions.
Noordheuwel, meanwhile, may only have one win to their name this season, but they’ve shown they can go toe-to-toe with the best. They’ve lost by just a single score to three of the country’s top 1st XVs — Garsfontein, Grey College and Paul Roos — which speaks volumes. To put that into perspective, Maritzburg College faced both Grey and Paul Roos at last year’s Wildeklawer and lost by a combined score of 94-0. Noordheuwel, against those same two giants, went down 50–41. That’s a massive statement.
When it comes to the Easter Festival line-up for 2025, this clash between Affies and Nories has to be right up there as the headline fixture.
1 | Sat.19Apr | Noordheuwel | v | s | Affies | KES Easter R/F |
2 | Sat.19Apr | Wynberg | v | s | Helpmekaar | St Stithians Easter R/F |
3 | Sat.19Apr | Hilton | v | s | Kingswood | St John’s Easter R/F |
4 | Mon.21Apr | KES | v | s | Northwood | KES Easter R/F |
5 | Thu.17Apr | Bishops | 12 | 38 | Helpmekaar | St Stithians Easter R/F |
6 | Mon.21Apr | Noordheuwel | v | s | Jeppe | KES Easter R/F |
7 | Sat.19Apr | Durban HS | v | s | Monument | Kearsney Easter R/F |
8 | Thu.17Apr | Glenwood | 26 | 26 | Monument | Kearsney Easter R/F |
9 | Sat.19Apr | KES | v | s | Rondebosch | KES Easter R/F |
10 | Thu.17Apr | EG Jansen | 29 | 26 | Kearsney | Kearsney Easter R/F |
11 | Mon.21Apr | Durban HS | v | s | Durbanville | Kearsney Easter R/F |
12 | Thu.17Apr | Pretoria BH | 43 | 31 | Diamantveld | St John’s Easter R/F |
13 | Sat.19Apr | Dale | v | s | Kearsney | Kearsney Easter R/F |
14 | Sat.19Apr | Welkom Gim | v | s | Diamantveld | St John’s Easter R/F |
15 | Sat.19Apr | Pretoria BH | v | s | Graeme | St John’s Easter R/F |
16 | Mon.21Apr | Framesby | v | s | EG Jansen | Kearsney Easter R/F |
17 | Sat.19Apr | Bishops | v | s | Hartpury | St Stithians Easter R/F |
18 | Thu.17Apr | Nelspruit | 34 | 31 | Welkom Gim | St John’s Easter R/F |
19 | Thu.17Apr | Hartpury | 10 | 19 | Wynberg | St Stithians Easter R/F |
20 | Sat.19Apr | Maritzburg College | v | s | Nelspruit | St John’s Easter R/F |
21 | Sat.19Apr | Durbanville | v | s | Rustenburg | Kearsney Easter R/F |
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