Next year’s Pretoria Boys’ High 125th Birthday Easter Rugby Festival promises to be a quality-driven highlight on the schoolboy rugby calendar. Yet, its arrival also throws a spanner in the works for the already diluted Easter festival landscape. Boys’ High has picked up Affies, Grey High, Jeppe, Maritzburg College, Michaelhouse, Rondebosch, SACS and Selborne. It’s a grand field, but even at this stage, they are still on the lookout for a few more schools to confirm.
Although not an Easter festival itself, the Noord-Suid tournament has long been the main disruptor, crowding the market and luring top-tier schools — including four of the country’s five traditional powerhouses — away from the Easter weekend circuit. With growing emphasis on player welfare, Noord-Suid’s proximity to Easter in 2026 has only compounded matters, with several schools unwilling to commit to two festivals within little more than a week.
Kearsney, though arguably the most exposed to Noord-Suid’s pull, have done impressively well to retain the bulk of their 2025 line-up. As a result, the likes of longstanding friends EG Jansen and Framesby, along with recent arrivals Rustenburg, have committed to doing the holiday double — amounting to five festival matches in eleven days. By contrast, 2025 KERF attendees Durbanville and Monument have withdrawn and will focus solely on Noord-Suid in 2026.
KES, however, will feel the sting of Pretoria Boys’ milestone celebration. Four major names — Affies, Jeppe, Rondebosch and Selborne — have opted to swap Houghton for Pretoria. They have picked up St Andrew’s, and are fortunate that high-flying Noordheuwel is another willing to do the demanding five-match holiday double.
St Stithians runs a massive Easter sports operation on their sprawling campus every year, meaning getting people through the gates has never been a challenge. Their 1st XV rugby festival for 2026 is, however, beginning to look thin in terms of quality. The Randburg school has been hardest hit, having lost Bishops, Michaelhouse and St Andrew’s. At this stage, it’s also unclear whether Gloucester-based Hartpury will once again supply two valued teams. Wynberg’s decision to continue supporting Saints, along with Helpmekaar doing the double, offers much-needed credibility at the top end.
St John’s also wave goodbye to Boys’ High–bound Maritzburg College, SACS and, naturally, Pretoria Boys’ themselves. Bethlehem Voortrekker and Diamantveld have likewise stepped aside, prioritising Noord-Suid in the week leading up to Easter. This while Nelspruit and Welkom Gim are still backing SJC and will arrive there after Noord-Suid. Still, the iconic festival’s proactive organisers have pulled a rabbit out of the hat by bringing in a major drawcard in the form of Bishops.
The even more exciting news is the international flavour on the horizon: Nudgee College, one of Australia’s premier rugby schools, and Westlake, a standout from North Auckland, are confirmed for 2026. Overseas visitors sometimes arrive with the risk of being underwhelming, but if confirmed these two are a slam dunk — guaranteed to add serious value to the St John’s spectacle.
| # | SCHOOL | 2025 FEST | 2026 FEST |
| 01 | St John’s | St John’s | St John’s |
| 02 | Diamantveld | St John’s | Noord-Suid only |
| 03 | Golden Lions XV | St John’s | |
| 04 | Graeme | St John’s | St John’s |
| 05 | Hilton | St John’s | St John’s |
| 06 | Kingswood | St John’s | St John’s |
| 07 | Maritzburg Coll | St John’s | Pretoria BH |
| 08 | Nelspruit | St John’s | St John’s |
| 09 | Pretoria BH | St John’s | Pretoria BH |
| 10 | Randburg | St John’s | |
| 11 | SACS | St John’s | Pretoria BH |
| 12 | St David’s | St John’s | St John’s |
| 13 | Beth. Vootrekker | St John’s | Noord-Suid only |
| 14 | Welkom Gim | St John’s | St John’s |
| 01 | St Stithians | St Stithians | St Stithians |
| 02 | Bishops | St Stithians | St John’s |
| 03 | Clifton | St Stithians | St Stithians |
| 04 | Hans Moore | St Stithians | |
| 05 | Harare St John’s | St Stithians | |
| 06 | Hartpury | St Stithians | |
| 07 | Hartpury 2nd XV | St Stithians | |
| 08 | Helpmekaar | St Stithians | St Stithians |
| 09 | Mali Foundation XV | ||
| 10 | Michaelhouse | St Stithians | Pretoria BH |
| 11 | Northcliff | St Stithians | |
| 12 | St Andrew’s | St Stithians | KES |
| 13 | St Charles | St Stithians | St Stithians |
| 14 | Windhoek HS | St Stithians | |
| 15 | Wynberg | St Stithians | St Stithians |
| 01 | KES | KES | KES |
| 02 | Affies | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 03 | Eldoraigne | KES | KES |
| 04 | Hudson Park | KES | KES |
| 05 | Jeppe | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 06 | Noordheuwel | KES | KES |
| 07 | Northwood | KES | KES |
| 08 | Parktown | KES | |
| 09 | Pearson | KES | KES |
| 10 | Queen’s | KES | KES |
| 11 | Rondebosch | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 12 | Selborne | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 01 | Kearsney | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 02 | Dale | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 03 | Durban HS | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 04 | Durbanville | Kearsney | Noord-Suid only |
| 05 | EG Jansen | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 06 | Framesby | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 07 | Glenwood | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 08 | Milnerton | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 09 | Monument | Kearsney | Noord-Suid only |
| 10 | Peterhouse | Kearsney | |
| 11 | Rustenburg | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 12 | Westville | Kearsney | Kearsney |
| 01 | Pretoria BH | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 02 | Affies | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 03 | Grey HS | – | Pretoria BH |
| 04 | Jeppe | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 05 | Maritzburg College | St John’s | Pretoria BH |
| 06 | Michaelhouse | St Stithians | Pretoria BH |
| 07 | Rondebosch | KES | Pretoria BH |
| 08 | SACS | St John’s | Pretoria BH |
| 09 | Selborne | KES | Pretoria BH |
| Nudgee (Aus) | Possibly St John’s | ||
| Westlake (NZ) | Possibly St John’s | ||
| St Alban’s | Undecided | ||
| HTS Middelburg | Available | ||
| Parel Vallei | Available | ||
| Brandwag (EP) | Available |
I wouldn’t seeing the young Aussies and Kiwis … they really do approach the game differently and it’s very good for our schools teams to be exposed to that.
@buitestaander (Comment #6)
I agree.
.
I’m pretty sure that even the more diluted festivals (compared to N-S and Wildeklawer that is) like SJC, KES, KERF, etc provide one of the highlights of the year for schoolboys – especially ones from schools that are not in the top 20….and the current Bok squad comprises more than 60% from non-Top 20 schools.
These festivals are important to the schools, and especially the players. When Cravenweek comes, almost all players have secured contracts. Scouting happens at N/S and Wildeklawer – not Cravenweek. As much as these festivals need the schools, the schools need these festivals. To many schools it is the highlight of their season. Their only fixtures on a greater stage.
@buitestaander (Comment #4)
But why should the schools save the festivals?
Surely they are in it for the money and should adapt and make changes?
There are too many Easter tournaments for all to have top match-ups. Just enjoy the rugby they bring.
Wildeklawer is slap bang in the middle of the second school quarter and has become a sports festival. Enjoy it for what it is.
Point is, the top matches are now happening as interschools. Festivals need to adapt, not schools.
Just to assist Wildeklawer and N/S to have high quality fixtures. No additional fixtures at all. It not, the schools will drain these two festivals to eventually end up where the Easter Festivals have ended up.
@buitestaander (Comment #1)
For whose benefit should teams play each other twice outside of traditional fixtures? Definitely not for player welfare!
The boys play +-16 games already, with maybe 2 Saturdays off and the June holiday off (except for the Cravenweek reps). This is from mid March to mid August.
VALUE BEYOND RUGBY
Beside the obvious called top rugby schools and possible travel costs etc.?
Does any of the organisers have the guts, for the future, to stand out beyond pleasing their own pockets, wowing Old Boys and using these Young boys as marketing tools for their own good in the name of rugby.
My opinion. Rugby must be the core but which festival offer the boys an experience and memory they can take home as individuals and a team, regardless of the results that year?
Is there room for bonding exercises and dinners across teams? If You in Pretoria is their a tour planned to Sun City or in Durban maybe a trip to Ushaka inbetween games… Or is it all to risky in the name of winnimg and annual rankings?
EASTER FESTIVALS