KES kick off their 2026 campaign on Reds Field with Houghton derby clash against nearest neighbours St John’s, separated by just a few hundred metres.
The Red Army enter a new era under head coach Jabz Zulu, formerly of Westville, and there will be keen interest in how quickly he can stamp his authority on the side.
St John’s come into the fixture with a solid 20–14 win over St Alban’s of Pretoria under their belt, but this encounter represents a significant step up. They will, however, look to exploit any early-season rustiness from KES.
St John’s best recent recent result was a 28-all draw against the Reds in 2019. However in the other 10 matches around that good result, KES have averaged 39.5 points per game to the 14.6 of SJC. This may be a good yardstick of how the result is expected to turn out in 2026.
| TEAM | KES | TEAM | ST JOHN’S | ||
| 1 | Siya Nkomo | 1 | Matthew Edmondson | ||
| 2 | AK vd Merwe | 2 | Luke Scott | ||
| 3 | Tswaledi Phasha | 3 | Mako Mandizha | ||
| 4 | Adrian Barnard | 4 | Simon Mussett | ||
| 5 | Kristian Sheahan | 5 | Rupert Schonborn | ||
| 6 | Daniel Matheson | 6 | Glenn Greyling | ||
| 7 | Naledi Phiri | 7 | Cameron Schafer | ||
| 8 | Diederick Kleyn | 8 | Cameron Coetzer | ||
| 9 | Taig David | 9 | Adam Haselau | ||
| 10 | Daniel Soekoe | 10 | Liam Moseley | ||
| 11 | Keegan Jackson | 11 | Lwandile Khupe | ||
| 12 | Sam Smith | 12 | Allan Njanfang Patu | ||
| 13 | Luyanda Mbadamana | 13 | Joshua Nyamaropa | ||
| 14 | Ntsumi Twala | 14 | Mihlali Tabane | ||
| 15 | Asa Mgwatyu | 15 | David Ireland | ||
| 16 | 16 | Shane Dalton | |||
| 17 | 17 | Gianluca Zambelis | |||
| 18 | 18 | Titus Mhlongo | |||
| 19 | 19 | Hamza Ismail | |||
| 20 | 20 | Herman Basson | |||
| 21 | 21 | Blake Baillie | |||
| 22 | 22 | Samuel Hawarden | |||
| 23 | 23 | Edward Jones | |||
| Coach | NJABULO ZULU | Coach |
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