The private schools rugby festival takes place at Michaelhouse in Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal.
| DAY | DATE | TIME | SCHOOL | SCHOOL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 09h00 | St David’s | 21 | 21 | Kingswood |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 10h10 | St John’s | 52 | 0 | Uplands |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 11h20 | St Andrew’s (FS) | 36 | 7 | CBC Bulawayo |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 12h30 | Penryn | 29 | 7 | CBC Boksburg |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 12h30 | Clifton | 15 | 15 | St Stithians |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 13h40 | Kearsney | 23 | 10 | St Alban’s |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 13h40 | St Benedict’s | 26 | 24 | St Charles |
| Wed | 02/07/2014 | 15h00 | Michaelhouse | 41 | 25 | Bishops |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 09h00 | St Charles | 11 | 7 | St Alban’s |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 10h10 | Bishops | 40 | 13 | Kearsney |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 11h20 | Clifton | 19 | 17 | St Benedict’s |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 12h30 | Michaelhouse | 33 | 0 | St Stithians |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 12h30 | CBC Bulawayo | 61 | 15 | CBC Boksburg |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 13h50 | St David’s | 31 | 12 | Uplands |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 13h50 | St Andrew’s (FS) | 54 | 19 | Penryn |
| Thu | 03/07/2014 | 15h00 | Kingswood | 38 | 19 | St John’s |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 09h00 | Clifton | 34 | 11 | CBC Bulawayo |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 09h00 | St Andrews (FS) | 48 | 0 | CBC Boksburg |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 10h10 | St Stithians | 13 | 7 | St Charles |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 10h10 | Bishops | 49 | 5 | St Alban’s |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 11h20 | St David’s | 61 | 0 | Penryn |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 11h20 | St Benedicts | 44 | 5 | Uplands |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 12h30 | Michaelhouse | 24 | 23 | Kingswood |
| Sat | 05/07/2014 | 12h30 | Kearsney | 22 | 7 | St John’s |
@Vleis: we started our games against the 2 saints schools with 4 grade 12’s, 7 grade 11’s and 4 grade 10’s. Think Scc had only 2 grade 12’s on tour. We picked our team on available players with a few grade 12’s and grade 11’s from our full strength side away on educational tours or family holidays. Was great to see we starting to develop depth in our rugby.
@The Beast: Sorry about your experience. Michaelhouse is different and can be unsettling to someone who’s not familiar with the atmosphere of the place. The place is very protective of its quiet and tranquil environment in the countryside. All the staff members live on the campus and most of the houses aren’t too far from the main field so it’s important for the school to keep a family friendly atmosphere. That’s what gives the place its character and unfortunately, sometimes it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. One thing is for sure, their intention was not to offend.
Out of interest, which school were you supporting?
@The Beast: Wow – that’s a surprise. I found the atmosphere very good at the College vs Michaelhouse day there a few weeks ago – although it could have been the presence of the College supporters that did it.
Why didn’t you go down and watch the U13 Craven Week at your favourite KZN school then?
@The Beast: Sorry to hear about your experience. Out of interest, which teams had overage players?
That’s a pity. It had so much potential. Promising line-up of rugby with a view to the future and the Midlands Meander for the ladies. What happened @Meadows?
Without doubt the worst festival I have ever been to.
The hospitality of the organiser was really poor, being tossed out of the clubhouse like common trash was a new experience which I did not appreciate. The lack of smiles, the prices of Coffee shop, what an unhappy bunch. We drove all the way from Jhb for this and to be treated the way we have been has not been fun.
Some sides with over-age players as well, it was supposed to be an u18 Festival. No beer tents during the day, no atmosphere, no music just the dour sound of an obvious grumpy announcer bleating out scores from the B Field.
Michaelhouse you need to up your game.
So how do you guys rate the festival experience as a whole?
@meadows: At the u15 ISRF last year a Clifton parent told me that they now have 100 boys in some grades, which is not too different to Bennies who have some 110 per grade. As such, I don’t think that Bennies has substantially more boys than Clifton, but maybe seabass can help us.
Saints, on the other hand, have over 150 boys per grade and also provide numerous rugby scholarships, so their performances over the last four years have been disappointing.
Another point to consider for this ISRF is how many matrics each team brought. St Alban’s, Kearsney and Saints (I think) brought a large number of u16s, whereas St Davids did not. Perhaps seabass can let us know what the situation is with Clifton and SCC.
@seabass: Congratulations on a good festival so far for Clifton. I suspect that both St Stithians and St Benedicts have substantially more boys and St Stithians have been investing in their rugby development for some time now.
@Vleis: if you win, it’s the players and if you lose, it’s the coach…
that will never change…
St Albans 7 – 11 St Charles
Kearsney 13 – 40 Bishops
Clifton 19 – 17 St Benedicts
CBC Boks 15 – 61 CBC Bul
St Stithians 0 – 33 MichaelHouse
St Andrews 54 – 19 Penryn
Uplands 12 – 31 St Davids
Kingswood 38 – 19 St Johns
@beet: great festival of rugby so far, credit to House and Ryno. Vosloo scored 3 great tries today to take his tally for the season to 19! Need to bottle him
MHS 33 – 0 St Stithians
Scores received from ISRF a few minutes ago (unsubstantiated);
St Charles 11 – 7 St Albans
Clifton 19 – 17 St Benedicts
Bishops 40 – 13 Kearsney
MHS were 30+ – 0 up against St Stithians with about 10mins to play.
@Tjoppa: Ye that’s it from that great school actually think the boy was “Bog” just before he went to GCB.
I’m not sure how strong St Stithians are this year but that looks like a good result for Clifton. Does anyone have any feedback on the MHS-Bishops game? A scoreline like that suggests plenty of entertainment (or perhaps just poor defense).
Nice to see Kearsney back on the winning trail after the 2 heavy defeats. Only 2 grade 12 boys so it is pleasing to see the crop for next year are tasting victory. Today will be the real test as we play Bishops but who also have boys out due to Craven week and Academy week commitments.
Very hard to get up for a game after a 19 hour break. Good luck to Frank and his team.
@Queenian: Remind me of the story of the prisoner who escape and went to the pub for some refreshments. Early the next morning he could not find a dry a hot place to stay so he went back to his cell in the same way he escaped. Unfortunately his escape was discovered and was charged with escape and breaking in to jail. His sentence was extended by another eight years. A former JJS pupil?
@Vleis: Alright, that’s fair enough.
@Playa: We had this debate last year, but agreed that given that these are not current year 1st teams, but rather, a mixture of 1sts and stayers, we should not include the results. Also, each school does not treat the festival in the same manner re matrices/etc, so the playing field is not always even.
Looks like House beat Bishops by 41 to 25!
@beet: @Vleis: Any reason why these aren’t part o the Grogper Cup? Looks like Gauteng would be catching up very fast here.
@beet: OK thanks, I think that the St Alban’s split is 8, 11, 3. Three u16s pulled out due to injury.
Only one missing due to CW this year, albeit he is in matric so probably would not have gone anyway.
@Vleis: Okay Kearsney is 9 x u16, 11 x u17, 2 x u18
But might not have had a choice due to 4 at Craven Week and others on overseas choir tour
@Vleis: I have no idea
@beet: Bennies have a few very strong u16 players (from the Siya Thom school of recruitment, if you know what I mean) that may have made the difference.
@beet: I had also made arrangements, but to stay at a mate who lives very close to House, so luckily there were no cancellation fees!
Re St David’s: apart from one very poor game away to Tygerberg, they’ve been very competitive this year. It’s probably been their best 1st team ever – certainly in the last five years. Also, they only brought one (maybe two) u16 players, whereas St Alban’s brought seven for example. How many did Kearsney bring?
@Vleis: Yeah I must say 2 results really stand out:
Clifton picking up a draw against Saints and Bennies beating St Charles.
SCC are a bit of a roller-coaster ride and I can’t help but define them as underachievers this year. They comfortably beat Clifton nearer the start of the season but then lost a close game against the same opponents towards the end of the season, then a week later they kept a strong Michaelhouse team in check.
Clifton are very good at playing to their strengths and if those happen to be their opponents weaknesses, they can get the results. They have 2 very good ball-carriers in 7 and 8. I would not be surprised if the 7 makes KZN Craven Week next year.
@Vleis: A real pity about your son’s injury.
I know of parents who’s son was also injured in the lead up to ISRF but they had made travel arrangements by then already and so are attending anyway. St Davids sort of ruined their party today though.
@beet: I got the scores from Twitter. I did not attend the festival, as my son had to pull out due to injury. Would love to have gone.
Clifton seem to have improved quite a lot. The u15A side that played in the ISRF at Hilton last year were very weak. Maybe Seabass can shed some light on the matter – perhaps his good coaching?!
@Vleis: Seemed like a good day. Only one bad mismatch
Kearsney 23 – St Alban’s 10
St Charles 24 – St Benedict’s 26
St Stithians 15 – Clifton 15
CBC Boksburg 7 – Penryn 29
St Andrews School 36 – CBC Bulawayo 7
Uplands 0 – St John’s 52
Kingswood 21 – St David’s 21
…only the House v Bishops game still to be completed.
Kingswood vs St Davids 21 all draw
@beet: Why do the organisers not limit this tournament to u16 & u17?
Like you say it would be more meaningful and of greater value with an even playing field.
@Vleis: I think a couple of matrics that the boys can look up to if the going gets tough but the majority u16 and 17 is the way I would go.
@Balikibaba: I don’t know the Bishops squad. I just know that my mate’s son is not in the squad, which surprised me as he was u16A last year and they had a very good team (beat Paarl Boys). This is what leads me to believe that Bishops are bringing matrics, but I could be 100% wrong.
Most schools treat the festival as a stayers tournament (i.e. u16 and u17) with the odd matric attending if he missed a lot of the season due to injury, etc.
Keasney will have both their coaches involved at Craven week and Academy week but have an able replacement in Gareth Moerdyk.
@beet: I agree. I understood, perhaps incorrectly, that this was the “spirit” of the ISRF. The problem is that it is not treated the same by all participants which may account for some of the stayaways.
@Vleis: Do you know the Bishops squad?@beet: I agree completely. Not the best time to be having a First team Scholl rugby festival.
@Balikibaba: This happened to Kearsney a couple of years ago. Between Craven Week, Academy Week, an overseas cricket tour and an overseas Choir tour, most of the 1st choice players were unavailable.
I think in order to level the playing fields, the ISRF should be a festival for u17s or Stayers.
@Balikibaba: Last year St Alban’s brought no matrics to the ISRF. I haven’t seen the squad selected for this year’s ISRF, but I understand that they are brining very few matrics, if any – certainly less than a handful. Indeed, I think that they are brining seven u16 players. As such, Bishops might have more older players in their squad than the schools that they play against – e.g. a mate whose son played for Bishops u16A last year has not even made the touring squad.
Eish….Bishops will be missing TEN players due to CW and Academy commitments! Not sure if I want to see them get trounced by MH, St Albans and Kearsney!
@Meadows: Timing not ideal at all! The Kingswood side i’m sure will be weakened and given our depth it might be a long week for the boys
@Queenian: Very true. Not many schools which insist on a Court order
@CRC: I think this is a lost opportunity for Hilton. They have a strong group of stayers and could have used this tournament to benefit their 2015 plans.
@Vleis: We played against St Andrews Grahamstown and were given a rugby lesson but then again had their full strength team there. Ours was a mix of grade 10 and 11’s building for the 2013 season.@seabass: It will be a top class festival and the surrounds add to the spectical. What a place to spend a week playing rugby.
@Buffel: It is indeed an u18 tournament. The quality of rugga is normally of a high standard as the u16 and u17 boys want to make an impression on the coaches for the following rugby season. Should be worth watching and I’m positive Ryno and House will put on a good show!
@BOG: Would have thought JJS would have appeared at this fesitival as it is a very exclusive school and quite difficult to get into.
@meadows: @Buffel: I think that most attendees use the ISRF to blood new talent in a far less ‘intense’ environment than the Easter festivals. Most of their seasons ended a week or two prior to the ISRF, so this festival is about looking forward to the next season.
One problem is that schools treat the ISRF differently. Some send their matrics, while others send very few (if any) matrics. Some do not send u16s, while others send a lot of u16s. As a result there are a few strange results, which is exacerbated by no CW and AW players being present, although most of the latter are in matric anyway.
@Buffel: I think a number of U16s are taking part, certainly from Kearsney and Michaelhouse.
Frightening how time flies. My son went to Uplands when it was still only a primary school and Penryn had only just started off. Now, a “few” yrs later—
This is an opportunity to have a look at the boys for next year as was the case in 2012 . Kearsney sent a very young side to Penryn and had a number of u16 boys in their line up. With the Boksmart rules it would be ideal for the organisers to make it an u18 tournament which will allow boys of 16 to take part – just a thought.
@Vleis: ISRF is is great festival. It’s only drawback is it’s timing, clashing as it does with Craven Week and Academy Week etc with the result that some schools participate with severely depleted sides. A great experience for the younger guys but it does throw out some bizarre results on occasion.
A remember a sublime Bishops side at Kearsney in 2006 – missing Nick Koster and Martin Muller – but with enough talent to still put on a show.
@McCulleys Workshop: I see that Hilton are also not participating in the ISRF at Michaelhouse ??
@kcob: Haibo^2; StA vs Bishops (eish)
@Vleis: Haibo; KC vs Bishops (eeina)
Maybe not the appropriate place to post this, but seeing as though the topic is Michaelhouse, please find the ISRF fixtures below:
Wednesday, 2 July Meadows Far Meadows
1. 9h00-10h05 Kingswood v St Davids
2 10h10-11h15 St John v Uplands
3 11h20-11h25 St Andrews (FS) v CBC Bulawayo
4 12h30-13h35 CBC Boksburg v Penryn; St Stithians v Clifton Durban
5 13h50-14h55 Kearsney v St Albans; St Benedicts v St Charles
6 15h00-16h05 Bishops v Michaelhouse
Thursday, 3 July Meadows Far Meadows
1 9h00-10h05 St Albans v St Charles
2 10h10-11h15 Kearsney v Bishops
3 11h20-11h25 Clifton v St Benedicts
4 12h30-13h35 St Stithians v Michaelhouse; CBC Boks v CBC Bulawayo
5 13h50-14h55 Uplands v St Davids; St Andrews v Penryn
6 15h00-16h05 Kingswood v St Johns
Saturday, 5 July Meadows Far Meadows
1 9h00-10h05 Clifton v CBC Bulawayo; CBC Boks v St Andrews
2 10h10-11h15 St Stithians v St Charles; St Albans v Bishops
3 11h20-11h25 Penryn v St Davids; Uplands v St Benedicts
4 12h30-13h35 Kingswood v Michaelhouse; Kearsney v St Johns