The 16th edition of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF) gets underway this Easter long weekend and promises to be bigger and better than ever.
This year, 28 teams will participate —12 boys’ high school teams, 12 primary school sides, and the exciting introduction of a girls’ U16 division.
The popular festival always perennially delivers fast-paced, passionate schoolboy rugby between well-matched teams.
Play days are Thursday 17, Saturday 19, and Monday 21.
There is a strong KZN representation in Durban High School, Westville Boys, Glenwood, and hosts Kearsney, while there is an international flavour in the form of Zimbabwe’s Peterhouse Boys’ High, the alma mater of Springbok legend Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira.
They will be joined by powerhouse teams from Gauteng — Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen (Boksburg) and Hoërskool Monument (Krugersdorp); with the exciting Eastern Cape teams HoërskoolFramesby (Gqeberha) and Dale College (Qonce), as well as Hoërskool Rustenburg (North West). Newcomers are Hoërskool Durbanville and Milnerton High from the Western Cape.
Hosts Kearsney have had a bright start to their season, winning three of their first four match-ups, and showing great heart at the Grey High Festival in particular. The One Stripe scored a last-gasp try to edge a 28-26 result over Pretoria Boys, before putting Hudson Park away 41-31.
DHS, who played some spectacular rugby last year, will be confident after winning their first five games of the year, with a points difference of +133. They will be out to replicate their 2024 KERF heroics where they won all three of their games and conceded just seven points.
Glenwood will be eager to improve on their one-from-three record at last year’s edition of the festival. They have started the new season positively, with wins over St Charles (38-0) and HTS Middelburg (7-5).
Westville have opened their 2025 account with three wins from three attempts, including two comprehensive victories (45-12 against Selborne College and 28-13 over Dale) at the Grey High Festival last month.
From the Western Cape, Hoërskool Durbanville and Milnerton High will be looking to make a mark. The former is the oldest Afrikaans high school in the country and have impressed with a 34-16 defeat of Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen and a 27-21 win over Hoërskool Monument at the recent North-South tournament.
Heavyweight Gauteng regulars EG Jansen and Monnas (Monument) make their return, with Egies searching for another 100 percent campaign this Easter. The Boksburg team opened their 2025 account with surprise losses to Hoërskool Nelspruit and Durbanville, but are not to be underestimated.
Monnas will be looking to find form fast after losing two of their opening three games of the year, including big defeats to Grey College (47-8) and Paarl Gimnasium (66-16).
Returning Eastern Cape teams to KERF are HoërskoolFramesby and Dale College. The Gqeberha side will aim for more consistency after winning two of their first four outings of the year.
Dale College have endured their own struggles of late and will be hoping to show improvement after recent defeats to HoërskoolBrandwag and Nico Malan High, before further losses at the Grey High Festival to Northwood and Westville.
Hoërskool Rustenburg will make their second appearance at KERF. They have won three and drawn one of their five games of the year.
Joining junior Zimbabwean club team Harare Lions will be local teams from Chelsea Prep, Glenwood Prep, Hillcrest Primary, Highbury, Kloof Senior Primary, Penzance Primary, Umhlali Prep, Westville Senior Primary and Winston Park; as well as uThukela Rugby from Bergville and KZN Ibutho Development side.
Four Under 16 girls’ teams will also offer something new, playing during the lunchtime slots each day. They are Adams College (Amanzimtoti), Mowat Park (Montclair), Grosvenor Girls(Bluff) and George Campbell (Durban).
All games will be live-streamed via YouTube on the SuperSport Schools app.
Full and up-to-date festival news, team information, fixtures, results and match reports will be available on www.kearsney.com or from the Kearsney College Events app.
FIXTURES
BOYS HIGH SCHOOLS & GIRLS U16
DAY 1 THURSDAY 17 APRIL
08h00 Milnerton v Peterhouse
09h20 Durbanville v Dale
10h40 DHS v Rustenburg
12h00 Mowat Park v Adams College
13h00 Kearsney v Dr EG Jansen
14h20 Monument v Glenwood
15h40 Westville v Framesby
DAY 2 SATURDAY 19 APRIL
08h00 Durbanville v Rustenburg
09h20 Framesby v Peterhouse
10h40 Milnerton v Glenwood
12h00 Adams College v George Campbell
13h00 Westville v Dr EG Jansen
14h20 Kearsney v Dale
15h40 Monument v DHS
DAY 3 MONDAY 21 APRIL
08h00 Monument v Milnerton
09h20 Glenwood v Dale
10h4 Framesby v Dr EG Jansen
11h00 Adams College v Grosvenor
12h50 Closing ceremony
13h00 DHS v Durbanville
14h20 Westville v Rustenburg
15h40 Kearsney v Peterhouse