Clifton College and St Andrew’s School unbeaten at u18 ISRF
Two teams – Clifton College and St Andrew’s School – emerged unbeaten from the u18 Independent Schools Rugby Festival (ISRF), which wrapped up on Wednesday at St Charles College, in Pietermaritzburg.
Both recorded emphatic wins, with Clifton beating St Benedict’s 54-26, while Saints ran out 54-5 winners over CBC Boksburg.
In their last game, Clifton produced the best first half of rugby played by any team in the event by a country mile. It was astonishing. The power, pace, and continuity were top notch, and they ran rings around Bennies to surge into an eye-opening 42-0 lead at halftime.
That statement about Clifton’s performance above might, also, be eye-opening to rugby followers, who would have seen a team that struggled this season, but I challenge them to watch the game on SuperSport Schools and then assess it. The Durban school has some fine talent in its younger ranks, it seems.
Bennies, though, deserve a huge amount of credit. They fell 0-54 behind but proceeded to score the last 26 points of the game. That character and fight was hugely impressive. It must be extremely rare that a team trails by such a big margin at the break but then comes back to win the second half comfortably.
Clifton College’s Director of Rugby Jose dos Santos, rightly, called it a game of two halves. “It was a brilliant first half, ” he told SuperSport Schools Plus, “but our fitness levels dropped in the second half.
“We gave the whole squad a rotation today, but they’ve got to bring the energy when they come onto the field. But seeing that first half was very exciting. Respect to the coaches, it has been good.”
Winning all three games – Clifton also beat Cornwall Hill College 33-14 and CBC Boksburg 54-13 – was a big confidence boost, Dos Santos added.
Finishing had been an issue for Clifton in the 2025 season, but they averaged 47 points a game at St Charles. Winning certainly breeds confidence and belief.
St Andrew’s School won 19-14 over St Benedict’s in their opener. They were most impressive in their second outing, handing St David’s Marist Inanda a 26-5 defeat, and they overran CBC Boksburg 54-5 in their last match on Wednesday.
It wasn’t their best performance, but the Bloemfontein boys had too much firepower for the boys from Boksburg.
Saints will admit that their game had dropped off in recent years, but they’ve identified where they need to improve and have at times called in specialist coaches to concentrate on areas of specific need, and that approach is clearly starting to pay off.
Director of Rugby Lieben Pietersen was pleased to come away with a clean record at the Independent Schools Rugby Festival. It was the first time that St Andrew’s School had managed that feat under his leadership, and they did it while looking as if they were truly enjoying their time on and off the field.
St Stithians College had a chance to go unbeaten, too, but they were blown apart by Hilton College, who scored a bruising 43-7 victory.
The local lads were minus a significant number of players who are on provincial duty for The Sharks, but the school’s trademark style was clearly visible. That’s down to a good, cohesive coaching.
When Hilton gets onto the front foot, they are a handful and difficult to contain, and St Stithians, winners over St Andrew’s College and the Brisbane Barbarians, was unable to deal with the relentless pounding of the Hilton pack, which laid a superb foundation for victory.
Somerset College impressed, too, with their strong structure and organisation. Like Hilton, it’s a case of slow poison wearing down the opposition. They scored a 28-7 win over Cornwall Hill College in their last outing.
St Alban’s College and St John’s College produced an exciting back-and-forth clash, which saw fortunes ebb and flow.
The Pretoria school turned the tide late in the game with a tackle rip behind the St John’s try line, which resulted in a seven-point play and they came away with a 38-25 win.
In a tightly contested clash, St Andrew’s College was pushed all the way by St David’s Marist Inanda. In the end, though, the Makhanda crew claimed a 21-15 victory.
The hosts, St Charles College, celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2025, weren’t in action on the final day. They had been forced into playing two teams after a late withdrawal from the festival, but those sides showed up well and were competitive.
“It was a good litmus test of the commitment of our boys and our families,” St Charles Director of Sport, Rowan Irons, told SuperSport Schools Plus. “Pretty much everyone, the players and the families, jumped in. It was great.
“The teams were very competitive, so I think Craig Dwyer and his coaching team did very well to balance the teams. A couple of matric boys were also involved, and they role-modelled some stuff to the youngsters. I was really pleased with how those two teams went.
St Charles Blue went down 5-36 to St John’s College in their opener, but then beat St Alban’s 33-8, and St Alban’s went on to beat St John’s. That’s why you play the games! They’re not won on paper.
St Charles Gold beat Somerset College 36-5 and then went down 24-47 to Brisbane Boys’ College, which proved to be the top team at the festival. The Queenslanders beat Hilton 29-24 in their opener.
Irons paid tribute to Director of Rugby Craig Dwyer, saying: “He’s got a magic touch when it comes to the composition of teams, and he tried lots of things between the two teams this past weekend.
“There were a lot of interesting positional changes, and there were boys coming through [from the younger age groups]. He’s got a plan that he’s working on, and I could see some of it coming out, so it’s exciting for next year.”
With St Charles bringing back the majority of their 1st XV in 2026, Dwyer is very excited about the Pietermaritzburg School’s prospects.
Results
Clifton College 54-26 St Benedict’s College
St Andrew’s School 54-5 CBC Boksburg
Hilton College 43-7 St Stithians
Somerset College 28-7 Cornwall Hill College
St Alban’s 35-28 St John’s College
St Andrew’s College 21-15 St David’s Marist Inanda
