Exciting times as Kingswood plan to build on excellent 2023

The Kingswood College rugby team is determined to build on an excellent 2023 season by showing further improvement when their programme for this year clicks into gear next month.

The Makhanda school was among the top performers in Eastern Cape last year and will be looking to lay down an early marker when they take on Marlow Agricultural in the Graeme College Rugby Festival in Makhanda from March 14-16.

Kingswood head coach James Winstanley says they are excited about the forthcoming season, with a strong thread of continuity from last year provided by eight players from the class of 2023 and a further two players who featured in the first team.

“We had a fantastic season last year but it was just the start of what we are wanting to achieve and the core group has worked incredibly hard to put us in a position to be better this year,” Winstanley said.

“We have had a grueling six-week training block and so now we have built in a week’s break to ensure that we freshen up and have the physical and mental energy needed to get us through the start of the season, up until the end of the Easter tour.”

Following the Graeme festival, when they will play Marlow at 13:00 on Friday, March 15, Kingswood will travel to Johannesburg for the St John’s Easter Festival.

Kingswood, who set their leadership group in place last year, will be aiming to make an impact in that showdown.

“We have been a little unorthodox in that we have named our captain and leadership group in November the past two years,” Winstanley said.

“Our captain, Tapiwa Zhanda, and his senior players have been instrumental in setting the standard so far.

“The Graeme festival is the first real marker that requires you to hit some form and it comes with an opportunity to gain momentum.

However, he acknowledged the serious challenge they faced against the Cradock outfit.

“Marlow is possibly the toughest team to play at Graeme festival,” the Kingswood mentor said.

“They hit the ground running and their physicality early in a game causes problems for opponents.

“You can’t grow into this game. You have to be in the fight from the very beginning to stand a chance of a good result.”

Given their meticulous preparation, Kingswood is ready for all challenges.

“We are excited to finally play and be tested against top opponents in the Eastern Cape,” Winstanley added.

“We are a well-conditioned team and so we will be prepared for the closing quarter of a game, and I anticipate our backline will get people excited.

“We have a tough fixture list and we might not win as many games as last year, but we will be a better team than we were.”

The first team fixtures for the Graeme festival are:

15 March 2024 | Somerset Field

09:00 – Port Alfred vs Graeme College II
10:30 – Port Rex vs Mary Waters
11:45 – Union High vs HTS Daniël Pienaar
13:00 – Kingswood College vs Marlow Landbou
14:15 – Dale College vs Nico Malan
15:30 – Grey High School vs Hudson Park

16 March 2024 | Somerset Field

10:30 – Cambridge vs Muir College
11:45 – Stirling vs Framesby
13:00 – Queen’s College vs Pearson
14:15 – St Andrew’s College vs Die Brandwag (Uitenhage)
15:30 – Graeme College vs Selborne College