Northwood Knights host Kearsney in FNB Classic Clash
Boxing gloves will be left at home, as Kwa-Zulu Natal host a weekend of derby matches creating hype amongst the rugby community.
Kearsney College will be itching to get one over hosts the Northwood in this fiercely contested annual FNB Classic Clash. Kick-off takes place at 15:00.
Catch all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).
Last year’s fixture saw Kearsney walk away victorious winning the match comfortably 29-17. However the incident which broke headlines came during the u16A match resulting in a nasty altercation where a parent grabbed one of the Kearsney players which left supporters astonished and slightly gobsmacked. An apology letter was sent from the school and was accepted – water under the bridge or a stormwater drain ready to flood.
This year both teams will be looking at getting back to winning ways after disappointing outings last weekend. Northwood recently lost 26-7 away to Durban High School for Boys. Kearnsey locked horns with Westville Boys and lost narrowly 34-29, and would have felt that they were in with a sniff.
Northwood have had a good season so far securing wins against Hilton and a historical win away at Glenwood. At the KES Easter Festival the team won two out of three matches only losing one game against a very strong Paarl Boishaai team 29-7.
Kearsney College have had a mixed bag of results this season winning only two matches thus far. These came against Clifton College in their opening fixture of the season and EG Jansen in at their own Easter Festival.
Critics would argue that the side have not quite reached their full potential this season but have shown promising glimpses of what the side has to offer. Last weekend’s comeback in the second half was indicative of this where the team scored nineteen points in the space of ten minutes.
Kearsney will look to bring a strong side with prop Anele Cele coming off a string of good games and will need to make sure that he drives any mauls with intent. Scrum-half Chad Crowshaw has taken the kicking responsibilities this season and will hope to add to his point tally this weekend. Captain Siso France will lead from the front and his team will draw inspiration from his efforts in last weekend’s match.
Fly-half and playmaker Cade Latham will need to create point scoring opportunities for his teammates such as wingers Ramatuku Sikhahane and Kwenzokuhle, both who are very quick in attack. The Northwood Knights will come into this fixture feeling confident having beaten Westville Boys earlier in the season.
Kearsney will be looking at turning around their season. Northwood will want to make sure that they are able to defend well on their home-turf where boys will come out in their numbers to provide support. This match is set to be a thrilling game of rugby and should provide plenty of action throughout.
The teams:
Northwood: 15 Ramutuku Sikhankhane, 14 Nokutende Gunda, 13 Siyanda Nkosi, 12 Siyanda Mabuza, 11 Kwenzo Dlamini, 10 Cade Latham, 9 Graeham de Swardt, 8 Enzo Van Niekerk, 7 Casey Calitz, 6 Alut Nte, 5 Dewald Mostert, 4 Ethan Macey, 3 Phiko Zuka, 2 Luthando Makula 1 Reuben Vos.
Kearsney College: 15 Daniel Eagar, 14 Likhona Nunwana, 13 Cameron Veenstra, 12 Siso France, 11 Junior Dlamini, 10 Royden Madatt, 9 Chad Crowshaw, 8 Connor McIntyre, 7 Salusiwe Mqobongo, 6 Devhan van Der Walt, 5 Heinrich Fourie, 4 Jack Rankin, 3 Anele Cele, 2 Abdul Mahomed, 1 Luca Veronesi.
Fixtures:
Reece Andrews Field
u14A – 9:00
u15A – 10:00
u16A – 12:15
2nds – 13:30
1sts – 15:00
