Over-aged player scandal deepen saga between Glenwood and DHS
There is a new twist to the saga of the cancellation of one of the oldest schoolboy rugby rivalries in South Africa. New information was uncovered that two of the u14 boys that moved from Durban High School to Glenwood High School at the beginning of the year is actually a 17- and 18-year old respectively.
These two players were part of Glenwood Preparatory‘s u13 side that brushed all opposition aside in 2019. The players didn’t use their real names. The names of the players are known to School of Rugby, but because of the fact that they were both still underage while playing for Glenwood Prep, we can’t identify them.
They were the stars of the Glenwood Prep team as one was named Player of the Tournament and the other as the Backline Player of the Tournament during the Glenwood High Schools’ annual rugby festival. They played flyhalf and centre respectively.
Glenwood Prep released a statement on their Facebook Page stating the fact that they must inform the schools’ community with sadness that they unknowingly played two players who were over-age. The statement is signed by the principal, Noel Ingle, who is also the chairman of the South African Schools Rugby Association.
“It has been established with the help of Glenwood High School that in 2018 and 2019 Glenwood Preparatory School unknowingly played two players who were over-age. I extend my sincere apologies to all players, parents, officials and spectators from our school and our opposition schools,” says Ingle in the statement. 
The Sharks’ u13 side was crowned unofficial champions of the u13 Craven Week in White River last year by defeating Western Province by 26-24 in the main match. One of the players implicated scored a hat-trick of tries in the main match. It was the first time in seven years that Western Province did not take the honours.
“By way of explanation, we enrolled two pupils into the school in grade six in 2018 who provided the school with false documentation. The documentation withstood all scrutiny as it was genuine. The two players concerned used documentation that belonged to two younger boys,” reads the statement.
Durban High School broke all sporting contact with Glenwood High School earlier this year. This came after three boys that were attending Glenwood Prep on scholarships from DHS with the arrangement that they will attend the latter. They, however, decided to start their high school careers at Glenwood High School.
The two above mentioned boys that were found to be over-age was part of the boys that the whole saga was about that brought this traditional interschools to an abrupt end. Glenwood decided to send the boys for bone density tests after there were concerns raised on the matter of their age.
Both boys apparently admitted that they were over-age and played under false documentation and also revealed their real names and ages.
Back in 2011 both these schools also made headlines with over-aged players as Siyabonga Tom (Glenwood) and Mbembe Payi (DHS) were uncovered to be over-age. Tom represented the SA Schools’ side as a 21-year-old and it might be because of this lesson learned that Glenwood decided to submit players to testing.
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