Stellar St John’s Easter Festival lineup set to light up Easter

The festival runs over three days and features u13, u16, and u19 teams. The main focus, as always, is the 1st XVs. They take centre stage on Thursday and Saturday. The junior and u16 fixtures will be played on Monday, 6 April.

Spectators can look forward to a high-quality programme, with eight matches each day showcasing some of the country’s finest young talent.

One of the headline attractions on the opening day is Grey College and their star fullback, Lamla Mgedezi. The Bloemfontein powerhouse returns to Burger Field for the first time since 2020, which was when they last appeared at the Festival.

Grey College faces St Joseph’s Nudgee College, traditionally one of the best rugby-playing schools in Australia, at 17:10.

The Queensland side is one of two international additions to this year’s lineup. The other is Westlake Boys’ High School from Auckland, New Zealand, who take on Hoërskool Monument at 16:00. It’s the first time since 2015 that the Wit Bulle will be in action at the festival.

They’re in good form. At the recently-concluded NMI Toyota Noord/Suid Rugby Tournament, they suffered a narrow 17-21 defeat to Paul Roos Gimnasium before overrunning HTS Drostdy 75-41 in a thrilling encounter at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Pretoria. Given their good form, Monnas should be one of the big drawcards at Johannesburg’s most scenic school rugby venue.

The Grey College side heads into the Festival licking their wounds after losing to Hoërskool Stellenberg‘s Jade Brigade on Tuesday at the Noord/Suid Tournament.

While they tasted defeat, Mgedezi, who was included in the SA Schools squad last year, has been in superb form. He deservedly earned the Backline Player of the Tournament honours for a second successive year, and he’ll be eager to impress again while also steering Grey back to winning ways. Both he and his teammates will, no doubt, be motivated to impress against international opposition.

The hosts, St John’s College, also feature in one of the day’s marquee fixtures. They take on Diocesan College, from Cape Town, who are competing at the festival for the first time since Covid-19 struck in 2020.

Other familiar faces at the festival include Hilton College, Hoërskool Nelspruit, Welkom Gimnasium, St David’s Marist Inanda, St Benedict’s College, Kingswood College, Hoërskool Randburg, and Graeme College.

Hilton College and the Rhinos of Nelspruit meet in the curtain‑raiser on day one, providing the third heavyweight clash in succession alongside Grey College‘s and Monument‘s games against overseas opponents.

On Saturday, Graeme College tackles Diocesan College at 15:20. It’s a meeting between two of the oldest schools in the country. Graeme was founded in 1873, while Bishops was established in 1843.

That clash is followed by Welkom Gimnasium against Westlake Boys’ High, while Hilton College and St Joseph’s Nudgee College headline the day’s action.

The day also features a showdown between Nelspruit’s Rhinos and the Grey and Blue of St Alban’s College. The hosts take on the Golden Lions Invitational XV, while Monument’s attacking play is set to test the defence of Kingswood College, another long‑standing festival participant.