u18 Independent Schools Rugby Festival ends on high note

The u18 Independent Schools Festival has showcased some young rugby talent from across the country. Over the past few days, teams have battled fiercely on the field, displaying exceptional skill, determination, and sportsmanship.

Kearsney remained unbeaten at the u18 Independent Schools Festival securing a 26-7 win against St David’s Marist Inanada, who up until this fixture had also gone unbeaten. Kearsney’s Nhlanhla Ndlovu scored twice to put his team in a commanding position and ending what was a close match.

The Bulls Development XV fell short of Hilton College despite both sides only registering their first points during the second half. At halftime the score read 0-0 with everything to play for. Rukudzo Madinga scored for Hilton, which was converted by flyhalf John Grubb, who added to his successful penalty. The final result finishing 10-7 to Hilton College.

Cornwall lost narrowly to St Andrew’s College by a mere margin of seven-points, with the end result going the way of Eastern Cape team, 19-7. The smaller of the two schools, Cornwall will take a lot from the performance against several top schools during the festival. St Andrew’s were awarded the only penalty try for the festival, which was added to the tries of Coel Trollope and Daniel Arnold.

St Stithians were able to ward off CBC Boksburg, who put up a fight despite eventually losing 31-17. CBC were able to stay well within the reaches of Saints, before leaking 14-points in fairly quick succession which saw CBC to stay in any sort of contention from the match. Flyhalf Oliver Wilson converted 3 tries from five but played well during the game.

St John’s College Malan Du Plesiss put in a man of the match performance to get his side over the line against Clifton College and ending the festival on a winning note with the team winning 22-12. Going unbeaten throughout the festival, is just what the coaching staff would have been hoping for. The Blues have a prospective 2025 on the horizon with an exciting talent in flyhalf Gerald Van Wyk.

St Charles blew St Benedict’s College away winning 38-0 to end off what has been a good festival for the side, finishing it off in convincing fashion.

St Alban’s clenched a narrow three-point victory over St Andrews from Bloemfontein winning their final match 29-26, in what was an exciting match-up. Tries were spread across a number of players Ntsika Ngwadla, Griff Shroeder and Keegan Dick all found themselves on the scoresheet.

St Andrew’s Pietro De Cao had a good day-out scoring two tries of his own and successfully converted three out of four of his placement kicks but wasn’t enough to get his team over the line.

From the nail-biting finishes to the spectacular tries, the festival has celebrated the true spirit of rugby. This year’s festival delivered some thrilling encounters for rugby fans, who can relive all the action on SuperSport Schools. The schools have plenty to look forward to leading up to the 2025 season with more than enough talent floating around.

Results Day 3 – Wednesday, 3 July

St David’s Stayers XV 7 -16 Kearsney Stayers XV
St Stithians Stayers XV 31-17 CBC Boksburg
Hilton College Stayers XV 10-7 Blue Bulls U17 Development XV
Cornwall Hill College 7-19 St Andrew’s College Stayers XV
St Benedict’s Stayers XV 38, St Charles Stayers XV 0
St Alban’s College Stayers XV 29-26 St Andrew’s School
St John’s College Stayers XV 22- 12 Clifton Stayers XV