The 2025 Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival (KERF) concluded on Monday following three absorbing days’ play, with KZN’s Durban High School (DHS) and Westville winning all three of their matches.
After a draw to Glenwood and defeat to DHS in their first two games, Hoërskool Monument – coached by former Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis – drew to Glenwood and lost to DHS in their first two games, but worked hard to beat Milnerton 26-21 in their final game.
The Western Cape school, who had beaten Peterhouse before falling to Glenwood, were one of the most exciting sides to watch over the weekend, with twins Chadlin and Chadwin Sellidon sparking superb counter-attacking plays.
Glenwood overcame a much-improved defensive performance from Dale College to claim an eventual 33-12 win in their final outing, with the Eastern Cape school having already lost to Durbanville and hosts Kearsney.
EG Jansen pipped Framesby 22-20, having beaten Kearsney on Thursday before losing out to a Westville team that themselves knocked over the Gqeberha boys on the first day – though Framesby did rebound to see off Peterhouse convincingly on day two.
Having opened their festival campaign with a big win over Rustenburg, who had held off Durbanville on day two, DHS collected their third victory in a 33-15 result over Ivan Jooste’s charges.
Westville completed their KERF grand slam thanks to a 24-17 result over Rusties, while Kearsney finished with a two-from-three record after beating Peterhouse 48-8 in the final game of the showpiece.
Despite their losses, the Zimbabwean tourists were crowd favourites.
They earned many new supporters through their positive attitudes and good sportsmanship over the weekend.
In keeping with tradition, an independent panel of rugby selectors awarded the festival’s best forward player to Briint Davids from Milnerton, and the best backline player was Zekethelo Siyaya (Westville).
The Festival’s All Stars Team was named as 1 Eli Pedro (Durbanville), 2 Okuhle Mbanjwa (DHS), 3 Joseph UdoIdung (DHS), 4 Vimbiso Kasvosve (DHS), 5 Lwandile Mlaba (Westville), 6 Briint Davids (Milnerton), 7 Sambesiwe Ndamase (Glenwood), 8 Nhlanhla Ndlovu (Kearsney), 9 Mondre van Heerden (Framesby), 10 Chadwin Sellidon (Milnerton), 11 Ruan Genip (Monument), 12 Zingce Simka (DHS), 13 Andrew Maringa (Peterhouse), 14 Zenkosi Mthiyane (DHS) and 15 Zekethelo Siyaya (Westville).
Exciting rugby was played by all teams, but the organisers made special mention of Milnerton High for their display of running rugby, and Westville for having produced the most attractive rugby at the festival.
