Helpmekaar centre Ethan Loureds scores during his team's defeat of Glenwood on day one of the Kearsney Easter Festival in Durban.
Image: Gavy Swanepoel
A beautiful, warm day heralded the start of this year’s Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival on Thursday. The main Stott rugby field was lush and perfectly manicured in expectation of the exciting match-ups over the weekend between 12 top teams from across the country and Zimbabwe.
As the morning dew burned away by the sun, handling improved, and spectators were treated to some exciting running rugby.
In the first game of the day, Helpmekaar Kollege beat Glenwood 24-5, scoring the first points of the festival only two minutes into the opening game.
Both teams struggled with their handling in the slippery early morning conditions.
With just three minutes remaining in the game, the Green Machine found some momentum, taking the ball through eight phases before outside centre Cade Isaacs forced his way over to make sure Glenwood didn’t finish the contest empty-handed.
Hoërskool Transvalia and Peterhouse delivered a well-contested clash in the second game. The team from the Vaal Triangle beat the boys from Zimbabwe 26-5.
Westville Boys’ High showed intent early in their clash against Framesby in the third match when the jet-shoed Avumile Lisa sped clear for a long-range try. It was the start of an astonishing performance from the local side.
Unbeaten at KERF in 2025, Westville were full of running and quickly began punching holes in the Gqeberha side’s defensive line. After a tight first half, Westville let loose. Framesby couldn’t handle their speed, precision and execution and were hammered 83-0.
A big roar greeted home side Kearsney College when they opened the afternoon’s action against Hoërskool Rustenburg.
Straight from the kick-off, the One-Stripe forced their way deep into Rusties’ half, winning a penalty in the 22, from which they set up a lineout five metres from the try line. Rustenburg escaped that threat, but Kearsney kept control of the territorial battle.
With a big lead, Kearsney was able to send on more substitutes. That led to the hosts losing some of the fluency that had caused Rustenburg so many problems, and Rusties took advantage of the slight respite to gain more possession and play the game in Kearsney’s half.
Their perseverance was rewarded when Wicus Arnold burrowed over for his side’s second try. Flyhalf Aldin Baaitjies nailed the conversion to make it 36-14, which felt like a fairer reward for the visitors’ never-say-die efforts.
There was a final sting in the tale, though, with Sibusiso Khuzwayo snatching a spilt ball to hare over for the last try of the game, which was converted by Daniel Miskey, leaving Kearsney the winners by a handsome 43-14 margin.
In game five, Dr EG Jansen snatched an early lead against Milnerton High.
Milnerton had a chance to cut the deficit to two points when they were awarded a penalty on the EG Jansen 10-metre line. Sellidon’s successful kick at posts was also the first successful penalty kick of the day, and it made the score 22-20.
The final say belonged to EG Jansen, however, with Liam Hector stepping off his left foot to dot down in the left-hand corner with four minutes to play. EG Jansn won 27-20.
Durban High School (DHS), unbeaten in the previous two Kearsney Easter Rugby Festivals, faced newcomers, HoërskoolZwartkop, in the final game of the opening day. Zwarries, beaten only once in 20 matches in 2025, had 12 players returning.
Early in the second half, Zwartkop laid siege to the DHS try line, maintaining possession and launching wave after wave of attacks. With typical grit, DHS resisted stubbornly. Their efforts brought reward when Zwarries spilt a pass under threat of an interception, and DHS won a put-in.
A brilliant break by SA Schools centre Nathan Aneke then shredded Zwartkops’ defence, but Zwarries’ desperate scrambling forced Aneke to run a weaving line, and a last-gasp tackle saw Aneke’s pass go forward to prevent a try being scored.
Zwartkop showed their character by mauling their way over with loosehead prop Matthew Smith taking the ball to ground. Baron’s conversion was successful.
It took until the last play of the game for DHS to reply. Jose Lottering burst over from a scrum near the Zwartkop posts, and Tanwil Onkers converted to make it 31-14 at the final whistle.
KERF 2026 RESULTS
Day One
Boys High Schools
Helpmekaar Kollege 24-5 Glenwood High; Hoērskool Transvalia 26-5 Peterhouse Boys; Westville Boys 83-0 Hoērskool Framesby; Kearsney College 43-14 Hoērskool Rustenburg; Milnerton High 20-27 Dr EG Jansen; Durban High School 31-14 HoērskoolZwartkop.
Boys' Primary Schools Division
Chelsea 44-21 Northlands; Highbury 33-5 Peterhouse; Hillcrest 14-21 Umhlali; KZN Ibutho 7-34 Kloof Senior Primary; Ashton Ballito 7-29 Westville Senior Primary; Atholl Heights 41-5 Winston Park
Girls' U16 Division
Ogwini Comprehensive 20-5 Grosvenor Girls’ High; Ohlange High 10-0 Mowat Park High
Day Two Fixtures
08:00 Peterhouse Boys vs Milnerton High; 09:20 Durban High School vs Hoērskool Rustenburg; 10:40 Hoērskool Zwartkop vs Dr EG Jansen; 12:00 Ogwini Comprehensive v Ohlange High; 13:00 Glenwood High vs HoērskoolFramesby; 14:20 Kearsney College vs HoērskoolTransvalia; 15:40 Westville Boys vs Helpmekaar Kollege
Day Three Fixtures
08:00 HoērskoolTransvalia vs Hoērskool Framesby; 09:20 Glenwood High vs Dr EG Jansen; 10:40 Peterhouse Boys vs Hoērskool Rustenburg; 12:00 Ogwini Comprehensive v Mowat Park High; 12:50 Closing ceremony; 13:00 Westville Boys vs Milnerton High; 14:20 Durban High School vs Helpmekaar Kollege; 15:40 Kearsney College vs Hoērskool Zwartkop
All matches will be live-streamed on the SuperSport Schools app and website.