WRAP: The Western Cape powerhouses, Grey College as well as the leading KwaZulu-Natal teams claimed significant wins in the festivals staged at Paul Roos and Grey High over the past week.
It’s fair to say that the schools from the South – as well as a few from the central and eastern regions of the country – have drawn first blood against their northern counterparts in the season-long battle for rugby supremacy.
Overall, the big interprovincial matches staged at Paul Roos and Grey High School over the past week were largely one-sided.
The South will claim early bragging rights, but it’s still early days in the schoolboy rugby season, and the North will have a chance to hit back at the Easter festivals on the highveld in a couple of weeks’ time.
NORTH-SOUTH TOURNAMENT
Paarl Gym made a statement on the opening day of the North-South tournament when they thrashed KES 102-0 in Stellenbosch.
The result has sent shockwaves through the rugby community, as many would have expected KES to be more competitive.
That said, many other interprovincial matches culminated in heavy defeats for the northern schools.
Paarl Boys handed Waterkloof a 66-0 drubbing while Boland Landbou thumped EG Jansen 71-10.
Other emphatic wins for the South over the North include Oakdale over Nelspruit, Rondebosch over Jeppe, Durbanville over EG Jansen, Gimmies over Monument, and SACS over KES.
There were some closer battles in the big head-to-heads, but again, the south managed to come out on top, with Durbanville edging Monument, Paul Roos scraping past Garsfontein and Noordheuwel, and Boishaai stunning Affies.
While Grey College certainly isn’t part of the south, they managed to claim two northern scalps – Noordheuwel and Jeppe – to maintain their unbeaten run in 2025.
The 64-31 win over Jeppe would have been particularly satisfying, given that Grey lost to the Joburg side at the North-South tournament last season.
GREY HIGH FESTIVAL
The leading sides from KwaZulu-Natal flexed their muscles at the recent tournament held at Grey High School in Gqeberha.
Durban High School beat Kingswood and Selbourne by convincing margins, while Northwood, Kearsney, and Westville also finished the weekend unbeaten.
The hosts drew with Michaelhouse, before going on to beat Hilton on Monday. Pretoria Boys went down to Kearnsey, before picking up a win against Queen’s College.
Bishops bounced back from the 31-34 defeat to St Andrew’s in Makhanda to claim a valuable win against Michaelhouse at the festival in Gqeberha.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Following the double-headers staged at Paul Roos, Grey High, and Oakdale over the past week, most schools will take a break ahead of the next round of regular season fixtures on April 12.
The Easter festivals at Kearsney, St Johns, and St Stithians will kick off on April 17.
RECENT RESULTS
NORTH SOUTH TOURNAMENT
Friday, March 28
Parel Vallei 57 Mali Foundation XV 19
SACS 31 Welkom Gym 12
Outeniqua 24 Menlopark 34
Boland Landbou 71 EG Jansen 10
Durbanville 27 Monument 21
Drostdy 17 Affies 57
Paarl Boys 66 Waterkloof 0
Paarl Gym 102 KES 0
Saturday, March 29
Framesby 60 Duineveld 7
Diamantveld 24 Rustenburg 60
Worcester Gym 31 Marais Viljoen 41
Nico Malan 17 Helpmekaar 33
Stellenberg 52 Voortrekker Bethlehem 7
Oakdale 45 Nelspruit 12
Rondebosch 38 Jeppe 12
Grey College 24 Noordheuwel 22
Paul Roos 34 Garsfontein 32
Monday, March 31
Melkbosstrand 25 Mali Foundation XV 24
Outeniqua 50 Welkom Gym 24
Drostdy 29 Menlopark 43
Durbanville 34 EG Jansen 16
Boland Landbou 46 Waterkloof 37
SACS 27 KES 5
Paarl Gym 66 Monument 16
Paarl Boys 25 Affies 17
Tuesday, April 1
Brackenfell 38 Marais Viljoen 12
Nico Malan 15 Rustenburg 15
Duineveld 19 Voortrekker Bethlehem 53
Framesby 29 Diamantveld 59
Rondesbosch 47 Nelspruit 12
Stellenberg 18 Garsfontein 25
Oakdale 40 Helpmekaar 21
Grey College 64 Jeppe 31
Paul Roos 26 Noordheuwel 19
GREY HIGH FESTIVAL
Saturday, March 29
Queen’s 13 St Stithians 13
Dale 0 Northwood 24
Pretoria Boys 26 Kearsney 28
Graeme 17 Hilton 27
Kingswood 20 DHS 41
Selborne 12 Westville 45
Grey High 28 Michaelhouse 28
St Charles 19 Port Rex 15
Hudson Park 34 Muir 15
Monday, March 31
Westville 28 Dale 13
Selborne 5 DHS 35
Hudson Park 31 Kearsney 41
Pretoria Boys 14 Queen’s 17
Kingswood 14 Northwood 33
Bishops 26 Michaelhouse 17
Grey High 20 Hilton 7
St Charles 26-13 Daniel Pienaar
