THE annual Graeme College Festival should give a good indication of what can be expected from the top rugby schools in Nelson Mandela Bay this year.
The best teams in the Eastern Cape will all be involved at the festival, which starts tomorrow in Makhanda. There will be 26 first teams in action till Saturday on the Somerset field, while the age-group teams will battle it out on the Marais fields.
Grey High (Gqeberha) will only be seen on Friday when they take on Hudson Park (East London), in what has become a regular fixture at the festival.
These two schools don’t play against each other in their annual programme, which makes the clash in Makhanda something special each year.
Pearson High (Gqeberha) has a rematch with Queen’s (Komani). This match could be the highlight of tomorrow’s fixtures.
These two sides met in an entertaining match last year when Pearson won 19-11. They should produce another exciting match and Queen’s will be out for revenge.
Framesby is another Gqeberha outfit to watch out for at the festival and will only be in action on Saturday.
They play against one of Makhanda’s best, St Andrew’s, in another match which should produce fireworks.
Both schools have been working hard, on and off the field, to make sure 2025 is a big one.
Otto du Plessis’s (Gqeberha) season is in full swing already. They will be looking forward to their two matches.
The Kariega sides of Brandwag, Muir and Daniel Pienaar have also been busy early in the season. They are ready to step it up in Makhanda.
Brandwag features in tomorrow’s main match against Graeme College. The home side will be well supported and this clash will be a big challenge for the Kariega boys.
The Bay schools can also get a look at teams like Marlow and Nico Malan, which they will face later in the year.
A team who will be making a rare appearance at the festival is Woodridge, based at Thornhill just outside Gqeberha.
There have been signs in recent times that sport at Woodridge is getting stronger and the match against Port Rex (East London) on Friday will be followed with great interest.
St John’s from Johannesburg have been regular participants in the annual Grey Festival in Gqeberha, where they gained many supporters with their disciplined brand of rugby.
This is their first appearance at Graeme College where they will be up against the host in the last match of the festival.
The First XV fixtures are:
• Tomorrow
09:15: Port Alfred v Mary Waters. 10:30: Otto du Plessis v Muir. 11:45: Cambridge v St John’s. 13:00: Hangklip v Stirling. 14:15: Pearson v Queen’s. 15:30: Graeme v Brandwag.
• Friday
09:15: PJ Olivier v Mzansi Academy. 10:30: Woodridge v Port Rex. 11:45: Daniel Pienaar v Union. 13:00: Grey v Hudson Park. 14:15: Nico Malan v Dale. 15:30: Marlow v Selborne.
• Saturday
09:15: Otto du Plesss v Cambridge. 10:30: Pearson v Stirling. 11:45: Brandwag v Queen’s. 13:00: Muir v Gill. 14:15: Framesby v St Andrew’s. 15:30: Graeme v St John’s.
