Hilton: No rugby with Glenwood
Hilton College have decided that, starting in 2015 and for 'for the foreseeable future' they will not be playing rugby against Glenwood.
There are, Hilton say, no bad feelings towards Glenwood and that other sports will continue to take place, but not rugby.
The headmaster of Hilton Peter Ducasse, an Old Hiltonian and the son of a former Hilton headmastwr, was himself an above average wing three-quarter, has been the one to take the message to Hilton
Ducasse's statement on the matter says: "Hilton College has, with a heavy heart, decided to discontinue all rugby fixtures against Glenwood for the foreseeable future. The simple reason for this decision is that Glenwood’s fairly recent strategy has, in our firm opinion, now moved them into a different league. Apart from the increased risk of injury, which is associated with such mismatches, we see no educational value (for any of the players) in playing matches where the contest is decidedly one-sided.
"I have spoken openly to the Headmaster of Glenwood about this and have made it clear that these are the only reasons for our decision. This is not a protest and there is no animosity between the two schools. Hilton College would welcome, should Glenwood so choose, continuing to play fixtures against them in other sports."
Trevor Kershaw, the Glenwood principal , said: "We are obviously disappointed that Hilton will not be playing rugby against us in 2015. They have their reasons and they have communicated their reasons to us…
"They are our oldest fixture – 1924 I think – and so we are sad when a tradition such as this comes to an end. Hopefully they will see themselves clear again soon to rejoin our fixture list."
This year Hilton have had an unusually weak side. They lost heavily several times. Northwood, who had never before beaten Hilton, scored 32 points against them Michaelhouse scored 39 points against them, Kearsney 31 points, Maritzburg College 37 points, Michaelhouse 39 points, Westville 59 points and - the toughest of all - Glenwood 67 points.
When they played Glenwood, it was not just the 1st XV result that hurt. On that day 15 Glenwood teams beat 15 Hilton teams. In some cases a Glenwood D team would play a Hilton C team and an E team a D team. Glenwood won two of those matches - their 5th XV beat Glenwood 6th XV and their 7th XV beat Hilton 6th XV, Glenwood scored 602 points to 139.
That suggests mismatches.
Things were better in 2013 when Glenwood won all the matches but Hilton had a better side and went down an acceptable 21-9.
If Hilton suffered, Kearsney did even more so. They lost all 14 matches to Glenwood. The Kearsney 1st XV lost 85-13.
The Hilton claim that Glenwood has moved into a different category is not without foundation. Kershaw of Glenwood said: "We are trying hard to compete at a National level and ensure that we feed good players into the KwaZulu-Natal Teams in all fields of endeavour. That is our strategy.”
This had made Glenwood into a type of rugby academy for the Sharks. This year's coaches, Rudi Dames and Mike Vowles, have close ties with the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union as did the previous coach, Sean Erasmus. They could counter this charge by pointing out that their captain, Jaco Coetzee, intends moving down to the Western Province next year.
The Glenwood website says: "Rugby at Glenwood is the major sporting code." The, not a.
Rugby clearly has great importance at Glenwood. They are unafraid of any opposition in the land. Of their 19 opponents this year 14 are or have been on the FNB Top 20 ranking. Glenwood beat 10 of the 14.
Their players have achieved much - three in the SA Schools side, including Jaco Coetzee who captained SA Schools, 12 in the KwaZulu-Natal Craven Week side and 5 in the Academy Week side. Hilton had one in the Craven Week side.
It is not the first time that Hilton have broken off rugby relations. They broke off with Michaelhouse a few years ago when Ducasse was their rugby coach, because they disapproved of what they saw as the unfair way that their Midlands rivals were bolstering their 1st XVs with post-matrics.
It's sad when schools who have enjoyed their rivalry over the year stop playing each other, whatever the reason.