Maritzburg College's Grand Year
Maritzburg College, KwaZulu Natal’s oldest boys' school, is celebrating its 150th birthday in 2013 and just one exciting aspect of the celebration is the 150th Winter Sports Festival.
The festival, over the Easter school holidays, incorporates three stand-alone tournaments, the Maritzburg College 150th Rugby Festival, from 30 March to 3 April, at which 10 first XVs from leading rugby-playing schools will be playing; the Nomads Hockey Festival, from 30 March to 1 April, which is a long-established annual festival for 12 of South Africa's leading first teams; and the annual Husqvarna Skonk Nicholson Rugby Festival, from 5 April to 6 April, which features eight teams in the Under-14 age-group, and eight teams in the Under-16 age-group.
The Maritzburg College 150th Winter Sports Festival is but one of 30 special events that are part of the school’s year-long sesquicentennial celebrations, which have been five years in the planning.
Maritzburg College 150th Rugby Festival
The highlight of the Winter Sports Festival will undoubtedly be the Maritzburg College 150th Rugby Festival for first XVs, from 30 March to 3 April, which will feature many of the top rugby-playing schools in the country.
Top of the bill are Pretoria rugby powerhouses, Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies), and they are joined by luminaries of the oval-ball game such as Hoërskool Monument (Monnas) from Krugersdorp, Grey High School (Port Elizabeth), Queen's College (Queenstown), Dale College (King Williamstown), Rondebosch Boys’ High (Cape Town), rising power Hoërskool Noord-Kaap (Kimberley), Jeppe High (Johannesburg) and Maritzburg College’s long-standing local rivals Durban High School (DHS).
The hosts themselves enjoy an enviable rugby pedigree that includes over 20 rugby internationals, including both of the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup-winning flyhalves, Joel Stransky and Butch James, and that pedigree will be sorely tested when they face Grey High on Saturday, 30 March; Noord-Kaap on Monday, 1 April; and Queen's College on Wednesday, 3 April in the final match of the festival.
All the matches will be played on Maritzburg College’s very own theatre of dreams, Goldstone’s.
A huge beer garden will be provided; there will be jumping castles and hamster balls for children, a stage and professional sound system, a portion of the Goldstone’s grandstand will be covered by Bedouin tents, while vendors will be on hand to ply their wares in what is expected to be a celebratory, carnival-like atmosphere.
Entrance will be R10 per person, and secure parking will be provided on the school’s lower fields off College Road.
Husqvarna Skonk Nicholson Rugby Festival
The Husqvarna Skonk Nicholson Rugby Festival from 5 April to 6 April will feature Under-16 and Under-14 teams from the likes of Hilton College, Kearsney College, Westville Boys’ High School, Hoërskool Marais Viljoen, Hoërskool Menlopark, and Trinityhouse School.
The festival is named in honour of the late, legendary James Mervyn “Skonk” Nicholson, under whose leadership Maritzburg College came to be one of the most fertile rugby nurseries in South Africa.
Possessing the gift of being able to spot talent where none saw it, Maritzburg College’s beloved “Mr Chips” produced 10 unbeaten first XVs and a further 12 that lost only one match, and countless Natal and SA Schools' players during his 35 seasons at the helm. Overlooking Goldstone's stands the Nicholson Arch, in tribute to Maritzburg College's own “Mr Rugby”.
Wildeklawer Rugby Festival
Not only will Maritzburg College be hosting two premier Easter rugby festivals, they will a month later also be staging the invite-only Wildeklawer Rugby Festival, from 1 May to 4 May, which will allow supporters to enjoy the very best in South African schoolboy rugby, featuring the likes of Grey College (Bloemfontein), Paarl Roos Gymnasium (Stellenbosch) and the Paarl powerhouses of Paarl Boys’ High and Paarl Gymnasium.
Participating Schools
Maritzburg College 150th Rugby Festival
30 March to 3 April (first XVs only):
Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies), Dale College, Durban High School (DHS), Grey High School, Jeppe High School for Boys, Maritzburg College, Hoërskool Monument, Hoërskool Noord-Kaap, Queen's College, Rondebosch Boys’ High School.
Husqvarna Skonk Nicholson Rugby Festival
5 April to 6 April (Under-16 and Under-14 teams only)
Under-16: Hilton College, Hudson Park High School (East London), Kearsney College, Hoërskool Marais Viljoen, Maritzburg College, Trinityhouse School, Westville Boys’ High School.
Under-14: Hudson Park High School, Jeppe High School for Boys, Hoërskool Marais Viljoen, Maritzburg College, Hoërskool Menlopark, Trinityhouse School, Hoërskool Voortrekker, Westville Boys’ High School.
Wildeklawer Rugby Festival
1 May to 4 May (more information to be supplied in due course).
Maritzburg College's 150th Rugby Festival Fixtures:
All matches are to be played on Goldstone’s.
Day 1: Saturday, 30 March
10.10: Noord-Kaap vs Jeppe
11.30: DHS vs Rondebosch
12.50: Queen’s vs Affies
14.10: Dale vs Monument
15.30: Maritzburg vs Grey
Day 2: Monday, 1 April
10.10: Monument vs Rondebosch
11.30: DHS vs Dale
12.50: Queen’s vs Jeppe
14.10: Maritzburg vs Noor-Kaap
15.30: Affies vs Grey High-School
Day 3: Wednesday, 3 April
09.00: Dale vs Affies
10.20: Grey vs DHS
11.40: Rondebosch vs Jeppe
13.00: Monument vs Noord-Kaap
14.20: Queen’s vs Maritzburg
Husqvarna Skonk Nicholson Rugby Festival Fixtures
Under-16
All matches are to be played on Goldstone’s.
Day 1: Friday, 5 April
10.30: Kearsney vs Trinityhouse
11.50: Hilton vs Marais Viljoen
13.10: Westville vs KZN Development XV
14.30: Maritzburg College vs Hudson Park
Day 2: Saturday, 6 April
08.30: Hudson Park vs Westville
09.40: Trinityhouse vs Hilton
10.50: Kearsney vs Marais Viljoen
12.00: KZN Development XV vs Maritzburg College
Under-14
All matches are to be played on Snow’s.
Day 1: Friday, 5 April
10.30: Voortrekker vs Trinityhouse
11.50: Hudson Park vs Marais Viljoen
13.10: Maritzburg College vs Menlopark
14.30: Westville vs Jeppe
Day 2: Saturday, 6 April
08.30: Hudson Park vs Menlopark
09.40: Marais Viljoen vs Voortrekker
10.50: Trinityhouse vs Westville
12.00: Maritzburg College vs Jeppe
From Jonathan Cook