Monnas Plans Centenary

Hoërskool Monument of Krugersdorp, nicknamed Monnas, turns 100 in 2021 and has plans to celebrate this big birthday which include rugby, which is hardly surprising for a school whose rugby teams have achieved great things.

A big part of the big celebrations will be the Monnas Rugby Festival which has high hopes of kicking off on 23 March 2021, ending on 5 April 2021.

There will be no easy-beats at the festival whose rugby highlight main attraction will undoubtedly be the 20 top schools 1st XVs teams invited to play matches on Thursday 1 April 20-21, Saturday 3 April 2021 and Monday 5 April 2021. Each team taking part will play two matches over that extended weekend. The 20 teams invited will be made up of 10 South African teams and ten teams from abroad.

Before the 1st XVs charge into action there will be a festival for top Under-13 teams who will play matches on Tuesday 30 March 2021, Wednesday 31 March 2021 and Thursday 1 April 2020. The teams rated the top two teams will be play the main curtain-raiser for the 1st XV festival's main game on Thursday 1 April 2021.

All matches during the festival will be made available live on several platforms by SchoolSportsLive(SSL) to ensure that the festival will be available to schoolboy rugby supporters worldwide.

Apart from excellent rugby, the festival aims to raise money which will be shared by Monnas and the SA Schools Challenge Trust More widely, the festival organisers hope that the festival will help businesses in Krugersdorp which have suffered during Covid-19 pandemic.

Johann Calitz, the principal of Monnas said: "We are excited to welcome the world's top rugby schools to Monnas. We want to share with the world the school’s unique rugby traditions and achievements of the past 100 years. We want them to experience the true vibrant rugby atmosphere Monnas is known for."

Tjaart van der Walt, the head of rugby at Monnas, said that the festival would ensure that the South African schools would be tested to the maximum. He said: "There will be no easy game for any of the South African schools in 2021."

Mr Chris Vorster, group CEO of Stadio Holdings and a schoolboy rugby fanatic said that the fact that the festival's secondary aim was to support local business during the hosting of the tournament was exciting and special. "The expected influx of spectators and supporters will help a lot in softening the effect of the pandemic on our community."