Most of Grahamstown will come to a standstill on Saturday (June 13) as one of the biggest derbies in South African schools rugby takes place when the city’s two private institutions, St Andrew’s and Kingswood, meet in their annual showdown.
K-Day, as it has universally become known, is one of those special occasions when the two schools continue a rivalry which has grown over a century of combat into a thrilling celebration of sport.
This year it will be hosted by St Andrew’s and the school’s Lower field is sure to be crammed to capacity when the teams run out on Saturday afternoon to deliver the climax to a tough but sporting rivalry.
This time the rugby match is shaping up to be a terrific contest, with Kingswood looking to emulate the feat of the class of 2011 when they ended 18 years of St Andrew’s superiority in a 23-22 result.
Since then St Andrew’s have been back on top, but Kingswood have a hugely competitive outfit this season and it is one of the rare occasions in their long rivalry when they will enter the match without being the underdogs.
“We have a fairly young side this year, but have had a similar season to St Andrew’s so there is a lot of interest in that sense,” Kingswood coach Gareth Shaw said.
“I have urged our players to enjoy the weekend for what it is and to really enjoy the experience of K-Day, to make sure they look back on the occasion with good memories, whatever happens.”
In comparing the records of the two sides, Kingswood have won seven and lost four matches, while a St Andrew’s team who virtually started the year from scratch, have won six and lost seven games.
However, they have largely played different opponents and Shaw observed how St Andrew’s, despite a few losses, seem to be peaking at the right time.
After showing great spirit in losses to Selborne and Grey High, the Andreans defeated Queen’s in Queenstown at the weekend (38-32) and that is the sort of form they will be keen to take into the K-Day encounter.
Having lost to Graeme will serve as further motivation for the home side because a loss to Kingswood will have them lagging in the Grahamstown rugby pecking order.
With it being a long weekend, there are only a handful of matches taking place on Saturday. VP take their run of success out of town and will be tested by Union High in Graaff-Reinet, while Woodridge will be looking to bounce back against Cillie after a big loss to Pearson last weekend.
The schools fixtures are (home teams first): Woodridge v Cillie (11.30), Union High v VP (13.20), St Andrew’s v Kingswood (15.30)
Alan Straton
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