K-Day is Here Again
On 6 June this year, there were magnificent celebrations of the D Day landing on the beaches of Normandy 75 years before, this signalling the beginning of the defeat of Hitler’s Germans. On 15 June 2019, on City Lords in Grahamstown, Kingswood and St Andrew’s will meet, a match that goes back 121 years to 1898, a rugby day that became known as K-Day in 1996.
The K stands for Kingswood and the origin of the K-Day name seems to have been André Jacobs, the creative St Andrew’s coach. The name caught on instantly and has remained.
It is a day the whole of Grahamstown knows about. The town flocks to the game and in fact people – Old Boys and current parents – join in the excitement and the fun. It is perhaps the most popular day in the calendar of the city.
It is more than just rugby of course, for Kingswood are a coed school and St Andrew’s virtually so. And so the Kingswood girls and the girls of the Diocesan School for Girls will be having their share of fun and games.
Not that stops the 1st XV match from being the climax week’s activities.
For Kingswood this has been a special year – their 125th anniversary, and earlier in the year that hosted a Festival as rugby’s part of the big birthday. And it has been playing rugby since it was three.
Season So Far
St Andrew’s, the bigger school, has had better results. In fact this St Andrew’s season has been better than usual, and they are ranked 17th on the Schools Top 20.
Kingswood have played 13 matches, winning eight and losing five.
St Andrew’s have played 12 matches, winning nine, drawing one and losing three.
Results against Common Opponents
Hilton: Kingswood lost 20-15; St Andrew’s won 43-27
Kearsney: Kingswood won 23-15; St Andrew’s won 22-7
Parktown: Kingswood won 50-12; St Andrew’s won 68-3
Pearson: Kingswood won 31-0; St Andrew’s won 87-3
SACS: Kingswood lost 20-10; St Andrew’s won 27-13
St John’s: Kingswood won 35-8; St Andrew’s won 31-0
Achievers
The boys of both schools are eligible for selection for Eastern Province Schools teams.
Craven Week:
Kingswood: Abongile Klaas
St Andrew’s: Basi Malesu, Bame Malesu, Chris Poole, Matt Hillary
Academy Week
St Andrew’s: Busang Mmile, Guy Rushmere, Buhle Matshaya, Sinjin Broad
Kingswood: Josh von Holdt, Jordan Lombard, Dom Shone, Jano Roux, Jack Mills
Teams
Kingswood: 15 Nigel Tinarwo, 14 Matthew Pieterse, 13 Abongile Klaas, 12 Chad Ehrke, 11 Brendan Muchopa, 10 Bryce Collins, 9 Nick Lawson-Smith, 8 Duncan Krige, 7 Jack Mills (captain), 6 Dominic Shone, 5 Aidan Chamberlain, 4 Zach Toerien, 3 Josh von Holdt, 2 Jordan Lombard, 1 Matthew Pritchard
St Andrew’s: 15 Lloyd Koster, 14 Jason Thomas, 13 Ryan Ford, 12 Dylan Bowker, 11 Ben Aliker, 10 Guy Rushmere, 9 Sinjin Broad, 8 Miles Danckwerts, 7 Buhle Matshaya, 6 Dylan Wilson, 5 Matt Hillary, 4 Brayden Barratt, 3 Bame Malesu, 2 Chris Poole (c), 1 Basi Malesu
Coaches: Andy Royle, Carl Bradfield
Date: Saturday, 15 June 2019
1st XV kick-off: 15.45
Venue: City Lords, Grahamstown
Expected weather conditions: Sunny with a warm high of 25°C and a cold low of 3°C
Rugby Programme – Saturday 15 June 2019
City Lords
08.30: Under-14A
09.30: Under-15A
12.00: Under-16A
13.15: 3rd XV
14.30: 2nd XV
15.45: 1st XV
Knight
08.30: Under-14C
09.30: Kingswood 4th XV vs St Andrew’s 5th XV
10.45: Under-14B
