Leading Australian school Nudgee stun Grey College
Michaelhouse shocked Affies while leading Australian schoolboy side Nudgee College pipped Grey College in the first two rounds of the Easter Festivals staged over the long weekend.
The 2026 schoolboy rugby season has served up a number of unexpected results, with Stellenberg beating Paarl Gimnasium as well as Grey College, and Garsfontein downing Paarl Boys at the recent North-South tournament.
The trend has persisted at the respective Easter festivals, with St Joseph’s Nudgee College from Australia beating Grey College at St John’s on Thursday, and Michaelhouse stunning Affies at Pretoria Boys High on Saturday.
While a lot has been said over the past week about the congested schoolboy rugby schedule – and how the inevitable rotation of players tends to influence certain results – there’s no getting around the fact that Nudgee, Michaelhouse, Hilton and other successful teams deserve due plaudits.
Michaelhouse weren’t among the top teams in KwaZulu-Natal last season, but made a statement this past month, when they pushed Durban High School close before going on to beat Northwood 28-14.
Expectations may have been tempered ahead of their showdown with Affies at the Pretoria Boys 125th anniversary tournament, but on the day, Michaelhouse went toe to toe with a more fancied pack, and held on to claim a 29-27 victory.
The result marks a monumental win for ‘House’, who have become the first team from the KwaZulu-Natal region to beat Affies since 2023.
Other big results at Pretoria Boys included Maritzburg College’s 35-12 win over Jeppe, as well as the hosts’ 35-34 victory over SACS.
It’s been a dramatic long weekend in the Republic, and it all started this past Thursday, when one of the touring teams took down the biggest name in South African schoolboy rugby at the St. John’s Festival.
Nudgee were the leading team in Australia in 2025, averaging 52 points a match over the course of an unbeaten season – a run that included a 35-14 win against New Zealand schoolboy champions Rotorua.
Nevertheless, Nudgee went into the clash against Grey College at St. John’s as underdogs, due to the Bloemfontein team’s impressive record in recent years.
Grey showed a lot of heart in the closing stages of that match.
Trailing by seven points with three minutes left on the clock, the boys from Bloem hammered away at Nudgee’s line, and were awarded a penalty try.
But Nudgee regained possession in the final passage of play, and when the opportunity presented itself, flyhalf Chilli Smith slotted a fine drop goal.
The result marked Grey’s second consecutive defeat – following the recent loss to Stellenberg – and the first time they’ve suffered back-to-back losses since 2017.
Nudgee didn’t have everything their own way in their second fixture at St. John’s on Saturday, however, and were eventually beaten 17-12 by Hilton.
Hilton have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the 2026 season, with other notable wins against Westville and Nelspruit.
In other matches at St. John’s, Monument flew the flag for South Africa when they thumped Westlake from New Zealand 56-35 on Thursday.
Graeme College made a statement of their own when they overpowered Bishops in a 39-26 win on Saturday.
The KZN teams racked up the results at the festival staged at Kearsney, with the hosts beating Rustenburg and Transvalia, and DHS downing Zwartkop and Rustenburg.
Westville thrashed Framesby 83-0 on Thursday before scoring a 33-17 win against Joburg juggernauts Helpmekaar on Saturday.
Framesby bounced back from the earlier loss to edge Glenwood 15-14 on Saturday, while Zwartkop – who were a late addition to the festival roster after an overseas team withdrew at the eleventh hour – showed their potential with a 41-32 win against EG Jansen.
Over at KES, Queens College struck a blow for the Eastern Cape when they edged Noordheuwel 13-7 on Saturday.
Middelburg secured one of the more significant results when they beat Hartpury College from England 24-21 at the St Stithians Festival on Thursday, while Wynberg followed up an 84-0 thrashing of a Garsfontein Invitational XV with a 28-12 win against the hosts on Saturday.
Following a day’s rest on Sunday, the final round of matches will be staged on Monday.
SELECTED EASTER RESULTS APRIL 2-4
KEARSNEY FESTIVAL
THURSDAY
Glenwood 5-24 Helpmekaar
Transvalia 26-5 Peterhouse (Zimbabwe)
Westville 83-0 Framesby
Kearsney 43-14 Rustenburg
Milnerton 20-27 EG Jansen
DHS 31-14 Zwartkop
SATURDAY
Milnerton 23-29 Peterhouse
DHS 38-7 Rustenburg
EG Jansen 32-41 Zwartkop
Glenwood 14-15 Framesby
Kearsney 33-13 Transvalia
Westville 33-17 Helpmekaar
KES FESTIVAL
SATURDAY
Hudson Park 37-10 Worcester Gim
Eldoraigne 14-56 Pearson
Northwood 47-7 Marlow
Dale 24-29 Cranbrook (Australia)
Noordheuwel 7-13 Queens
KES 45-12 St Andrews
ST. JOHN’S FESTIVAL
THURSDAY
St. Benedict’s 5-57 Graeme
Kingswood 40-5 St Davids
Monument 56-35 Westlake (NZ)
Nudgee (Australia) 29-26 Grey College
Hilton 65-14 Nelspruit
Bishops 24-7 St. John’s
SATURDAY
St Davids 28-26 Randburg
Nelspruit 24-21 St Albans
Welkom Gim 26-36 Westlake
Graeme 39-26 Bishops
Monument 43-27 Kingswood
St. John’s 24-19 Golden Lions Invitational XV
Hilton 17-12 Nudgee
ST STITHIANS FESTIVAL
THURSDAY
St Charles 7 Northcliff 18
Kempton Park 27-15 Pietersburg
Hartpury (England) 14-21 Middelburg
Wynberg 84-0 Garsfontein Inv XV
St Stithians 21-24 St John’s (Harare)
SATURDAY
St Charles 24-17 Kempton Park
St. John’s (Zim) 22-18 Clifton
Windhoek (Namibia) 35-39 Northcliff
Hartpury 47-18 Garsfontein Inv XV
Pietersburg 27-14 Middelburg
St Stithians 12-28 Wynberg
PRETORIA BOYS 125TH FESTIVAL
SATURDAY
Grey High 40-18 Parktown
Rondebosch 17-57 Selborne
Affies 27-29 Michaelhouse
Jeppe 12-35 Maritzburg College
Pretoria Boys 35-34 SACS
SELECTED EASTER FIXTURES APRIL 5
KEARSNEY FESTIVAL
Helpmekaar v Framesby
Glenwood v EG Jansen
Rustenburg v Peterhouse
Westville v Milnerton
DHS v Transvalia
Kearsney v Zwartkop
KES FESTIVAL
Eldoraigne v Hudson Park
Dale v Worcester Gim
Pearson v Cranbrook
Marlow v Noordheuwel
Northwood v St Andrews
KES v Queens
ST. JOHN’S FESTIVAL
Westlake v Randburg
ST STITHIANS FESTIVAL
Hartpury v Northcliff
Garsfontein Inv XV v Kempton Park
Pietersburg v St Johns (Zim)
PRETORIA BOYS 125TH FESTIVAL
Selborne v Parktown
Maritzburg College v SACS
Affies v Grey High
Jeppe v Michaelhouse
Pretoria Boys v Rondebosch
Photo credit: ST John’s College
