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Regional schools preview 2026: Eastern Cape

By Jon Cardinelli
Thursday 19 Feb 2026

SPOTLIGHT: Queens and Graeme College will look to build on their outstanding 2025 campaigns while Grey High face off against several national heavyweights.

Rugby365 is running a series of regional previews in the coming weeks, focusing on the leading First XVs and big matches in the Western Cape, Noordvaal, Central, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The Eastern Cape will play host to several age-group rugby festivals this season – none bigger than the U18 Craven Week at Grey High in Gqeberha, which will run between 6 and 11 July.

Graeme College will stage a local festival on 20 and 21 March, while Grey High will welcome schools from around the country between 25 and 27 April.

RECAP OF 2025

Graeme, Queens and Brandwag were among the most consistent teams in the Eastern Cape last season.

Graeme finished 2025 with a 14 from 18 record, which included wins against Brandwag and Queens.

Brandwag won 16 out of 19, and Queens 16 out of 20 – a run that included the victories in the double-header against rivals Dale.

Grey High played a number of interprovincial matches, beating Hilton and Pretoria Boys, drawing with Michaelhouse, and losing to Grey College, Paul Roos and Wynberg.

What may disappointment the team from Gqeberha is the fact that they didn’t challenge for the Eastern Cape crown, and ended up losing big games against Queens, St Andrews and Selborne.

BUILDING MOMENTUM

Queens will be looking to build momentum this season – as one of the leading teams in the Eastern Cape and as a competitive force on a national scale.

Following their first big fixture against Nico Malan at the Graeme Rugby Festival on March 20, they will head to the KES Easter tournament for more challenging clashes against Noordheuwel and the hosts.

Queens’ depth will face a further examination in late April, when they play hosts Diamantveld and Helpmekaar at the Wildeklawer Tournament in Kimberley.

A record of two wins across those four big festival matches would certainly serve as a statement.

Once they return from Wilderklawer Tournament, Queens will turn their attention to the local fixtures.

The derbies between Queens and Dale are always followed with interest. Dale – who lost 16 of their 20 fixtures last season – could change the narrative if they win even one of these derbies this season (April 18 and August 15).

Graeme were one of the few Eastern Cape teams to beat Queens in 2025. There’s still a lot of rugby to play in the coming months, but the meeting between the two sides on August 8 (at Queens) may well amount to a regional decider.

Following a couple of local clashes against Daniel Pienaar and Marlow, Graeme will head to the St. John’s Easter Festival to tackle St Benedicts and Bishops.

Bishops are still rebuilding – they won just six of their 20 fixtures last season – and Graeme may view the upcoming fixture (April 4) as an opportunity to claim a big interprovincial scalp.

Furthermore, Graeme will play Kearsney and Parel Vallei at the Grey High Festival in late April, and may expect to win both matches.

Grey High have a tougher schedule, and will begin their 2026 season with a home clash against Boland Landbou.

What’s more, they’ve drawn Affies at the Pretoria Boys 125th Festival (April 6), and will host Paul Roos two weeks later.

It will only get tougher later in the season, when they head to Bloem to tackle Grey College on August 1.

With the above fixtures in mind, it’s fair to say that the Grey High forwards will face the sternest of examinations.

On the other hand, Grey High must view those matches as an opportunity to surprise some of South Africa’s traditional heavyweights.

The good news is they’ll play Michaelhouse and Pretoria Boys at home as part of the Grey High Festival, and host Queens – one of the form local teams in 2025 – on May 9.

If Grey High manage to beat Queens, they will take some confidence into the subsequent Eastern Cape clashes against St Andrews and Framesby – both away – before finishing the season with a showdown against Selborne in Gqeberha.

Related stories:

Regional schools preview 2026: Western Cape
Regional schools preview 2026: Noordvaal

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