Sharks make Kearsney Awards

After the last match on Easter Monday, the Sharks made their bursary awards to players – adding two more bursaries because of the strong performances during the Kearsney Easter Festival.

The report is from Kearsney

A highly successful seventh Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival wrapped up today with the announcement of five players who each received bursaries to the Sharks Academy for 2015.

Valued at over R100 000 each, the recipients are prop Kenny van Niekerk and flyhalf Curtis Jonas, both from Glenwood, flank Adrian Heystek from Westville Boys’ High, fullback Justerino Davids from Dale College in King William’s Town and fullback Barend Smit from HTS Middelburg. Jonas was "discovered" when he was playing scrumhalf for Swellendam.

In making the awards, Etienne Fynn, the managing director of the Academy, said the great pool of talent this year had made it extremely difficult for the selectors to choose only three players, as originally planned.

“The standard is again consistently high with excellent match-ups at the festival. Academy coaches and selectors who have been to the other festivals taking place around the country this weekend have reported that the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival has an exceptionally high standard of participating teams, with sides very competitive and evenly matched.”

The festival was well supported with capacity crowds who were able to enjoy a high standard of competitive rugby in good weather.

Adding to status of the festival and to the thrill of competing players, international referees Craig Joubert and Marius Jonker officiated at three games. Joubert said it was always a delight to referee schoolboy games and to experience the wealth of talent coming through at this level of the game.

Photo: Kearsney headmaster Elwyn van den Aardweg, Justerino Davids, Curtis Jonas, Kenny van Niekerk, Adrian Heystek, Etienne Fynn. Absent: Baremnd Smit