St Andrew's and Bishops meet

They will all go down to Lower Field on Thursday afternoon to watch brother schools meet – St Andrew's and Bishops, this time at St Andrew's.

They did it first in Cape Town in 1896 and despite matches against closer rivals such as Kingswood and Rondebosch, the Bishops-St Andrew's match is really the closest rivalry for each schools – both private schools both Anglican foundations in the middle of the 19th century when many school. Not only that but they have stayed the same sort of person – families, staff and boys – down the years.

Things were slightly different not so long ago – only the first teams would play, there was a dance after and Axel Ohlson was always there at his affable best. Going to Grahamstown meant happy staff times in the Albany Club. Going to Bishops meant happy staff times at Olympics. They ere always happy times.

Now there will be five matches, for the A teams play.

Dates have been a problem with keeping the fixture going. This year Bishops would dearly have liked to help Paul Roos celebrate its 150th birthday with rugby on Saturday but before that was decided on the date for the St Andrew's visit was decided on. And Bishops is in Grahamstown, at St Andrew's on Thursday and at Graeme on Saturday, though really the Bishops-St Andrew's match is worthy of a Saturday.

For Bishops this will be their very first match of 2015. St Andrew's had matches in Uitenhage last Saturday. The College 1st XV went down 25-20, but the 2nd XV and the Under-16 A won. The Under-15A drew and the Under-14A took a hammering.

There are five players back from last year's match when Bishops won handsomely. Bishops have left wing André Manuel and props JP Smith and William Day back this year while St Andrew's have centre Tom Lane and scrumhalf Luke Alexandre back.

Programme

Lower Field

14.00: Under-16 A

15.00: 2nd XV

16.15: 1st XV

Knowling Field

14.00: Under-15A

15.00: Under-14A

1st XVs

Bishops: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Lubelo Scott, 13 Seb Hanekom, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 André Manuel, 10 James Macdonald, 9 Brandon Salomo, 8 Francois Stassen, 7 Jarryd Lurie, 6 Joel Paarwater, 5 Nic Frankenveld, 4 Connor Osborne, 3 J-P Smith, 2 Gregory Willcocks, 1 William Day

St Andrew’s: 15 Ross Ferguson, 14 Grant Dixie, 13 Thomas Lane (captain), 12 Angus Cook, 11 Xolile Mdlokovana, 10 Anthony Dakin, 9 Luke Alexandre, 8 Malcolm Pringle, 7 Seb Mulders, 6 Baron Boateng-Aidoo, 5 Daniel Tiffin, 4 Christopher Sherratt, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Harry Turner, 1 Aidan Stoll

Referee: Sandile Ngcese (Eastern Province Referees' Society)

Results Down the Years

1896: Bishops won 5-0

1898: Bishops won 9-0

1903: Bishops won 5-0

1921: St Andrew's won 15-0

1922: Bishops won 18-3

1923: Bishops won 3-0

1924: Draw 8-8

1925: Bishops won 3-0

1926: St Andrew's won 28-0

1927: Draw 3-3

1928: Bishops won 11-3

1929: Bishops won 20-9

1930: Bishops won 23-6

1931: Bishops won 16-0

1932: Bishops won 13-12

1933: St Andrew's won 9-8

1934: St Andrew's won 21-3

1935: St Andrew's won 6-5

1936: Bishops won 24-0

1937: Bishops won 8-6

1938: Draw 3-3

1939: St Andrew's won 16-0

1940-45: World War II

1946:: Draw 11-11

1947: Bishops won 8-6

1948: Bishops won 9-3

1949: Bishops won 6-3

1950: Bishops won 14-0

1951: St Andrew's won 5-3

1952: Bishops won 3-0

1953: St Andrew's won 28-0

1954: Bishops won 14-3

1955: Bishops won 8-3

1956: Draw 3-3

1957: St Andrew's won 9-6

1958: Bishops won 6-3

1959: St Andrew's won 16-3

1960: St Andrew's won 25-0

1961: Bishops won 11-5

1962: Bishops won 8-3

1963: St Andrew's won 11-3

1964: Bishops won 19-12

1965: Bishops won 3-0

1966: St Andrew's won 12-8

1967: St Andrew's won 6-0

1968: Bishops won 11-9

1969: St Andrew's won 17-3

1970: St Andrew's won 8-6

1971: St Andrew's won 6-3

1972: Bishops won 10-3

1973: Bishops won 12-11

1974: Bishops won 12-0

1975: St Andrew's won 15-0

1976: Bishops won 19-9

1977: Bishops won 41-3

1978: St Andrew's won 9-4

1979: Bishops won 49-3

1980: Bishops won 9-3

1981: Bishops won 18-6

1982: Bishops won 25-12

1983: Bishops won 23-12

1984: Bishops won 13-12

1985: No match

1986: Bishops won 30-3

1987: Bishops won 11-3

1988: Bishops won 50-6

1989: Bishops won19-9

1990: St Andrew's won 15-4

1991: Bishops won 19-16

1992: Bishops won 41-17

1993: Bishops won 21-18

1994: Bishops won 30-21

1995: No match

1996: Bishops won 18-12

1997: St Andrew's won 47-17

1998: St Andrew's won 20-19

1999: Bishops won 27-20

2000: St Andrew's won 18-17

2001: St Andrew's won 19-15

2002: Bishops won 27-8

2003: Draw 12-12

2004: St Andrew's won 10-8

2005: St Andrew's won 28-10

2006: Bishops won 41-6

2007: No match

2008: Bishops won 64-18

2009: Bishops won 17-12

2010: Bishops won 25-24

2011: Bishops won 26-22

2012: St Andrew's won 19-16

2013: St Andrew's won 28-21

2014: Bishops won 39-15

Played: 87

Bishops won 56

Drawn: 6

St Andrew's won 26