If you were to go back a year and walk on to the St Andrew’s College main rugby field before the first team match against Kingswood College you would be forgiven for forgetting that it is just another schoolboy rugby game, and that’s just it, it isn’t.
If you were to go back a year and walk on to the St Andrew’s College main rugby field before the first team match against Kingswood College you would be forgiven for forgetting that it is just another schoolboy rugby game, and that’s just it, it isn’t.
The annual meeting of St Andrew's/DSG and Kingswood, more commonly known as K-Day, has become one of the highlights of the Grahamstown sporting calendar with the competitiveness and comradery ingrained into the students in a rivalry that travels back more than 100 years.
Over the years the festival has seen many talented players who went on to play at provincial and even national levels. Rosko Specman, an old Kingswoodian and Springboks sevens player, recalled the match being very "intense" and says he can still remember crying at the end of the game as Kingswood went down to St Andrew's.
Anyone who has been on the sidelines, no matter what their affiliation to the schools, will recall what a unique atmosphere it is as the school spirit can be very easily seen both on the field and off it.
Last year the festival took place at DSG and St Andrew's as students, parents and members of the Grahamstown community flocked from field to field eagerly watching the high level of sport on offer as the three schools competed in netball, hockey and rugby.
This year K-Day will return to Kingswood and promises to be as exciting as always with all first teams being in good form leading into the festival.
The first fixtures will be the boy’s hockey which will be played at Kingswood on Wednesday while the weekend will come to a close when Kingswood first team rugby face St Andrew's on Saturday (18 June) in what is an eagerly anticipated match.
St Andrew's will be looking to redeem themselves and claim back the “bragging rights”, as put by coach Gerry Posthumus, after they went down to Kingswood by just one point losing 20-19 in the end.
Kingswood on the other hand will be searching for their first K-Day victory on home soil since 1980 and while they will be under pressure to repeat their 2015 victory, captain Olehile Losaba remarked that “pressure is privilege” and that it is an honour to represent the school on the field.
The 2016 edition of K-Day promises to be a tight affair on the field but the one guarantee is that there will not only be a lot of excitement but a great atmosphere across the days as the schools gear up for what should be a spectacular sporting event. sport@grocotts.co.za
