A 100-year-old schools rivalry will take place this weekend when Maritzburg College hosts Glenwood High School at Goldstones on Saturday, 11 September.
The first match between the two schools was played in 1921, at Glenwood, which the hosts won 5-0. In the Maritzburg College Reunion encounter in June 2010, Maritzburg College beat Glenwood on Goldstones, the first time since 2006 that College managed to beat Glenwood there.
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The biggest victory for College over Glenwood was 61-13 at College in 1995, while the biggest victory for Glenwood over College was 57-12 at Kings Park in 2015. College had the best in the earlier years of this encounter and still have the most wins overall. Glenwood was on a 16-match unbeaten streak against College, but for the first time since their 35-16 win back in June 2010, College managed to outplay Glenwood 20-12. This period also included two back-to-back draws in 2012.
Matches played: 173
College: Won 110
Drawn: 17
Glenwood: Won 46
Rugby at Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College is traditionally the dominant schools rugby force in KwaZulu-Natal. The first recorded rugby match in this coastal province took place in the Market Square of Pietermaritzburg in October 1870. The contestants were Maritzburg College (then known as Pietermaritzburg High School) and Hermansburg School. Played on a sunbaked, wheel-rutted, gravel surface, the contest lasted for more than three hours and ended in a victory, for the High School, by two goals to nil.
The arrival of James Mervyn (Skonk) Nicholson as a master at Maritzburg College, signalled a revival in the school’s rugby fortunes. From 1948, he coached the First XV for 35 consecutive seasons, until 1982. In 1949 the first XV was unbeaten, as were 10 other teams of his, while a further thirteen first teams during that period lost only one match each.
In addition, several College Old Boys have represented other countries: Hubert Freakes and Geoff Appleford (England), Juan Grobler and Chad Erskine (United States of America), Brenton Catterall (Zimbabwe), Wim Visser (Italy), Frank Goedeke (Germany) and Andrew Binikos (Cyprus).
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Rugby at Glenwood
Rugby at Glenwood is the major sporting code, instilling values such as integrity, sportsmanship, loyalty, discipline and hard work. Glenwood’s policy of participation in extra-mural activities as well as the passion shown by the boys afford nearly five-hundred youngsters the opportunity to experience one of the ultimate team sports.
Glenwood fields 30 teams on a regular basis. This allows boys from all levels to be part of this wonderful game. The sports department endeavours to provide games for all teams, allowing Glenwood out-of-province tours to play fixtures against some major rugby-playing schools in South Africa, such as Affies in Pretoria and Grey College in Bloemfontein.
The school represented South Africa at the Sanix Youth tournament in Japan in 2008 and won top honours by winning the finals.
Glenwood can also be very proud of Warren Whiteley, who was named the 58th Springbok captain for the 2017 Test series against France – the first Glenwood old boy to have this honour. Their latest Springbok is scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, who was included in the squad for the 2021 Rugby Championship and scored a try on debut against Argentina.
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The Premier Interschools derby will be broadcast live on Saturday, 11 September from 12:55pm on SuperSport Rugby (211).
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
