26 May 2025
There was scarcely a sliver of space left around Bowden’s Field on Saturday. Supporters packed the embankments, the touchlines buzzed with anticipation, and a palpable sense of occasion hung over the contest as unbeaten Westville Boys’ High took on Durban High School (DHS) in a high-stakes derby to decide KwaZulu-Natal’s top rugby side of 2025.
And what a contest it turned out to be.
In a thrilling clash that crackled with tension from start to finish, Westville held their nerve to emerge 33-28 victors, surviving a powerful second-half fightback from a gritty, never-say-die DHS outfit.
“It’s been building the whole year. Everyone’s known it was going to come down to this,” Westville head coach Zander Erasmus said afterwards. “It was up and down, a rollercoaster, but amazing. The boys have worked incredibly hard.”
Westville’s early territorial dominance was rewarded when speedster Ntobeko Sithole, wearing 14 but finishing on the left wing, took a skip pass and muscled his way over in the corner for the opening try. Flyhalf Jade-Will Koopman, who would go on to produce a flawless kicking display, split the uprights from the touchline.
Koopman and DHS flyhalf Jordan van Wyk then traded penalties – two apiece – to leave Westville 13–6 in front, but DHS soon found their rhythm. After sustained pressure inside the Westville 22, their powerful inside centre Zingce Simka crashed over to reduce the gap to two points.
DHS had clawed their way back into the contest, buy a chaotic sequence from the kick-off turned the tide once more. A high restart was batted back hard by DHS into their own 22, and when a pressured Marcwin Nero flung a desperate inside pass, it found only open grass. DHS pivot Cilermo Carolus chased after the ball and knocked it back into the field of play before it went over the dead-ball line, only for Westville centre Sean McGough to pounce for a critical try right on the stroke of halftime.
Koopman added the extras, and Westville carried a 20–11 lead into the break.
Within minutes of the restart, the hosts struck again. After hammering away through their forwards, Koopman delivered a looping cut-out pass to right wing Jadrian Afrikaner, who dotted down with ease. The flyhalf’s third conversion took the lead to 27–11, and the game looked to be slipping away from the visitors.
But DHS, as they so often do, dug deep.
Captain Daniel Ikotela sparked the comeback when he peeled off a maul to score from close range. Then Carolus lit up the field with a scorching break from a lineout move, slicing through the defence before feeding outside centre Nathan Aneke for a spectacular try. Van Wyk converted, and suddenly the gap was down to four points, with the home side leading 27-23.
Moments later, DHS hit the front for the first time. A messy Westville lineout five metres from their own line saw skipper Liam Simpkins spill the untidy ball, and a hungry Nero reacted first, diving over to make it 28–27 in favour of the visitors.
Westville, after conceding 17 unanswered points, didn’t panic. “Our message was simple: stay calm. If we played in the right areas, we’d be fine,” Erasmus said.
Koopman immediately helped steady the ship. From the restart, Westville received a penalty for offsides, and the flyhalf coolly slotted it to reclaim the lead.
Then, as the Griffin played the game in the DHS half, phase after phase wore down the defence until School was pinged again for hands in the ruck and Koopman, noticeably calm while the crowd buzzed, did the rest, nudging his side five points clear.
With time winding down, Westville’s forwards absorbed the pressure, and when the ball was kicked into touch after a final scrum, the home side erupted with joy.
“For me, to compete with DHS, who have been the powerhouse of KZN rugby for five years, and to not just play with them but to win… it’s one of my proudest days as a coach,” Erasmus reflected.
Koopman, whose boot accounted for 18 points, was at the centre of it all. Just a year earlier, on the same field, he had produced a stunning try assist to level the scores against KES, only to miss the difficult touchline conversion that would have sealed a famous win. On Saturday, he was all composure.
“When we train, he asks me to shout at him [while he kicks]. He wants to create pressure,” Erasmus explained. “He’s grown from that KES moment. He understands now it’s about process, not outcome. That’s phenomenal maturity.”
As the final whistle blew, Westwille captain Simpkins charged toward the stands, arms outstretched, a wide grin plastered across his face. Around him, players embraced. They were exhausted, elated, and unified by a titanic tussle.
Nearby, Westville’s Director of Sport Pam Hayward dabbed away tears of joy, sunglasses doing little to hide the emotion. DHS’s Director of Sport Nathan Pillay offered a consoling arm, as two of the best at their jobs in the country, shared a moment after an enthralling contest. It was a warm gesture of sportsmanship that underlined what this rivalry, and schoolboy rugby, is really all about.
While they lost the 1st XV match, DHS enjoyed a solid day out against a school that has admirable depth in its rugby ranks, winning 11 games, losing eight and drawing one.
The most interesting aspect of the results is how much School‘s depth has improved. In recent seasons, if one was to be critical, they, maybe, lacked depth beyond their A and B teams. That no longer appears to be the case, and that suggests there are more good things to come from DHS.
RESULTS
1st: Westville 33-28 DHS
2nd: Westville 13-13 DHS
3rd: Westville 12-27 DHS
4th: Westville 6-16 DHS
5th: Westville 0-12 DHS
6th: Westville 7-12 DHS
16A: Westville 24-27 DHS
16B: Westville 19-21 DHS
16C: Westville 15-0 DHS
16D: Westville 0-5 DHS
15A: Westville 3-12 DHS
15B: Westville 6-22 DHS
15C: Westville 22-10 DHS
15D: Westville 40-7 DHS
15E: Westville 39-14 DHS
14A: Westville 18-23 DHS
14B: Westville 5-43 DHS
14C: Westville 19-5 DHS
14D: Westville 15-12 DHS
14E: Westville 57-7 DHS
HOCKEY
On the Astro, the 1st team honours went the way of DHS. They’ve found Westville a tough nut to crack away from home, so coach Keegan Hezlett would, no doubt, have been delighted and, perhaps, somewhat relieved, to come away with a 3-2 victory.
Overall, Westville won slightly more games than DHS, thanks mostly to a dominant u14 age group.
RESULTS
1st: Westville 2-3 DHS
2nd: Westville 1-0 DHS
3rd: Westville 1-0 DHS
16A: Westville 0-1 DHS
16B: Westville 3-1 DHS
16C: Westville 1-2 DHS
16D: Westville 4-2 DHS
16E: Westville 1-1 DHS
14A: Westville 1-1 DHS
14B: Westville 7-0 DHS
14C: Westville 5-0 DHS
14D: Westville 2-0 DHS
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