10 March 2026
While some schools eased into the rugby season with chukka-based hit-outs, Clifton College opted for full-on matches against Howick High at their sporting home, the Riverside Sports Club, on Saturday.
“We didn’t have much time for the pre-season, so we wanted to have a full-contact fixture,” Clifton College’s Director of Rugby and 1st XV coach, Jose Dos Santos, said. “We were fortunate to get Coenraad de Villiers in [for pre-season training] from The Sharks, who specialises in wrestling. Lots of schools are using him. We had four sessions with him.
“On Saturday, it was about getting contact fitness for the boys.
After a comfortable 45-0 win for captain Troy Young and his team, Dos Santos said: “I was very happy with our set piece and our attack shape off of our set piece and our scrums. That is our strength at the moment.
“We’re a bit rusty in other areas, but we’ll work on it, and those will come right with time.
The rustiness, Dos Santos said, had to do with players who hadn’t yet played together. Clifton, though, is not short of experienced 1st XV players. They bring back 13 players, the majority of whom were part of a very successful Independent Schools Rugby Festival side that went unbeaten, a feat matched only by St Andrew’s School, who, as luck would have it, host Clifton on 18 April in Bloemfontein.
“A lot of the boys have been involved in the way that we want to play and our team’s DNA and culture, which is quite nice,” Dos Santos said.
Touching on areas that need some improvement, he explained: “I thought our attack from second phase and third phase ball lacked structure at times. Our defensive coach wasn’t happy about some of those things. But we can work on them during the week to improve them.”
Results
1st: Clifton 45-0 Howick High
2nd: Clifton 28-12 Howick High
16A: Clifton 19-6 Howick High
15A: Clifton 50-0 Howick High
14A: Clifton 36-22 Howick High
HOCKEY
Clifton, Westville Boys’ High, and Helpmekaar Kollege met in a triangular at the 1st team, u16A, and u14A levels in Westville on the weekend.
Coach Calvin Price’s 1st XI showed up well, scoring wins over both Westville and Helpmekaar. They had a clean sheet against Westville, winning 2-0, while they maintained a similar two-goal margin of victory in a 3-1 win over Helpies.
The u16s won one and lost one, going down 0-2 to Westville and beating Helpmekaar by the same score.
Clifton’s u14A side beat Helpmekaar 3-1, but were soundly beaten by Westville, who claimed a 4-0 win.
The Clifton 2nd XI, meanwhile, had a busy weekend, taking on five first teams at Crawford La Lucia, where they won one, drew two, and lost two. All of their matches were tight, with none ending with more than a goal’s difference between the sides.
Results
1st: Clifton 2-0 Westville Boys’ High
1st: Clifton 3-1 Helpmekaar
2nd: Clifton 0-0 Port Shepstone High (Crawford La Lucia)
2nd: Clifton 0-1 Kloof High
2nd: Clifton 0-0 Crawford North Coast
2nd: Clifton 1-2 Curro Hillcrest
2nd: Clifton 1-0 Grantleigh
16A: Clifton 2-0 Helpmekaar
16A: Clifton 0-2 Westville Boys’ High
15A: Clifton Westville Boys’ High
14A: Clifton 3-1 Helpmekaar
14A: Clifton 0-4 Westville
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