Selborne College

Rugby at Selborne College

Selborne began playing rugby in 1892 when it met Dale College of King William’s Town, in what remains an enthusiastic fixture to this day. As with most schools in South Africa, early rugby opponents were men’s teams and in the early days soccer had a grip on the imagination until rugby finally took over in 1912.

Now Selborne plays teams all over South Africa as one of the country’s best known schools, not only for its strength but also for the expansive game it plays and its spirit of sportsmanship.

In 1926 Selborne first played Grey High, which is still a big Interschools day each year as the schools get together for all manner of sporting and cultural activities.

In 1992 Selborne hosted a festival which included teams from England and Zimbabwe, as well as touring the UK. In 2002 a nationwide rugby competition for schools was introduced by Media24 and Selborne became the first winners when they beat Paarl Gim 11-10 in the final.

Dale College, of nearby King William’s Town, are rivals in chief, but there are also big matches with Grey High, Queen’s College in Queenstown and Grey College in Bloemfontein.

The following Old Boys have played for South Africa: Bernard Duffy, Innes Froneman, André de Wet, Ray Carlson, Keith and Mark Andrews, André Vos and Brent Russell.

Duffy also swam and played waterpolo for Border and was later the president of the Border Rugby Union. His brother Aubrey also played for Border.

The Andrews family, from up in the magnificent foothills of the Drakensberg, have had a big impact on Selborne rugby. Keith’s father, Kenny, captained Selborne in 1953, Keith in 1980.

Kenny’s brother Fish played for Selborne and had three sons who captained the college: Gary in 1981, Murray in 1983 and Mark in 1990. Mark was at one stage South Africa’s most capped Springbok of all time.