Our 1st Rugby Rugby team was scheduled to play against opposition from East London, namely Stirling High School and Cambridge High School.
The first match against Stirling High School was also our first home game for the 2025 season and proved to be one of our toughest games of the year so far but the boys managed to be put on a good performance and claim victory by 17-14.
Our second game was against Cambridge, Union dominated the early phases of the game but lack of discipline put us on the back foot and we couldn’t continue from where we left off from the previous game. Cambridge won the game by 27-24, a battle that was fought right up until the end of the game.
Hockey Report
Union’s 1st Team delivered a dominant performance at our home festival, winning all our pool games: – vs Lilyfontein: Won 6 – 1 – vs Langenhoven: Won 6 – 0 – vs Nico Malan: Won 3 – 0 – vs Clarendon 2nd: Won 10 – 0 Semi-final – vs Sasolburg: 0 – 0 (lost 3-2 in 8-sec shootout) 3rd/4th Playoff: – vs Fichardtpark: Won 3 – 2 Union finished 3rd overall.
The second team/Invitational team also took part in the Senior Hockey Festival from 28 March to 31 March.ย They faced some tough 1st team sides in their pool – three of the four teams in their pool placed in the Top 10 of the festival.ย The girls showed a lot of grit and resilience and fought back with a positive attitude in every match.ย Their results were as follow:
Vs Stellenbosch: 0-5 Vs Sasolburg: 0-8 Vs Victoria Girls: 0-6 Vs Brandwag: 0-3 Vs Claredon 2: 0-6 Vs ZastronL:4-0
Special mention must be made regarding their match against Sasolburg, who played in the final of this tournament. During half time the 2nd team had 7 goals against them. The girls decided on a new strategy, played like true Unionites and Sasolburg only scored 1 goal in the second half.
As Term 2 unfolds, weโd like to reflect back on the remarkable moments from Union High School’s 2025 ๐ฆ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ & ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐, held over the weekend of 28 to 31 March, marking its 36th edition.
This yearโs festival, which began its journey back in 1987 on the schoolโs campus in Graaff-Reinet, witnessed an impressive turnout with over 600 enthusiastic hockey and rugby players participating.
The 4-day celebration kicked off on Friday, 28 March, with a cocktail function held in the Tony Burrell Union. Despite starting the day with a torrential downpour, the evening transformed into a stunning spectacle as the sky cleared, providing a breathtaking backdrop for teams to mingle and connect on the sports field, enjoying the social camaraderie that is the essence of the festival.
Coaches and managers relished the opportunity to network in great company while savouring the delicious offerings supplied by the dedicated Union moms.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ. A heartfelt thank you was also extended to our sponsors, Bothaโs Garage and Astron Energy Eastern Cape, along with the devoted individuals working behind the scenes, whose efforts made the festival possible.
The following three days brought beautiful weather, allowing teams to take full advantage of the AstroTurf at both Union and Hoรซr Volkskool, while rugby enthusiasts cheered on the action unfolding on the Union rugby fields.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. While the hosting side had previously clinched the title, they faced a challenging match against Sasolburg High School, which ended in a nail-biting shootout that saw Sasolburg emerge victorious, ultimately placing the Union side third.
With the exception of the Sasolburg game, the Union girls managed to secure victories in all their other matches. They triumphed over Lilyfontein School 6-1, Hoรซrskool Langenhoven 6-0, Nico Malan 3-0, Clarendonโs 2nd Team 10-0 and Fichardtpark 3-2, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
On the rugby field, the Union 1st XV played two matches during the festival. Day 2 saw them victorious against Stirling with a score of 17-14, while the final match on Day 4 was a tough contest against Cambridge, resulting in a close loss of 24-27.
