Blackrock Rugby Festival
The Blackrock Rugby Festival (also known as the St. Mary's Blackrock Festival or simply Blackrock), is an annual school's rugby union competition held at St. Mary's School, Nairobi, Kenya.[1] It is claimed to be the biggest high school tournament in East Africa.[2] The first tournament took place in 1983, and also featured a club rugby competition. The tournament is used by the Kenya clubs to scout for new and upcoming players. Recent tournament MVP's include Allan Hicks, Ian Simiyu, David Ambunya and Biko Adema.
St. Mary's School was founded in 1939 and, for many years, was run by the Holy Ghost Fathers of Blackrock College in Ireland, hence the name of the tournament. St. Mary's School uses the same badge as Blackrock College and their rugby team also wear the same blue and white hoops as their sister institution. A further reminder of the strong Irish influence on the school is the name of their playing fields where the tournament takes place, Lansdowne Road (named after the Irish national rugby stadium in Dublin).
Tournament Format
The tournament is played round-robin style in groups followed by a knock-out finals stages, the matches last twenty minutes.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the Quarter Finals of the Main Cup and losing quarter finalists play for the Plate. Third place teams in each group advance to the Bowl playoffs. In years where there are four teams in each group, the fourth placed teams play off for the shield.
- For all mathces before the final, points are given as follows:
- A try is automatically 7 points and no conversion is taken.
- A penalty or a drop kick is 5 points.
- For the final, all normal rugby union rules apply.
Entrance for spectators is free and the festival frequently gathers a crowd of 2000 noisy and brightly attired spectators.
2011 Tournament
The 28th tournament, the most recent one, took place on Saturday 21st May 2011. The boys' teams were:
Pool A - Saints I, Le Pic School, Ofafa Jericho
Pool B - Bandits I, Hana, Mutuini
Pool C - Upper Hill, Muhuri Muchiri, Makini School
Pool D - Hillcrest Secondary School (Nairobi), Sunshine Secondary School, Uhuru
Pool E - R.V.A., Makongeni Secondary School, Saints II
Pool F - Nairobi School, Dagoretti, Alliance
Pool G - Mang'u High School, Moi Forces Academy, St. Christopher's School
Pool H - Lenana School, Braeburn High School and Peponi School combined, Rosslyn Academy
Knockout Stage results
Bowl Trophy
Plate Trophy
Main Cup
Previous Tournament Winners[3]
Main Cup
Plate Trophy
Bowl Trophy
References
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| Schools Rugby |
- Blackrock Rugby Festival
- Prescott Cup
- Damu Pevu Shield
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| Related articles |
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