There is plenty at stake at the Durban High School (DHS) Sevens, in week three of the Clover High School Sevens Series, with the hosts, DHS, and Northwood, the runner-up at the Champion of Champions last year, both chasing a place at the national U17 finals this year.
The U15 competition takes place on Friday, 28 August, and the U17 event takes to the fields the following day, on Saturday, 29 August.
Westville Boys’ High, the defending national champion, won the Glenwood Sevens two weeks ago and the Pionier Sevens last weekend. Their place at the Champion on Champions in Potchefstroom was already secured at Glenwood.
DHS, playing at home, will have set their sights on a similar outcome to 2024, when the Horseflies won both the U17 and U15 titles, beating Westville Boys’ High in both finals. Last year, Westville outplayed DHS in the U17 final, but DHS again lifted the U15 title.
With the Horseflies’ U15 side having won the Glenwood Sevens two weeks ago, where Westville Boys’ High was the only team to truly challenge DHS, they’ll be confident that they have what it takes to repeat as the champs on their home fields.
The spotlight, though, will be on the U17 event. When DHS and Northwood met at Glenwood, Northwood raced into a quick two-try lead before DHS roared back to win 26-17. Especially in Sevens, however, anything can happen, and that includes Westville being beaten by either team. The margins are fine.
It’s difficult to see another team challenging for the title, based on what was shown by the other sides at the Glenwood and Pionier Sevens.
Glenwood made the semifinals on their home ground, Dixon’s Field, but appeared to be a step behind the other three semifinalists. However, given the short amount of time teams had to prepare for the opening event of the series, they could have made big improvements in the past fortnight.
St Charles plays an entertaining game of Sevens, but they appear more likely to pull off a surprise result or two, rather than being able to challenge for the title.
Michaelhouse was off the pace at Glenwood, but they’ll bear watching. That’s part of the fun about the Clover High Schools Sevens Series: it’s hard to know what to expect, and ‘House could be a very different team on Saturday in Durban.
While DHS and Westville appear to be the frontrunners in the U15 section, they’ll face some strong competition.
DHS will be a strong favourite to win Pool A, where they face Pionier and the Griffins, Westville’s development side, but the remaining three pools are tough to call.
In Pool B, Michaelhouse and Westville should duke it out, with Northwood 2 completing the line-up.
Pool C is a toss-up between St Charles, Northwood, and DHS 2 due to the extraordinary depth of DHS’s U15 stocks. They had three U15 teams in action at the Glenwood Sevens. DHS won the Cup final, St Charles ousted DHS 2 in a tight Plate semifinal, and DHS 3 won the Bowl.
In Pool D, Maritzburg College and Glenwood should have too much firepower for Kuswag.
TEAMS
Pool A: DHS, Northwood 2, Bye, HS Vryheid
Pool B: Westville, Pionier, Michaelhouse, Urban
Pool C: Northwood, Kuswag, Bye, St Charles
Pool D: Glenwood, Midlands, Griffins, Newcastle
U17 FIXTURES
29 August
Pitch 1
Game 1: 08:20 – Glenwood vs Newcastle (D)
Game 3: 08:40 – Northwood vs St Charles (C)
Game 5: 09:00 – Pionier vs Michaelhouse (B)
Game 7: 09:20 – Glenwood vs Griffins (D)
Game 9: 09:40 – Kuswag vs St Charles (C)
Game 11: 10:00 – Pionier vs Urban (B)
Game 13: 10:20 – Glenwood vs Midlands (D)
Game 15: 10:40 – Northwood vs Kuswag (C)
Game 17: 11:00 – Michaelhouse vs Urban (B)
Game 2: 08:20 – Midlands vs Griffins (D)
Game 4: 08:40 – Westville vs Urban (B)
Game 6: 09:00 – DHS vs HS Vryheid (A)
Game 8: 09:20 – Midlands vs Newcastle (D)
Game 10: 09:40 – Westville vs Michaelhouse (B)
Game 12: 10:00 – Northwood 2 vs HS Vryheid (A)
Game 14: 10:20 – Griffins vs Newcastle (D)
Game 16: 10:40 – Westville vs Pionier (B)
Game 18: 11:00 – DHS vs Northwood 2 (A)
Solitaire Playoff
Game 19: 11:40 – 4th B vs 4th D (Pitch 2)
Cup Quarterfinals
Game 20: 11:40 – Pool A winner vs 2nd Pool D (Pitch 1)
Game 21: 12:00 – Pool B winner vs 2nd Pool C (Pitch 2)
Game 22: 12:00 – Pool C winner vs 2nd Pool B (Pitch 1)
Game 23: 12:20 – Pool D winner vs 2nd Pool A (Pitch 2)
Bowl Semifinals
Game 24: 12:20 – 3rd Pool B vs 3rd Pool C (Pitch 1)
Game 25: 12:40 – 3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool D (Pitch 2)
Plate Semifinals
Game 26: 12:40 – Loser 20 vs Loser 21 (Pitch 1)
Game 27: 13:00 – Loser 22 vs Loser 23 (Pitch 2)
Pitch 1
Cup Semifinals
Game 28: 13:00 – Winner 20 vs Winner 21
Game 29: 13:20 – Winner 22 vs Winner 23
Shield Final
Game 30: 13:40 – Loser 24 vs Loser 25
Bowl Final
Game 31: 14:00 – Winner 24 vs Winner 25
Plate Final
Game 32: 14:20 – Winner 26 vs Winner 27
Cup Final
Game 33: 14:40 – Winner 28 vs Winner 29
U15
28 August
TEAMS
Pool A: Pionier, DHS, Griffins
Pool B: Michaelhouse, Westville, Northwood 2
Pool C: St Charles, Northwood, DHS 2
Pool D: Maritzburg College, Glenwood, Kuswag
FIXTURES
Pitch 1
14:00 – Glenwood vs Kuswag (D)
14:20 – Westville vs Northwood 2 (B)
14:40 – St Charles vs DHS 2 (C)
15:00 – Pionier vs Griffins (A)
15:20 – Maritzburg College vs Glenwood (D)
15:40 – Michaelhouse vs Westville (B)
Pitch 2
14:00 – Northwood vs DHS 2 (C)
14:20 – DHS vs Griffins (A)
14:40 – Maritzburg College vs Kuswag (D)
15:00 – Michaelhouse vs Northwood 2 (B)
15:20 – St Charles vs Northwood (C)
15:40 – Pionier vs DHS (A)
Cup Quarterfinals
16:20 – 1st Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (Pitch 1)
16:20 – 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool A (Pitch 2)
16:40 – 1st Pool C vs 2nd Pool D (Pitch 1)
16:40 – 1st Pool D vs 2nd Pool C (Pitch 2)
Bowl Semifinals
17:00 – 3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (Pitch 1)
17:00 – 3rd Pool C vs 3rd Pool D (Pitch 2)
Pitch 1
Plate Semifinals
17:20 – Loser Cup QF 1 vs Loser Cup QF 2
17:40 – Loser Cup QF 3 vs Loser Cup QF 4
Cup Semifinals
18:00 – Winner Cup QF 1 vs Winner Cup QF 2
18:20 – Winner Cup QF 3 vs Winner Cup QF 4
Bowl Final
18:40 – Winner Bowl SF 1 vs Winner Bowl SF 2
Plate Final
19:00 – Winner Plate SF 1 vs Winner Plate SF 2
Cup Final
19:20 – Winner Cup SF 1 vs Winner Cup SF 2
- High stakes at DHS Clover High School Sevens Series event - 2026-08-26
- Multiple contenders lined up for Lilyfontein Sevens titles - 2026-08-26
- Westville Boys’ High dominates Pionier Sevens - 2026-08-23
