MHS is a renowned independent boarding school located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The school has a long and proud tradition of rugby excellence, with a strong emphasis on nurturing young talent and developing well-rounded rugby players who embody the values of sportsmanship, teamwork, and respect.
MHS has produced many notable rugby players over the years, including Pat Lambie, Ruan Combrink, Brad Roberts and many others. These players have gone on to represent not only the Springboks, but also other international teams, including Wales.
The school's rugby teams have also enjoyed great success over the years, with the First XV consistently ranked among the top schools in the country. The school has a strong rugby culture, with a dedicated coaching staff and state-of-the-art facilities that provide students with the opportunity to develop their skills and reach their full potential.
In summary, MHS is a school with a rich rugby legacy, renowned for producing talented rugby players who go on to achieve great success at both the school and international level.
The significance its played
In 1896 the school’s founder, James Cameron Todd, ruled that rugby was to be the major winter sport at Michaelhouse.
“Brain power has to be exercised and that by setting the
blood freely in motion, rugby, especially, is beneficial to the brain.” This was the rationale over 120 years ago; and whilst rugby is as popular as ever in Balgowan, it remains just one facet of the diverse sporting, academic, cultural, spiritual, and social spectrum that is MHS today.
Much of the history of the game of rugby in Natal can be
attributed to the serendipitously simultaneous arrival of rugby zealot AS Langley at ‘Maritzburg in 1896 and Todd’s foundation of MHS in Pietermaritzburg that same year.
Todd’s early appointment of Cambridge Rugby Blue, JCA Rigby, onto his staff cemented a rugby-playing tradition between the two schools which ensured the future of the game at schoolboy level in the colony.
Today, the school regularly fields twenty teams, and more, on any given match day. Passion for the sport is tangible in the halls and corridors on Friday nights before matches against old rivals like ‘Maritzburg, DHS, Kearsney, Westville, Glenwood, and Hilton. The warcries which rattle the old red brick buildings around the Main Quad the night before a Hilton/Michaelhouse derby will still bring goose-flesh to the arms of any misty-eyed Old Boy who remembers them.
"The Punisher! What the hell, man. He was incredible. And we weren’t prepared for him. He was on the profiles – because we had to study players before the game – but we didn’t think he was going to be that good".
— Irish Pundit Dillane over Ruan Combrink's famous try against Ireland