There are schools that produce the odd Springbok, and there is King Edward VII School (KES). On Saturday 18 July, the Johannesburg school will have representation in two different Springbok jerseys, on two different continents, in matches that kick off almost on top of each other.
KES has been turning out rugby talent since 1902, but its most remarkable claim has nothing to do with volume. It is the only school in the world to have produced two World Rugby Player of the Year winners, Bryan Habana in 2012 and Malcolm Marx in 2025. That alone would be enough for most schools to build a museum wing around. KES is adding to the collection this weekend.
Marx starts at hooker when the Springboks host Wales at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban, kick-off 17:40. He matriculated from KES in 2012 and has spent the years since building the resume that made him the reigning World Player of the Year.
Alongside him in that starting XV is Vusi Moyo, a 20-year-old flyhalf who matriculated from KES in 2024 and was named among four uncapped players in Rassie Erasmus’s squad for the match. Moyo becomes the sixth Springbok produced by the school, and the first since Scarra Ntubeni in 2019.
There is a third KES name inside the senior camp this week, away from the field. Zintsika Tashe serves as the Springboks’ Operations Manager under Erasmus, part of the management team that keeps the wheels turning behind every Test. He has described King Edward VII as his own alma mater.
While that match is being played in Durban, the Junior Springboks are on the other side of the world defending their world title.
South Africa face France in the Junior World Championship final at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, kicking off at 18:30 South African time, close enough to the Wales Test that broadcasters had to shuffle channels to show both.
The Junior Boks are coached by Kevin Foote, another KES old boy, who is chasing a second straight title after last year’s win over New Zealand in Italy.
Captaining that side is Siphosethu Mnebelele, a KES-produced hooker who was handed the armband after regular skipper Riley Norton was promoted to the senior Springbok squad. Mnebelele has spoken openly about the influence Marx has had on his game, having trained alongside him in the senior Bok camp before departing for Georgia.
“One school, two Springbok jerseys, and a captain in Georgia who learned his craft watching Marx do it up close. That’s not luck, that’s a system producing exactly what it’s built to produce!” – 🎙️Jay
Utility forward Thomas Beling, also a KES product, rounds out the school’s representation from the Junior Boks bench in Tbilisi.
Six old boys, one school, one Saturday. Whatever happens on the scoreboard in Durban and Tbilisi, King Edward VII School has already made its point.
📸 Images via King Edward VII School
