The 5th Kurland International Polo Test Match - South Africa v England - postponed due to bad weather …

Players representing South Africa and England at this exciting and hotly contested event were:
South Africa :
1. Selby Williamson (5)
2. Buster Mackenzie (6) (Captain)
3. Ignus du Plessis (4)
4. Gareth Evans (6) (Bk)
Total : 21
England :
1. Malcolm Borwick (6) (Captain)
2. Nacho Gonzalez (6)
3. Roddy Williams (6)
4. Nina Vestey Clarkin (3)
Total : 21
Despite waking up to the most glorious sunny morning on the day of the test match, the weather changed rapidly as a cold-front swept through the Eastern Cape, bringing torrential rains in it’s wake.
By mid-day sponsors had to make a decision whether or not to continue with the match and it was unanimously agreed that, for the safety of the players and horses, the match would have to be postponed.
Sponsored by BMW and UBS, as well as Avis, Kurland Hotel, Moet & Chandon, Skyy Vodka and Bang and Olufsen, the event is one of social highlights of the Plett season and the most important game on the local polo calendar – thus regardless of the postponement, various functions continued, namely the AVIS lunch to host all of the media and their celebrity guests, as well as the Skyy Vodka after-party, which continued until the early hours of the morning. Celebrity guests seen at the Polo included P.J. Powers, Brumilda van Rensburg, Rosie Motene, Lady Victoria Spencer (Aiken) and Claudia Henkel amidst others.
Happily the weather cleared overnight, enough to enable the teams to take to the field before England had to fly out of S.A. and on the 30th December the fifth Kurland International was finally played on the Baron Field at the magnificent Kurland Estate. Avid supporters of the Sport of Kings accompanied by picnic baskets and magnums of champagne turned up to support their team.
The match saw South Africa do battle with England in a formidable match of mallets. South Africa were keen to pitch battle against the strong England Team – to avenge their three previous losses ! The English team went down to South Africa (10 / 7) in a thrilling and closely contested match during which the South African team players - Selby Williamson, Buster MacKenzie (Captain), Ignatius du Plessis and Gareth Evans - demonstrated why they were chosen to represent the home team.
Ignatius du Plessis was judged the most valuable player and Buster MacKenzie scored the most goals of the match – namely 5 of the 10. Kurland Park saddled the best playing pony.
Kurland is regarded as the polo mecca of Africa and, says Kurland owner Clifford Elphick, “Our players and horses now have international status and the Kurland International is heading towards being rated one of the top test matches in the world.”
“Plett features prominently in all the international polo magazines,” says entrepreneur Clifford Elphick, who is the owner of Kurland and the mastermind behind the establishment of the Plett region as a polo mecca in Africa. “It’s regarded as the best kept secret of the polo world – a place with world-class facilities, 18 km of beautiful beaches and a great climate. Equally important, it’s a place where players’ families can enjoy themselves as well.”
Says Elphick, “Our aim is to host an annual series of polo tournaments – culminating in the polo international test – to give visitors to the Garden Route an experience of this exciting sport.”
Kurland is set in a 700 hectare estate just outside Plettenberg Bay on the Western Cape’s garden route. There are 4 boarded polo fields, a 50m x 100m Arena, fully equipped stables and veterinary clinic, a 1 km sand exercise track and paddocks for 300 horses.