Going Nuts at Wimbledon

Saturday the 27th was for most South Africans a big day. It was the 2nd test between the Boks and the Lions. 12 Years ago it was horrible to be here at Wimbledon after we lost to the lions but I was confident that it will not happen again this year. After the win in the 1st test we got all fired up in the locker room about the 2nd test. From early on today there was a lot of trash talking between the South African players and the British players and staff at Wimbledon. With kick-off at 2pm local time I was shocked to find out that Wesley had booked practice from 1-3 for us. What was he thinking???? I made it clear to him that I was only available for an hour and then he was on his own. How could I miss this big game.

With the oldies event starting on Monday some of our stars from the past was also with us to support the Boks. In the north locker room we have our own corner called SPRINGBOK CORNER. 5-10 years ago we had between 12 and 18 South Africans playing but this year there was only 4 men in the doubles draw and 1 lady in the women's doubles. In 1997 there was 32 South African men and women competing at Wimbledon. We where all shocked when Schalk got the yellow card after only 30 seconds and thought this was it. Poor Kevin Ulleytt had to go and play mixed doubles and it was my job to text him the score during his match( You are not aloud to have your phone on during a match, but who cared this was the Lions against the Boks) I was so fired up that I forgot to text him. It is a pity that it took our coach 140 min to realize that Morne Steyn is the answer. I felt very sorry for Ruan because he is an awesome rugby player but not in the same class as Morne when it comes to goal kicking. It was so loud in the locker room during those last 10 min I wonder what the people on the outside was thinking. Johan Kriek, Danie Visser, David Nainkin, Jeff Coetzee, Kevin Ullyett, Roger Anderson , myself some Americans and Aussie totally went bananas when Morne made the final kick. Now that was BMT for you. Today proved again that you pick inform players and not players on there reputation. Heinrich Brussouw was brilliant.

I was mentally so drained after the rugby, but had to rush of to court 9 where Nicola Scholtz our top SA junior was playing against the no 4 seed. It was great to see his Mom and Dad there. His mom hate flying but made Nicola a promise when he was very young that if he played at Wimbledon she will be there, she kept her promise. He really played well but only experience cost him the match 67 64 75. Next it was Chanel Simmonds and she played great to win 64 62.

My JL's Mixed kids went back to SA tonight so it is very quite in the flat. Tomorrow is a rest day at Wimbledon and I can't wait to sleep it.