Ernie's Sports' Blog
Reds on Fire
I'll be very surprised if there's a more exciting Premiership match all season than the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday. It wasn't the perfect performance, but in a way the mistakes just added to the drama. This match basically had everything...including, happily, an injury-time winner from Michael Owen. 4 - 3 to United! 21 September
Springboks win the Tri-Nations
I'm going to enjoy writing this blog! The Springboks beat the All Blacks in a great match on Saturday to win the Tri-Nations for the third time. And it's the first time in more than half-a-century that we've beaten the all Blacks three times in the same year. The media back home in South Africa is going crazy for this Springbok team, saying it could be the best ever to wear the ‘green and gold'. It's hard to argue when you think we're ranked No.1, we won the World Cup in 2007, conquered the Lions in a three-Test series this summer, and now we've dominated the Tri-Nations. This is an awesome bunch of guys and I take my hat off to every one of them. 14 September
Rugby Matters
Since my last blog the Springboks won their fourth straight Tri-Nations match, this time against Australia in Perth making us the first team in this tournament to secure an away win. Australia were a much stronger team in the next game in Brisbane; that's been a tough ground for us over the years and it proved that way again as we went down 21-6. We haven't won there since 1971! Still, the fate of this Tri-Nations title is in our hands. We're leading the series by nine points and we need only one point against the All Blacks on Saturday to wrap this thing up. Meanwhile, despite a great win against the Bulls the previous weekend, my old team the Lions has lost five of its last nine matches in the Currie Cup. It's looking really tough for the playoffs this season and I think we need to seriously start winning more ball to make it through. 7 September
Beloved Reds Bounce Back
Manchester United bounced back from defeat at Burnley to thrash Wigan 5-0 away, then beat Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford. I didn't see that game, but I heard it was pretty intense. That's normal, though. I mean, these two teams are great rivals and there's always a bit of an edge whenever they play. I like that...so long as we win the match, obviously! 4 September
Ashes to Ashes
I don't think you have to be English or Australian to enjoy the Ashes. It's something that appeals to all proper cricket fans, me included. And I guess I have an added interest as several of the England players are looked after by ISM, the same management group that looks after me, so I've got to know them a bit over the years. I count myself an honorary England fan. Hey, I've got a house there, too! This has been another great series and as I write this, it's going down to the wire with the final deciding Test at the Oval. I'm in West Palm Beach, but the time difference won't stop me catching some of the action...and hoping for an England victory. 20 August
Mixed Start for Man United
My beloved Reds have made a mixed start to this season, with a 1-0 win against Birmingham and a 1-0 loss to Burnley, which was a bit of a shock to say the least. Football is never a straightforward game, though, is it? Burnley were fired up at home and we missed some chances in front of goal. Okay we've lost a few key players, guys like Ronaldo and Tevez, but we still have an incredibly strong team and we'll be hard to beat. I think Sir Alex and the boys will win their fourth straight Premier League title in 2009/10. 19 August
Springboks flying in the Tri-Nations
After back-to-back wins against the All Blacks and another against the Wallabies this week, the Springboks have a big lead in the Tri-Nations. We went for the conservative approach at home, playing to our strengths, and showed why we're the No.1 side in the IRB World Rankings. We've now got three fixtures to play in the away leg of the Tri-Nations Series, two against Australia, in Sydney and in Perth, then a final match against the All Blacks in Hamilton mid-September. They'll be tough matches, obviously, but we probably need only one win to seal the title for the first time since 2004. I think we'll do it and I know everyone at home does, too. 9 August
Lions bite back
Well, the final Test was another bruising encounter as expected....only this time the Springboks were on the receiving end! What a performance from the Lions. Man, they were awesome and they deserved this win, 100 per cent. Some critics have questioned the relevance of the Lions in this professional age, but for me it's one of the great spectacles in modern rugby and it really engages with the fans. And long may it continue. I'll certainly be supporting the Lions when they tour Australia in four years' time. 6 July
Springboks Bite Lions Again
These past couple of weeks, between the US Open and me playing my next tournament at Loch Lomond, have been a great chance for me to catch up on a few of my favourite sports. I played a lot of tennis when I was growing up and got to a pretty decent standard, so I love it when Wimbledon comes around. For me it's the best of all the Grand Slams and Liezl and I always make a point of going to watch at least one day's play. Centre Court is one of the great sporting venues. I also made sure I was in front of the television for the second Lions' Test. It was exciting stuff, with the Springboks scoring a last minute penalty to win the match and go 2-0 up and win the Series. Against any other team I'd have been gutted for the Lions, but against our Springboks...well, it was obviously a bit of a result! The Series outcome is decided but I expect the third and final Test to be another bruising encounter, to say the least! 2 July
Highs and Lows
This was a mixed week for South African sports' fans; the disappointment of a loss in the Twenty20 cricket semi-final against Pakistan offset by a Springboks victory in the first Test in Durban against the Lions. There were times when it looked like we had the upper hand in the cricket, but in the end we fell seven runs short of the target. It was a real shame, because after some near-misses in previous World Cups I thought this might be our tournament. As I said, though, the Springboks lifted our spirits. We were a little short of match practice, but it didn't show. We made a flying start and our pack was awesome. The Lions came back strong and will probably play better in the next Test. But after this win I reckon the Springboks will be even stronger still. 23 June
South Africa looking good in ICC World Twenty20
Cricket was the sport I loved the most when I was a kid and, to be honest, there were times when my dad had a real job getting me to focus on my golf. I obviously stay in touch with the game, though, and I'm enjoying watching South Africa's matches in the World Twenty20. We had a very comfortable win against Scotland in our first Group match, then a closer contest against New Zealand a few days later. I thought we looked impressive in our first game in the Super Eight Stages against England; the boys gave them a real old-fashioned drubbing at Trent Bridge that day (sorry to my friends back at Wentworth!). We then maintained our unbeaten record against West Indies at the Oval. Some of our guys really made hay on a wicket that looked like a batsman's paradise and it was good to watch. We've still got some big matches to play, but we've got a strong side with some great all-rounders, so I don't mind saying it's looking good for us. 15 June
Lions destroy my old home team
I'm generally a fan of the Lions, but it was a case of divided loyalties in the match against the Golden Lions at Ellis Park, Johannesburg. That's my home team; I've been supporting them since I was a kid. We hadn't had the best build-up to the match, though. We had a rough Super 14 campaign and the team was in a bit of turmoil after the coach got sacked. Even so, I wasn't expecting the Lions to destroy us like they did by 74 points to 10. That hurts, man! 4 June
SA Bulls maul NZ Chiefs to win Super-14
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a big rugby fan. I loved playing it when I was younger and I still follow the game closely. Over the years I've become friends with quite a few South African players past and present and, with the Bulls having a large Springbok contingent in its team it was great to see them win their second Super 14 title last week against New Zealand's Waikato Chiefs. And what a way to do it. The Bulls fell behind to an early try, but ended up winning by the incredible margin of 61-17, scoring eight tries along the way. I enjoyed every one, guys! 2 June
Man Utd lose Champions' League final
Obviously it was disappointing to see my beloved Reds go down 2-0 against Barcelona in the Champions' League final in Rome. I watched the game with a few friends at our house at Wentworth. We'd had Samantha's birthday party the day before and I guess I was hoping we'd have something else to celebrate, with Sir Alex and the boys lifting that big trophy again! Sadly, it wasn't to be. We gave away that bad goal at the start of the match and it seemed like we never recovered. A few of our key players maybe didn't produce their usual form, but overall we made too many mistakes. It was just a bit of an off-night, I guess. I know Sir Alex and the team would have expected better, but as he said after the game you have to give credit where credit is due. Barcelona was the better team on the night and they deserved to win. 28 May
