After watching a program on Kyknet (Kwela) I learned that one of Loftus Versveld’s biggest heroes will retire at the end of this season. I feel that this is the biggest loss the Bulls could ever imagine. Come on Bully boys do it for the Manager. I read this old article and decided to share it here.

Wynie Strydom, Super Rugby’s veteran rugby manager, has one simple wish tonight.

“I pray we will win. If we do it will be one of the greatest days of my life.”

Strydom, who has managed the Bulls since 1997, has never heard his men sing a victory song in Christchurch and unless they return for a play-off against the Crusaders at AMI Stadium there will be no more chances.

After 17 years of managing the Bulls, Strydom, 61, will retire when the season ends.

As he rakes over a catalogue of rugby experiences, Strydom, who lives in Pretoria and until five years ago lived just a couple of minutes away from the Bulls’ home ground at Loftus Versfeld, will have a wealth of tales to call upon when he hosts friends around his braai.

He has travelled to Australasia 21 times, survived nine coaches and has never missed the Crusaders’ horses do their circuit during their pre-match routine.

“When those horses go around the field it is very intimidating.

“The players won’t see it because they are inside but I always walk out to see that,” Strydom says.

“When I see them I say to myself ‘the guy who started that with the horses they must give him a flipping medal’.”

A former Northern Transvaal halfback, who played 12 games between 1976-78, he rates former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick and Springboks halfback and friend Joost van der Westhuizen as among the greatest players he has seen.

Van der Westhuizen’s story has since taken a tragic turn for the worse. Several years ago the mighty halfback was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, a fatal illness, and last month Strydom attended his 42nd birthday.

“It is very sad. I promise you, you will get tears in your eyes if you were to see him now. A fit, energetic man and now he can hardly walk.”

Van der Westhuizen, who played in the Springboks side that beat the All Blacks in the 1995 World Cup final in Johannesburg, now struggles to communicate because of the disease.

“Me and him were great mates because we did a lot of stuff together,” Strydom said.

“I am not saying he was the best scrumhalf ever but he was the greatest fighter. He was one of those guys that if I had to pick some guys to go to war with, he would be one of them.

“He never stopped for 80 minutes.”

Watching Strydom as he sits among the Bulls reserves on the sidelines can be an entertaining experience.

He admits he can get “really tense” during matches, especially if feels his side are getting a rough deal, but when he felt the South African TV cameras were focusing on him too much he sent them a sharp message.

“I went to the TV crew and asked them to cut me out because I think I would have lost my job earlier than 62 if they focused on me all the time,” he said.

It is no surprise he declares the Bulls’ win over the Sharks in the 2007 final as one of his most cherished memories.

“We lost it and then we won it. If my wife was around I would say it was the second-best day of my life but she is not so I will say it was the best,” he laughed.

Watching the Bulls create history by beating the Blues at Eden Park last weekend also will take some forgetting.

The Bulls have always struggled with the Australasian legs of their tours – especially in New Zealand – the frosty mornings and dullish afternoons have often been followed by games being played during the freezing nights.

Playing at night has also been a sore point with New Zealand coaches who feel South African teams can amass four-try bonus points more easily because the conditions suit running rugby.

Broadcasting agreements, however, push their arguments to one side.

When Strydom walked on to the field ahead of that rare afternoon game in Auckland, he turned his face to the sun and thought of South Africa.

“I never thought winning at Eden Park would happen in my life time.

“I said to the guys it feels like being at Loftus. Playing during the day would help more South African teams, I think they would do much better here.”

http://www.jacarandafm.com/music/audioembed/wynie-strydom-and-jan-serfontein-on-the-complimentary-breakfast/