1927 — Tennis player Billie Tapscott creates a stir at Wimbledon by breaking from the norm and not wearing stockings in her first-round match against defending champion Kitty Godfree of England. Tapscott, who took a brown ape mascot onto the court for her debut in the grand slam, lost the first set 2-6, but proved tougher in the second set, which she lost 8-10. During the second set her mascot fell over, but she straightened it up before continuing play.
1958 — Bernice Carr beats American Margaret Varner 6-4 5-7 8-6 to win the women’s singles title at the London lawn tennis championships at Queen’s Club.
1968 — The Springboks, 1-0 up in the four-match series, draw the second Test against the British and Irish Lions in Port Elizabeth 6-6, the match being decided by penalties.
1974 — Down 0-1 in the series against the British and Irish Lions, the Springbok selectors bring in seven debutants for the second Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. It’s a disaster as the tourists run in five tries, two of them by flyer JJ Williams, to win 28-9. Among the new faces for South Africa is flyer Gerrie Germishuys, who, although being dropped for the next Test, would star against the Lions on their next tour to South Africa six years later.
1997 — Ernie Els wins his second straight tournament, shooting a 16-under-par 268 to defend his Buick Classic title at Westchester by two strokes. Els won the US Open the week before.
2000 — Helen Davies top-scores with 43 as the South African women make 151/9, but they lose the second ODI against England in Nottingham by nine wickets, defending a revised target of 91 from 21 overs.
2010 — Bafana Bafana beat France 2-1 at the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein, but it’s not enough to prevent South Africa from becoming the first host nation to fail to advance to the knockout stages of a World Cup. With Uruguay beating Mexico 1-0 in the other Group A match, Bafana had needed to beat the French by four goals to get through. And for a while it seemed possible after they were 2-0 up through goals by Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela, and France had been reduced to 10 men when Yoann Gourcuff was red-carded. Florent Malouda, assisted by Franck Ribéry, pulled one back for the visitors, who were in disarray after an internal implosion during which Nicolas Anelka was booted out the team. After the match, French coach Raymond Domenech refused to shake Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s hand, claiming the Brazilian had said France shouldn’t have qualified for the showpiece in the first place, because of Thierry Henry’s controversial handball that led to a winning goal at the expense of Ireland. Parreira denied having said that.
2010 — The Proteas and the West Indies play to a tame draw in the second Test of the three-match series in Basseterre. The two sides scored more than a combined 1,000 runs in the first innings.
2013 — Winger Bryan Habana and flanker Francois Louw score two tries each as South Africa beat Samoa 56-23 in Pretoria. It was the final match in a quadrangular tournament also featuring Scotland and Italy.
2024 — Right-wing Edwill van der Merwe scores a scintillating individual try on debut as the Springboks down Wales 41-13 in a one-off Test at Twickenham. Jesse Kriel, Makazole Mapimpi and Bongi Mbonambi also dotted down, with another two debutants, flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse and his replacement Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, slotting two conversions and one penalty apiece.
2024 — The Bulls lead the Glasgow Warriors 13-0 at halftime of the URC grand final at Loftus, but they lose the match 16-21. The visiting side had important South African assistance, being coached by Franco Smith and captained by Kyle Steyn, son of former president Nelson Mandela’s former bodyguard Rory Steyn.
2025 — Starting the third and final round six shots off the pace, Casandra Alexander fires a 10-under-par 62 course record to bag her maiden Ladies European Tour victory, taking the Czech Ladies Open at Royal Beroun by two shots. She carded two eagles on the final day, the second one being a chip-in on the final 18th hole for an overall 17-under 199.
2025 — Annerie Dercksen’s 21 not out is the highest score as the Proteas, reaching 113/6, lose the second T20 against the West Indies at Cave Hill by six wickets.
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