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MELBOURNE — The state of Victoria is not rugby country.
Its capital, Melbourne, is a sporting mecca of tennis and cricket, and there is a rugby league team – the Storm – but they almost never fill their stadium despite national titles.
The closest they really get to rugby that people watch down here is the far more violent Australian Rules Football, or as they call it, footy: of the 18 top-level footy teams in Australia, nine are based in Melbourne and another a short ferry ride away in Geelong. Rugby does not really get a look-in.
So when double Rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams made his way out to Court 6 at the Australian Open on Monday lunchtime, no one took much notice of him.
But they might have been surprised to see him sit down in the seats reserved for coaches, along with the rest of James McCabe’s entourage.
“I have known Sonny ever since I was a kid. We are really close, family friends. I just wanted him to come down,” McCabe explained.
“Sonny is like a brother to me. Sonny is amazing. Sonny being Sonny, he has all the experience being one of the best players ever to step on the field.
“His words of wisdom and everything is just… I’m very lucky.”
McCabe, 21, was born in the Philippines but grew up in Sydney and represents Australia. Up against a former junior US Open champion, McCabe was impressive and efficient in dispatching Martin Landaluce to record a first-ever win in a grand slam and did so in straight sets.
When Landaluce went off court for an elongated toilet break after losing the first two sets, McCabe wandered over to his corner, a typical spoiling tactic from a player down in a match. Something similar had happened in Adelaide when Benjamin Bonzi went off-court and left McCabe out on the court, worrying about the deciding set. He stayed in his chair, tightened up and lost.
This time around, Williams had a plan. The 21-year-old came over to where his team were sitting and stood chatting to his coach Gavin van Peperzeel and Williams, who took a knee next to him and kept him calm.
“They were just giving me advice because I think it was Bonzi in Adelaide, and I made a bit of… not a mistake but like inexperience,” McCabe added. “It was just learning from what I did in the past and not sitting down in the chair for five or 10 minutes. Getting up, walking around. There’s pressure. It’s a good stepping stone. I’m just grateful I got through today.”
Williams is nothing if not versatile. As well as representing his country with distinction in both rugby union and rugby league, he is a veteran of 10 heavyweight boxing fights.
He started his fighting career unbeaten in nine bouts before losing the national title to fellow Kiwi Mark Hunt and retiring from the sport.
More recently, the father of five has even started a social media enterprise focused on food, making cooking videos with his wife Alana.
McCabe is a kindred spirit. He grew up in a Sydney apartment complex with a swimming pool and a tennis court, learning to swim and play from an early age. By two he could rally with his Irish father Patrick, and it became clear he was a child prodigy in multiple areas. He became a national age group swimming champion, a Grade 6 pianist and later a master flautist too.
He actually gave up tennis at the age of 10 to take up a scholarship at school. For years, his day would start with waking up at 4am for swimming practice, followed by orchestra or choir, then school from 8.30am, including a music lesson in the middle, another ensemble after lessons, another swimming practice, before getting back at to do his homework at 9.30pm.
“Childhood was quite tough!” McCabe said. “But I got through it, and I think it definitely builds character and builds strength. I was a kid. I’m not saying I’m much older now. I didn’t know anything else. I didn’t know what anyone else was doing. That was my life.”
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