Gerulaitis was a handy player, good enough to win the Australian Open, but he had a problem beating countryman Jimmy Connors. He lost to him 16 times in a row. But the 17th time he managed to beat Connors.
That led to him attending the ensuing press conference and first off delivering the great line: ‘‘Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row’’.
Good line. And one the Highlanders will sort of relate to. Although it is not on the scale of Gerulaitis’ struggles against Connors, the Highlanders have a record in Queenstown of which they will be none too proud.
The side will head to Queenstown on Sunday, depending on what is happening with the transtasman travel bubble after the latest Covid outbreak in Melbourne, to take on the Rebels in the third round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
The side has played three previous Super Rugby games in Queenstown and lost the lot. And the losses have been demoralising defeats — clashes in which the side just failed to turn up and was well beaten.
The side headed to Queenstown first in 2007 when it took on the Chiefs. It scored five tries and played well on attack but its defence was poor and the Chiefs won 38-34.
That was the last game of top-level rugby All Black lock James Ryan ever played. He badly injured his knee and never returned.
The next year the Highlanders returned to Queenstown with something of a new-look team and took on the Force.
It was a close game but the Force pulled away to win 36-28, scoring the last 16 points in the match. The Highlanders had the game in the bag but blew it in the final quarter of the match.
The team then headed to Queenstown in 2010 to again take on the Force. That ended in a demoralising 41-27 loss.
The team lacked composure and discipline as the Force ran away with the game. This was the beginning of the end for coach Glenn Moore who finished up with the Highlanders at the end of that season.
Crowds had also dropped off. The first game attracted about 11,000 but only 6500 turned up for the match in 2010.
The Highlanders have been back to Queenstown for some pre-season games since then with mixed success but never for a Super Rugby game.
The side though should fancy itself against the winless Rebels on Sunday. The Rebels have lost to the Blues and Hurricanes and sit dead last on the table, with no points, having scored 16 points and conceded 85.
The game kicks off at 2.35pm at the Queenstown Events Centre.
