Mumm’s mad dash to see baby born

A piercing phone call in the dead of the night is rarely a good thing – but for Dean Mumm it triggered a mad dash on a life-changing day.

At 3.40am on Friday, Mumm was sleeping peacefully at the Wallabies’ training base in sleep Bath until he was woken up to a frantic call from his heavily pregnant wife Sarah.

She was in London, and had a short, sharp message to pass on.

“My water has broken and it’s on,” she said.

Those words set everything in motion, with Mumm immediately ringing Wallabies’ team manager Pat Molihan in order to source transport to London.

Within 20 minutes the pair were racing up the M4 on a two-hour dash to Chelsea Westminster Hospital so he could witness the birth of his first child – a baby boy.

“It was all about a bit of haze, early morning, but it turned into a bit of a frantic panic,” Mumm reflected.

“I got there smack bang in time, just in time for the delivery and to see him born.”

Making the period all the more remarkable was that Mumm went to sleep on Thursday night knowing he was going to become the 84th man to captain the Wallabies – an honour he will fulfil on Sunday against Uruguay at Villa Park, capping an extraordinary long weekend.

“You have to pinch yourself a little bit, just with the people who have done the job before, its an incredible honour and one I am very proud to have been given,” he said.

Mumm honoured his captaincy duties on Saturday, leaving his wife and son to head back to Bath where the Wallabies had their captain’s run.

He freely admits it has been a tricky time to get his head clear on all that has happened.

“It is all a bit of a blur,” he admitted.

“I haven’t had time to reflect on it. But that’s probably a good way to get through – just keep going.

“It is a huge game for us and it is an early game as well, so we have to get our heads around that as well.”

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