On the 2nd day of November (AKA Movember because it is the Moustache month), the reigning World Champion All Blacks began their tour of duty starting with Japan in Tokyo where 4 new All Blacks made their test debuts (The players where Dominic Bird, Frank 'The Tank' Halai, Jeff Toomaga-Allen (The guy who replaced the injured Joe Moody) & one of Sam Whitelock's brothers, Luke) and the 1st time that both teams have played in the Land of the Rising Sun & outside of the Rugby World Cup (They previously met on both occasions, 1 in 1995 where New Zealand pounced the Japanese in South Africa 147 - 15 & the other in 2011 where the AB's pummeled them again 83 - 7 in the Tron) but in the end, the All Blacks were indeed the dominating factor in the match, beating Japan 54 - 6 (Well, I call that a low-scoring affair) with tries scored by young winger Charles Piutau (Who got both by scoring his 1st & 2nd international test tries, but his form had been improving by now), another young openside flanker Sam Cane followed by winger turned centre Ben Smith, then captain Richie McCaw before lock Jeremy Thrush crossed over for his 1st ever test try then another young winger Frank Halai did get his try on debut before fly-half/fullback Beauden Barrett did however score (He was indeed a prolific try scorer such as the ones he did against both France & South Africa).
And after that, the AB's have certainly booked a long-haul flight to France from Japan but one of the key players was in trouble as Julian Savea had fallen ill because he was battling with influenza, causing him to miss that match against Les Bleus meaning that Charles Piutau had taken Savea's place but the rugby community was in mourning as former Samoa captain Papali'itele Peter Moemoe 'Fats' Fatialofa (One of the 1st Kiwi based players to play for Samoa) had passed away from a cardiac arrest back in Samoa where he was supposed to do a radio interview but several thoughts & prayers where laid down as well as tributes being paid about him (Remember, he was the keeper of the Ranfurly Shield when Auckland won the shield as well as leading his beloved Samoa team by making it to the quarterfinal stages in 1991 following a shock upset against Wales 16 - 13 back in Cardiff, launching a new Pacific Island Rugby era).
But enough with the Peter Fats tribute as the All Blacks (Who wore the white jerseys when France, who wore blue, have gone back to it's original, darker roots) took on France in a rematch of the 3 match test series back in June at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, but after 80 minutes, NZ were just too strong by beating the French 26 - 19 & retained the Dave Gallaher Trophy but during the match both teams have traded penalties only in the 1st half until in the 2nd half, where Charles Piutau did get the 1st try of the game & of course, in the 64th minute, Kieran Read (Arguably the best No.8 in world rugby) did touch it down after getting the speed but France came so close when Brice Dulin got the try for France & Morgan Parra provided the conversion but the oh my goodness moment in the 80th minute when the All Blacks have been awarded both a penalty & the game after a French player had been caught using his hands in the scrum (Just like France had killed the game in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final when South African referee Craig Joubert handed the All Blacks both the penalty & the World Cup after 24 years of get rich & die trying).
And after the French game, the All Blacks head over to England to gain revenge against them by launching their Twickenham assault (But dont worry, we did play down rumors especially the AB's coach (Steve Hansen) that we are quite frankly, the best in the world rugby business), and we did, by winning the game 30 - 22 & regain the Hillary Shield (From the English) after a close-quarters battle for 80 minutes (Great tries being scored there by Julian Savea (He was back after overcoming with the flu when he was falling ill): not once (2 minutes post kick-off) but twice (In the 61st minute) & Kieran Read (He did manage to score just like he did against France) & hey, guess what! Dan Carter not only becomes the 5th All Black ever to reach 100 tests, joining the likes of captain Richie McCaw (The 1st All Black centurion to do so because that was during the 2011 RWC tournament), Mils Muliaina, Keven Mealamu & Tony Woodcock; but unfortunate there for Carter as he gets replaced by Aaron Cruden after spending 25 minutes of his 100th rugby test of a lifetime.
And now, onto the All Blacks last assignment as they take on the luck of the Irish whip & if NZ win, that will be the 1st time ever this has happened in the professional era of rugby union to end 2013 undefeated (14 wins in a row this year), but the All Blacks was on the recieving end after the match had been started already as Irish scrum-half Conor Murray scored the 1st try of the game (Jonathan 'Jonny' Sexton did convert after the try but I was like: Oh man, I cannot believe this) as the Irish are looking for an upset since they never won against the All Blacks (Who lost twice in Ireland, 1 against Munster in '78, the other: Australia during the RWC semi in '91) for like 108 years, but this is not looking good for NZ as Ireland score another try by the hooker Rory Best as the home fans went wild but the men in green are on top 14 to nil after a Jonathan Sexton conversion but the All Blacks were thinking of a comeback & oh, this is terrible stuff for New Zealand as Rob Kearney intercepts the ball after Israel Dagg lost the ball forward, all the way to the try line (And yeah, one of the commentators Justin Marshall suspects that the All Blacks were in trouble meaning that they won't catch Kearney for that one but let god sort'em out) but the only disappointment for the Irish was Sexton's conversion attempt struck the posts but nek minnit, the All Blacks managed to come back in style when Julian Savea had scored before Cruden had to make a simple conversion by bouncing back from a dreadful start moments before Ireland had been awarded a penalty after Wyatt Crockett was the one who took a player down as Jonny Sexton did go for goal stretching their lead 22 to 7 before halftime.
2nd half got underway but in the 52nd minute, Ireland got penalised for obstruction as Devin Toner gets Crockett out of the way by handing a simple kick for Cruden (Ireland still lead by 12 after a successful penalty attempt) & in the 64th minute, prop Ben Franks did get it down for the try despite the Welsh ref Nigel Owens blows the whistle, thinking that Ben Franks got it down so the referee tells the touch judge that it is a try so Owens says that the try was good moments before Aaron Cruden gets the conversion while the men in green were attempting to charge down a conversion attempt but in the dying stages of the game (Well this is more like the Kiwis beating England in the Rugby League World Cup Semifinal at Wembley) when Ireland led 22 - 17, as the relentless attack from New Zealand as Dane Coles makes the pass to Ryan Crotty to tie the game, but WOW!! what a pass & the match winning try but they would have to go the video for that because that looked forward as the TMO thinks that he told the referee to award the try because the pass looked a bit fine as the ref blows the whistle for the try but a conversion kick to come for the 100% record as Cruden misses the conversion attempt but he may get another go at it (Because that is according to the rules) as Ireland went early as they attempted to charge it down but Cruden did get a 2nd chance as the conversion attempt is over but that's it, it's all over as the All Blacks beat Ireland by 2 points (Well, we almost tasted an Irish Curse if Ireland won) to end the year undefeated (The All Blacks unbeaten 2013 season is way more better than the RWC 2011 victory) & for the 1st time ever, this has been happened in the professional era of rugby union (Yeah, the All Blacks did join the likes of Lorde, Lydia Ko, Scott Dixon & Steven Adams as part of a Kiwi non-sporting/sporting success for 2013 (Not for both Emirates Team NZ & the All Whites (Too bad they lost to Mexico meaning that we have to wait until the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Mother Russia) & hopefully the Kiwis if they lose) but actually Lorde is a musician), so enter the new Invincibles (Oh yeah but we are indeed...history seekers).
PS: Requiescat In Pace Fats
(1959 - 2013)
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