It was this morning of the Euros in Lyon during the Semifinal stages when the Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal (Well, Portugal has been to a final before so it was 2004 (The same year that Athens hosted the Summer Olympics) that the last time Portugal (Who had hosted a tournament which featured the likes of the great Luis Figo) had played in the final and lost against Greece which is a miracle for the Greeks because they were doing the Leicester City way back then) beat his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale's Wales (Who made their successful tournament debut by topping Group B ahead of England and Slovakia before beating Kyle Lafferty's Northern Ireland in the round of 16 & Belgium featuring Kevin de Bruyne in the Quarterfinals) to go through to the final of UEFA Euro 2016 after winning the match by 2 goals to nil (Ronaldo scored the 1st goal while he created the 2nd goal for his former team-mate of Manchester United, Nani) but who will take on Portugal whether it's the world champions Germany (Led by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer permanently for Bastian Schweinsteiger) or the hosts France (Led by Spurs goalie Hugo Lloris) at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
It has been a rocky road start for Thomas Muller's Germany as they beat Ukraine in the opener before settling for the draw against the Robert Lewandowski (Who plays for German champions Bayern Munich) led Poland (Who beat Xherdan Shaqiri's Switzerland in the Round of 16 and lost to Portugal in the quarterfinals on penalties) then beating Northern Ireland (Who lost to Wales in the round of 16 match) to top Group C and qualified by taking on the Marek Hamsik's Slovakia in which they won in a convincing fashion then they had to take on Daniele de Rossi's Italy (Who knocked out holders Spain which featured Manchester City's David Silva in the Round of 16 after losing to Robbie Keane's Republic of Ireland in the final game of Group E) in the Quarterfinals but during the match, Arsenal's Mesut Ozil scored the 1st goal of the game before the Italians awarded a penalty through a Jerome Boateng (Who is Robert Lewandowski's team-mate) handball as defender Leonardo Bonucci equalized and after 90 minutes, the game went into extra time and both teams didn't get their 2nd goals so they went into penalties but in the end, Germany proved too strong against Italy to progress through to the semifinals taking on Paul Pogba's France which began their campaign with wins against Romania in the opener and Albania before drawing with Switzerland (Who lost to Poland on penalties in the Round of 16 & during the match against the hosts, the ball did however burst during a challenge between Griezmann and Valon Behrami) to top Group A to take on Republic of Ireland in the Round of 16 as they beat them by 2 goals scored by Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann to 1 before facing debutants Iceland who caused the big upset in the Round of 16 dismantling the Wayne Rooney (Who plays for Manchester United) led England 2-1 in the Quarterfinals and they thrashed them 5-2 with goals scored by Ozil's team-mate of Arsenal, Olivier Giroud who netted in twice, Paul Pogba of Juventus, Dimitri Payet and Griezmann for the hosts to advance through to the Semifinal stages of Euro 2016 as well as Kolbeinn Sigporsson and Birkir Bjarnsson for Iceland who are out of the competition.
And it's been 12 days since my cousin Paige sent me an email so she wrote about that she is great to hear from me and she is actually watching test match rugby at the moment so fingers crossed that they will win and she also wrote that she is a faculty administrator at open polytechnic and she is loving it which is good and she also wrote that she will read my blog when she gets the chance but she also wrote that she must bring her boyfriend Jarrod up to meet me in a couple of months and see my Dad and also the All Blacks 3rd and final test match against Wales under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium as Wales slumped to their heaviest defeat to New Zealand in 13 years as Beauden Barrett inspired the All Blacks to a 46-6 victory in the 3rd Test in Dunedin. First five eighth Barrett scored 26 points, including two 2nd-half tries, as the world champions swept aside the tired tourists to secure a 3-0 series whitewash. Dan Biggar kicked two penalties to give Wales an early lead at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, but it was all New Zealand thereafter as they blitzed the visitors with six tries. Ben Smith and George Moala scored in the first half before Dane Coles, Barrett twice and Israel Dagg in stoppage time completed the rout. The All Blacks showed 5 changes, including a debut for Highlanders blindside flanker Elliot Dixon at his home stadium. Biggar twice kicked Wales ahead in the opening quarter with penalties, the first inside three minutes and the second just seconds after Barrett briefly levelled. Barrett controlled the hosts' play but Ben Smith proved the danger. The pair combined for a counter-attack but Smith was held up by Rhys Patchell. Kieran Read attacked from the resulting scrum before halfback Aaron Smith, winning his 50th cap, switched direction to Ben Smith on the right wing. He rode the tackle of Hallam Amos to touch down for the opening try on 23 minutes. Barrett missed the conversion but swiftly kicked a penalty for an 11-6 lead. Wales' kicking game continued to hand the All Blacks plenty of possession and new centre Moala went close to a second. Dagg and Ben Smith burst clear but Moala was ruled to have lost the ball under the challenge of Liam Williams, who was injured in the process. Wales thought they had cleared the danger only for Dagg to mount another swift attack as he brushed past opposite number Patchell with ease. Brodie Retallick, Julian Savea and Aaron Smith kept the move going and Moala picked up and drove over from close range for the second try on 33 minutes. Barrett converted for an 18-6 lead that they held until half-time despite a strong Wales surge just before the break. Luke Charteris, Sam Warburton and Jamie Roberts all went close but, unlike in the final stages in Wellington last week, Wales could not find the scoring pass. New Zealand began the 2nd half at the same blistering pace, while Welsh errors meant they struggled to clear the danger. A forward pass by Jonathan Davies behind his own try line handed New Zealand an attacking scrum and Barrett crashed through for a try that he converted himself. Wales were given a glimmer of light when New Zealand were reduced to 14 men after Sam Cane was shown a yellow card early in the 2nd half. But Wales could not capitalise and the All Blacks struck next just moments after Cane returned. Barrett, now playing at fullback, raced onto Lima Sopoaga's long pass to beat Amos and Biggar to his second try. Hooker Coles burst through for the All Blacks' 5th try on 62 minutes but Sopoaga saw his effort ruled out for failing to ground the ball after Welsh replacement Ellis Jenkins spilled a lose-ball. Wales kept searching for a try but were caught in the third minute of stoppage time when Dagg raced upfield to complete a big win.
And in other international rugby news such as 6 Nations Grand Chelem champions England getting a clean sweep against the Rugby Championship champions the Wallabies at Allianz Stadium in Sydney as well as the Springboks in all of a sudden won the test series 2 - 1 against Ireland over in Port Elizabeth but the Super Rugby season is back in full swing (The matches were held in 6 different countries including Argentina, Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa) as the Chiefs moved top of the Super Rugby standings on Friday after they beat the Crusaders 23 - 13 in Suva (Ni sa Bula Vinaka eh? Which means greetings in Fijian) in a gripping New Zealand derby. 3 points adrift of their rivals before kick-off and with a worse points differential, the outfit from Waikato knew they had to deprive their opponents of any points if they could not claim the try bonus. And the former is what they managed thanks to a late penalty goal. James Lowe and Brad Weber scored the Chiefs' tries while Damian McKenzie kicked 13 points. Jone Macilai crossed for the Crusaders. The weather was atrocious in Suva for expansive rugby but such is the quality of the sides that the skill sets were outstanding, as the Fijian crowd enjoyed its first taste of Super Rugby. ANZ National Stadium was packed in what is hopefully their first of many matches. It was all the Crusaders for the opening 15 minutes but credit to the Chiefs who held firm on their own line before eventually an offence was spotted by referee Andrew Lees. Richie Mo'unga sent over the simple penalty on 19 minutes and the Crusaders deservedly led. Such is the class of this Chiefs outfit though that they only need a sniff and that was all it took when centre Seta Tamanivalu's lovely grubber through saw Lowe ground in the rain. McKenzie judged the wind perfectly to knock over the extras as suddenly the it was 7-3. The lead became 7 on the half-hour mark when Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor was penalised at the ruck and McKenzie did the rest. High class rugby kept coming until the break and it was the Chiefs who would increase their lead when a moment of magic from McKenzie saw him break and offload to Weber, who showed pace to score. At 17 - 3 this result would be enough to take them above the Crusaders. But credit to the pre-game Super Rugby leaders as they were not to be outdone late in the half, when a move started by Nemani Nadolo went out to the right where Jordan Taufua put the ball inside to Macilai for the finish. That made it a 17-10 deficit to cap an excellent half. The Chiefs thought they had their third try of the game in the 46th minute when Anton Lienert-Brown crossed after a breakout that involved replacement Sam McNicol and McKenzie. However the latter's foot was in touch so it was chalked off. In truth it deserved five points. Both sides continued to try their hand and refused to go into their shell as the contest reached a key period coming up to the hour, with only three points from the boot of McKenzie troubling the scorers. That meant it was 20-10, this after Aaron Cruden had been introduced. So with time ticking on the Chiefs knew their objective was to keep the Crusaders outside the seven-point zone. It looked they hadn't managed it when Mo'unga made it 20-13 from 25 metres out with six minutes remaining but when McKenzie responded with the last kick of the game, the result and top spot was secured with just two rounds to play.
The Brumbies made a winning return to Super Rugby after securing a deserved 43-24 victory over the Reds in Canberra (G'day eh?) & The Waratahs kept their play-off hopes alive when they cruised to a convincing 57-12 victory over the Sunwolves in Tokyo (Konnichi wa eh?).
The Hurricanes fought back from a seven-point half-time deficit to claim a 37-27 victory over the Blues in Wellington (Kia Ora eh?). In yet another superb advert for New Zealand rugby, both sides stayed true to their attacking roots, running the ball from all areas of the field and the result means the Hurricanes moved into second place in the New Zealand Conference standings, above the Crusaders who lost against the Chiefs in Suva on Friday. The Blues, meanwhile, are still at the bottom on the New Zealand Conference and look set for another season without play-off rugby. The opening half was a thrilling affair with both sides attacking at every opportunity and after Beauden Barrett and Piers Francis traded early penalties, it was the Blues who drew first blood via a Kara Pryor try in the 12th minute. This after Male Sa'u set him up with a strong run in the build-up, in which he showed great strength in shrugging off the attentions of Vaea Fifita before getting a pass out to the on-rushing Kara Pryor, who outpaced the cover defence before diving over. The Hurricanes didn't take long to reply, and five minutes later Reg Goodes burrowed his way over the whitewash from close quarters for his side's opening try. The home side replied with the first of two tries from Jerome Kaino. The All Blacks enforcer displaying great determination as he powered his way through a Barrett tackle close to the Hurricanes' try-line. 2 minutes later, an Ihaia West fumble inside his 22 was pounced on by Dane Coles, who kicked the ball ahead before diving on it and Barrett's conversion meant the sides were level at 17-17 by the 20th minute. Kaino then showed great pace as he burst through a ruck and set off on a 25 metre run before crossing for a deserved try. Piers Francis slotted the conversion which meant the visitors led 24-17 at half-time. Francis extended his side's lead with a three-pointer from the kicking tee, three minutes after the restart, but Barrett narrowed the gap with two penalties of his own which meant the deficit was reduced to four points by the 50 minute mark. Shortly afterwards, the hosts regained the lead when Vaea Fifita got over after Coles, Victor Vito and Vince Aso were prominent in the build-up. The next 15 minutes saw both sides giving their all in a bid to secure the result. It was the Hurricanes who managed to do that however when Fifita breached the visitors' defence in the 70th minute with a strong run, before going over for his second try which secured a crucial victory for his side.
The Stormers recorded a bonus point win as they beat the Rebels 57-31 in Melbourne as the visitors dominated the set pieces while the Cheetahs won 30-29 against the Force in Bloemfontein (Hallo daar eh?) after fighting off a courageous comeback from the Perth side and the Jaguares picked up only their third victory of the Super Rugby season on Saturday as they beat the Bulls 29-11 in Buenos Aires (Hola eh?).
The Highlanders kept in touch with New Zealand's high-flying teams with a 48-18 win over the Kings at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday. It wasn't pretty but the visitors got the job done with the try bonus point also secured thanks to a late onslaught that saw them cross at will. Earlier Matt Faddes had gone over for two tries while Dan Pryor and Jack Wilson also crossed before Patrick Osborne went over and Faddes added his third, with Aki Seiuli scoring at the death to add the gloss. Wandile Mjekevu and Steven Sykes replied for the Kings, who were spirited in defeat as the scoreline did not reflect how the game played out. It was an error-strewn first half in Port Elizabeth as only two tries were claimed, despite numerous chances especially for the visitors. Jamie Joseph had opted to name a largely second-string side for the fixture but he was forced to bring Lima Sopoaga into his starting XV after Marty Banks was injured in the week. They were still however without the likes of stars Aaron Smith, Waisake Naholo and Ben Smith. The Kings could have been in front in the seventh minute when Highlanders second-row Mark Reddish, making his 50th Super Rugby appearance, took out halfback Ntando Kebe at the base of a ruck. But Elgar Watts missed with his attempt as it remained 0-0 after a scrappy opening. Sopoaga made no such mistake in the 14th minute after Kings hooker Edgar Marutlulle was penalised for making a high tackle and then came a contentious moment as centre Shane Gates was yellow carded for dropping Tom Franklin on his shoulder at a ruck. It could have been a red. The Highlanders though made the most of their man advantage as sustained pressure led to Faddes going over from a standing start for 10-0. However, the Kings then had something to cling to in the closing stages of the half when Watts landed three points before Mjekevu crossed from a flat pass from Kebe. Unfortunately for the hosts, Watts could not add the conversion that would have levelled matters at the break. The Highlanders were forced into a change at half-time as Shane Christie suffered an injury with Dan Pryor replacing the skipper on the flank. And he was a tireless worker in the second period, but not before Faddes had claimed his brace on the left, making it 15-8 after 46 minutes. The aforementioned Dan Pryor was next to cross on 54 minutes from the back of a maul as suddenly the Highlanders were hunting the bonus point. But those hopes of a maximum looked to have been quashed when the Kings went over through Sykes, capping a lovely move that made it 20-18. Such is the quality of the defending champions though that they regrouped and launched a late onslaught, with tries from wing duo Wilson and Osborne wrapping up not only the victory but also the bonus point before Faddes raced over for a treble and Seiuli made it 48-18.
And of course the Lions (Which includes 2 danger men including captain Warren Whiteley as well as Springbok winger Ruan Combrinck) secured top spot in Africa 2 on Saturday after they beat the Sharks 37-10 in a one-sided clash at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
So that was Round 15 of the 2016 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 16 (Which is the penultimate round):
Blues Vs Brumbies: Eden Park, Auckland
Reds Vs Chiefs: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Lions Vs Kings: Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Crusaders Vs Rebels: AMI Stadium (Rugby League Park), Christchurch
Waratahs Vs Hurricanes: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Force Vs Stormers: nib Stadium, Perth
Bulls Vs Sunwolves: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Sharks Vs Cheetahs: Kings Park Stadium, Durban
& the Jaguares Vs Highlanders at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 16 of Super Rugby 2016.
And finally I also went to the unveiling on Saturday which is about both Nan's grave and garden but 2 days ago it was Poppa's birthday and we had dinner there as well as dessert then we had a chat to him but today Me & Pops went to the garden centre to pick up some stuff for the garden splash centre to go on a warm pool then a cold pool before I went on a rowing machine and after that we went to 15A kells avenue to do our jobs before we went to Caroline's for lunch because I had a steak there with chips and salad and after that we went back to 15a Kells Avenue to do our jobs for Nan's garden for several minutes before we had our last card challenge which I always win and then after that, we had a dessert there before we went to New World to get the meal deal which is pasta as well as the cold meat and Clausthaler's and guess who I saw, I saw Leon Benbaruk my good old mentor and we had a short chat to him about the Euros as well as Sophie (That Malaysian chick straight outta Penang) coming here next week because I will be seeing him and Hanne (That good old Danish Terminator) next week when we have dinner x lunch before heading back home to do my blog which I am writing right now.
P.S. And I would like to say Hi to Poppa's sister Kathryn as well as her partner from between Bristol and Portsmouth Ken + Kathryn's children Gemma, Huia & Ben as well as Gemma's daughter Rosalie (She was named after a character from the movie Twilight). And it is only 30 days til the Rio Olympics so I am looking forward to this but let's hope that all water events including kayaking, rowing & sailing could be cancelled because of water pollution being caused from it.
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