Well, today...Pops (Well Pops & I went to Vision's on Wednesday for lunch), Jansen & I went to Caroline's for lunch where I had nachos & I had chocolate stack for dessert because it was a great day compared to yesterday where Pops, Jansen (I had a selfie with him today along with Cathey & Paige, Sophia, Gemma, Ben & Huia) & I went to Funky Duck cafe before we went to Twin Kilns & Bricksticks furniture at 18A Georgetti Road in Bastia Hill then to the glass factory at 21 Kings Road in Gonville then we went to Ivan Vastivar at 7 Rangiora Street in Castlecliff before going to the Springvale Garden Centre for lunch where Jansen & I had that Hawaiian burger before we went to Singos Studio then to the Whanganui spinners & weavers at the Jane Winstone retirement village just before we went back home where I had to do the vac blowing before those people get here in time to have drinks & nibbles at Nan's memorial garden before going to the buffet dinner at Red Lion Inn in which I enjoyed the most.
And now onto the season opening round of the brand new 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season which is the Australian Grand Prix where 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany in the Ferrari (Although they have never won a race since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix which ran under lights) winning the Grand Prix (That's the 43rd of his career) ahead of 3 time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) in the Mercedes who finished ahead of his new teammate Valtteri Bottas of Finland completing the podium so here's the news report about it:
Ferrari proved that their pre-season testing form was no fluke on Sunday, as Sebastian Vettel soundly beat Lewis Hamilton to win the 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton’s new Mercedes team mate, Valtteri Bottas, completed the Albert Park podium.
After shadowing pole sitter Hamilton throughout the race’s opening stages, Vettel leapfrogged the silver car at the first round of stops. From there the German never looked back, taking the chequered flag almost 10 seconds clear to clinch Ferrari’s first win since Singapore 2015, with team mate Kimi Raikkonen 4th.
Hamilton won the start, leaving Vettel to chase him, but the Mercedes had consumed its ultra soft Pirelli tyres after 17 laps, whereas Vettel managed to get his to the 22nd lap before making his sole pit stop.
Hamilton ought still to have been able to regain the lead, but he came out of the pits behind Max Verstappen’s 5th placed Red Bull, and simply could not pass it despite running on fresher rubber. Thus Vettel was able to make his stop and emerge still in the lead, to the chagrin of Mercedes.
Thereafter, there was no stopping Ferrari, who made up for fumbling what should have been victory here last year by setting out their stall for all to see.
Hamilton did what he could, while coping with what he thought might be a floor problem and some intermittent power surges, which meant he also had to keep an eye on team mate Bottas who, having fallen well behind the two leaders in the opening stages, was coming back strongly in the second half of the race.
In the end, though, there was no way either could challenge the red car, as Ferrari scored a hugely important victory which ushered in the new era of F1 in the most popular way, as far as many fans round the world were concerned.
Raikkonen never gave the top three a moment’s concern and finished a distant and uncompetitive 4th, challenged at one stage by Verstappen until he woke up and set the fastest lap on the penultimate tour.
The ‘unretired’ Felipe Massa was a likewise lonely 6th for Williams as Sergio Perez just kept his Force India ahead of a charging Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso, and the Spaniard’s Russian team mate Daniil Kvyat.
Tenth place fell to Esteban Ocon after a heady dust-up with Fernando Alonso, who had kept his uncompetitive McLaren in the final points-scoring position for lap after lap until a suspension problem enabled both Ocon and the Renault of a closing Nico Hulkenberg to pass him in one corner on the 52nd lap.
As Alonso retired, Pascal Wehrlein stand-in Antonio Giovinazzi made an excellent F1 debut with Sauber to take 12th place ahead of a struggling Stoffel Vandoorne, who at least finished in his McLaren MCL32.
The other retirements included the Haas cars of Romain Grosjean, who fell from 7th with suspected engine failure, and Kevin Magnussen who crashed with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson on the opening lap and later suffered suspension failure; Ericsson, whose engine broke; Daniel Ricciardo, who joined the race on the second lap after starting from the pits following a sensor problem on his way to the grid which jammed his Red Bull in 6th gear, then went out with suspected engine failure; Jolyon Palmer whose Renault had persistent brake problems; and Williams rookie Lance Stroll, who jumped from 20th to 14th on the opening lap but later suffered brake problems too.
Vettel thus leads the drivers’ points table with 25 points to Hamilton’s 18, Bottas’ 15, Raikkonen’s 12, Verstappen’s 10, Massa’s eight, Perez’s six, Sainz’s four, Kvyat’s two and Ocon’s one.
Ferrari head the constructors’ stakes with 37 points to Mercedes’ 33, as Red Bull have 10, Williams eight, Force India seven and Toro Rosso six.
And what do I think of the Grand Prix, I proved them wrong as Mercedes were the strongest in both the 1st 2 practice sessions & qualifying (My favorite part of the session) despite Ferrari are going to be faster only in the 3rd practice session & I was backing Hamilton to win both the race & the title but when Vettel rejoined the lead from the pits during the race, I was so disappointed about it because both drivers were going to do a 2 stop strategy (I don't like Vettel at all from now on so I used to be a fan of him) but they sticked to plan A which is a 1 stop strategy so both drivers backed off plan B after all.
And here's the points standings for both the drivers & constructors but 1st here's the drivers standings:
1st: Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari), 25 points
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes), 18 points
3rd: Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes), 15 points
4th: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari), 12 points
5th: Max Verstappen (The Netherlands, Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer), 10 points
6th: Felipe Massa (Brazil, Williams Mercedes), 8 points
7th: Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India Mercedes), 6 points
8th: Carlos Sainz (Spain, Toro Rosso), 4 points
9th: Daniil Kvyat (Russia, Toro Rosso), 2 points
10th: Esteban Ocon (France, Force India Mercedes), 1 point
And then the constructors to wrap up the Formula 1 report:
1st: Ferrari (Italy), 37 points
2nd: Mercedes (Germany), 33 points
3rd: Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer (Austria), 10 points
4th: Williams Mercedes (Great Britain), 8 points
5th: Force India Mercedes (India), 7 points
6th: Toro Rosso (Italy), 6 points
And finally onto round 5 of Super Rugby when the unbeaten Crusaders pipped the Western Force to take over the lead of the New Zealand conference from the Chiefs so here's a news report about that incredible game:
The Crusaders moved top of the New Zealand Conference on Friday as they picked up a 45-17 triumph over the Force in a damp Christchurch.
Digby Ioane, Matt Todd, Scott Barrett, Luke Romano, Codie Taylor, David Havili and Ben Funnell scored their 7 tries as the 7 time winners made it 5 wins from 5 to jump above the Chiefs, who this week have a bye.
The Force crossed twice in the game, through Alex Newsome and Chance Peni, and despite a spirited effort were well beaten in the end.
The Crusaders came out firing and didn't take long to make an impact, scoring the 1st of 4 1st-half tries after just 3 minutes. Ioane was the scorer after Mitchell Drummond's smart break and pass allowed the right wing a simple job of diving over under the uprights.
Jono Lance cut the lead off the kicking tee four minutes later but the Crusaders got over again on 16 minutes when returning flanker Todd showed intelligence to ground the ball on the base of the post. With Mitch Hunt again having a simple conversion, the margin was 11 points.
At this point it looked as though the Crusaders were set to run away with matters. But then a stray pass from Todd was gobbled up by wing Newsome and he raced to the uprights, thus reducing the arrears to 14-10. Even the Force would admit to being fortunate to be that close.
Normal service was resumed for the hosts in the next 10 minutes as 1st blindside flank Barrett barged his way over from close range and then lock Romano spotted no offside due to the ball being over the Force try-line and duly dived on it. That left the Crusaders 28-10 up.
The Force though would end the half strongly and were rewarded for their efforts after the siren when wing Peni got over to make it 28-17.
After the break the Crusaders set about putting the bonus point beyond doubt and on minute 50 they had it in their grasp once again, with hooker Taylor at the back of a driving maul on the right side of the field. Hunt was unsuccessful with the conversion but the lead was 15.
The wet weather wasn't helping the match as a spectacle at this point, as the Force looked to turn the screw at scrum time. They knew that scoring their third try would give them a good deal of hope of claiming at least a losing bonus point from a difficult Super Rugby venue.
Helping their cause was the referee Rohan Hoffmann's decision to send replacement prop Tim Perry to the sin-bin for repeated infringements.
They came agonisingly close to crossing on 66 minutes when a quick tap from half-back Ryan Louwrens led to Luke Morahan almost collecting over the line. But the full-back couldn't hold on and one felt that maybe was the Force's last real chance to set up a grandstand finish.
So it proved as a yellow card for Force flanker Isi Naisarani, which was somewhat harsh, preceded the Crusaders getting into the 22 where full-back Havili squeezed over to make it 40-17 with the conversion.
That wrapped up the try bonus-point for the hosts and there was still time for one further try as replacement hooker Funnell went over off the back of a driving maul to make it seven crossings in this simple victory.
And the Waratahs end their 3 match losing streak with a victory right to the death against the hopeless Rebels outfit in Melbourne (Where the Grand Prix was held at Albert Park) while the Blues return their winning ways by thumping the Bulls 38 - 14 with another news report:
The Blues ended a run of 3 straight losses as they claimed a 38-14 bonus-point win over the Bulls in North Harbour on Saturday.
A much-improved 2nd-half effort saw them cross 5 times to add to Augustine Pulu's early effort as they get their second victory.
Matt Duffie grabbed a double with Ihaia West, Matt Moulds and Melani Nanai also crossing for the hosts, with the Bulls' scorers being Lizo Gqoboka and Rudy Paige as they lose their 3rd game of the Super Rugby season.
Errors from both sides created a scrappy opening half in North Harbour in a low-scoring 40 minutes which saw the game tied up at 7-7.
It had all started so promisingly for the Blues though when dangerous half-back Pulu finished off a lovely exchange down the left sideline involving full-back Michael Collins and wing Nanai. With fly-half Piers Francis knocking over the conversion it was a seven-point advantage.
But the Bulls, who claimed a 1st win of the campaign last week against the Sunwolves, hit back on 18 minutes when a brilliant touch-finder from first five-eighth Handré Pollard took them into the corner. Following an unsuccessful lineout drive, loosehead Gqoboka crossed and it was 7-7.
There was to be no further score until the 2nd-half though as those errors - and the fact the Blues 1st snubbed a kickable penalty in favour of heading to the corner and then Francis missed off the tee soon after - meant it was a fractious opening 40 minutes at QBE Stadium.
The 2nd half was much better in terms of taking their chances from the Blues and it took just 5 minutes for them to cross for their 2nd try, with a lovely offload out the tackle from in-form full-back Collins seeing Duffie race over from 20 metres out. Francis made it 14-7.
11 minutes later that cushion was stretched to 12 points as a well-weighted cross-kick in the Bulls red zone from Francis found Duffie, who was over for a simple try.
The missed conversion was Francis' last act as West replaced him at first five-eighth and relished the closing stages.
Despite being a man down when flanker Jimmy Tupou was yellow carded for a neck roll which is deemed illegal under the strict high tackle guidelines, the Blues broke loose with West spotting a gap in the 22 and promptly slicing through it.
That pushed the Blues into a 24-7 lead and also put the bonus point on the board with 13 minutes remaining.
The Blues eyed more though and made sure of the maximum haul with further crossings from replacement hooker Moulds and wing Nanai adding the gloss to a comfortable win that puts them on 11 points from 5 games.
And the Highlanders get their 3rd win of the season against the Australian conference leaders the Brumbies by making 2 in a row at Canberra with another news report:
The Highlanders came from 10-0 down to battle past the Brumbies 18-13 in their Super Rugby meeting in Canberra on Saturday.
It wasn't pretty or entertaining as a contest but for what is only their second victory of the season, the Highlanders won't care about that as they make it 3 successive triumphs against the Brumbies over recent seasons.
The Highlanders scored two tries as Sio Tomkinson and Aki Seiuli dived over, with Marty Banks kicking 8 points for his side.
In reply the Brumbies could only muster a single try, through Chris Alcock, as they get a losing bonus point and remain Australia's top seed.
It was a low-scoring 1st-half in Canberra as the Brumbies looked to grind down their opponents, who have been out of sorts this season.
Going into the match the Highlanders had won just one of their 4 games while the Brumbies were two from four, with both not yet firing.
It showed in the early sparring as neither seriously troubled their opposition's whitewash, with only a Hawera penalty on the board after 26 minutes of action. Those 3 points came in the 15th minute after an offside at a ruck, he made no mistake from 40 metres out.
Things were to get a whole lot better for the home team in the 27th minute when a clever lineout move saw Alcock dummy to attack open before turning to the blindside of the set-piece, fending and showing good pace to cross. That made it 10-0 to the Brumbies after the conversion.
The Highlanders, missing several players due to injury, desperately needed something before half-time and fortunately for them they scored a try in the 39th minute following a sustained period of pressure in the red zone.
The try came from 1st-phase ball off a scrum, with slick passing from Aaron Smith and Richard Buckman seeing wing Tomkinson go over on the right. Fletcher Smith was unable to add the extras.
After the break the contest continued in its knock-out feel as only a penalty apiece from Hawera and Highlanders replacement pivot Banks - both for offside - troubled the scorers until the 63rd minute. At 13-8 it remained anyone's game as both coaches opted for fresh legs.
Crucially the Highlanders got the next points and in truth it was gift-wrapped for Banks from the tee as Lolo Fakaosilea's late hit on half-back Smith was right in front of referee Marius van der Westhuizen. That made it a 2 point ball game with just over 16 minutes to play.
Territory was obviously going to be key at this stage so when replacement prop Siua Halanukonuka failed to roll away at the ruck, the Brumbies duly set up camp in the Highlanders 22, launching their now infamous driving maul. Unfortunately for them it did not bear fruit.
It came back to haunt them as after Joe Wheeler was held up over the try-line, prop Seiuli then barged over soon after to nudge his side in front, with Banks adding the extras to make it an 18-13 advantage to the visitors.
And despite the Brumbies pressing in the closing stages, that was the final scoreline as the HIghlanders managed to hold for a priceless win they'll hope kick-starts their season after what has been a disappointing start.
And the Stormers remain unbeaten along with the Chiefs & Crusaders by beating the Sunwolves in a thrilling clash in Singapore while the Lions defeated the Kings to regain number 1 status of the Africa 2 conference then the Sharks won the game by 8 points against the Cheetahs & finally, the Jaguares miss out on a bonus point win by claiming victory over the ill disciplined Reds in Buenos Aires.
So that was Round 5 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 6:
Highlanders Vs Rebels: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Blues Vs Force: Eden Park, Auckland
Chiefs Vs Bulls: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
Reds Vs Hurricanes: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Stormers Vs Cheetahs: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Lions Vs Sharks: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
& the Waratahs Vs Crusaders at Allianz Stadium in Sydney to end Round 6 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Brumbies, Jaguares, Kings & Sunwolves taking a week off to prepare for Round 7).
So that is my 16th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 96th overall (Only 4 remaining until I reach 100 blogs), good luck fellas.
Sunday, 26 March 2017
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Basket Case/Revolution Radio/Still Breathing/When I Come Around: Super Rugby round 4 & Six Nations final round review (A Savior & Second City Saint no more)
Round 4 of the 2017 Super Rugby season got underway as the Crusaders just drilled the Blues to retain their status as comeback kings for the 3rd week in a row after producing wins over the Highlanders in round 2 & the Reds in round 3 with a news report coming straight near you:
The Crusaders claimed their third successive come-from-behind win of the season when they beat the Blues 33-24 in Christchurch on Friday.
Just like their previous fixtures against the Highlanders and the Reds, the seven-time champions were trailing by a huge deficit at half-time but launched a superb second half fightback and eventually outscored the Blues by five tries to three.
The result means the Crusaders are still unbeaten after 4 games and they move provisionally top of the New Zealand conference although that situation could change if the Chiefs beat the Rebels later on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Blues leave Christchurch with their tail between their legs and they are still in 4th place in the New Zealand conference although they could be at the bottom of the table if the Highlanders beat the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Blues were fastest out of the blocks and after dominating the early exchanges, George Moala crossed for the opening try in the 11th minute after Augustine Pulu and Matt Duffie played prominent roles in the build-up.
The Crusaders seemed stunned by that opening salvo from their opponents but a quick change in tactics saw the home side gradually taking control of proceedings.
After a 30 metre drive from a line-out, inside the visitors' half, the ball was shifted it wide to Ryan Crotty who was tackled into touch close to the Blues' corner flag by Melani Nanai.
And five minutes later, the hosts took the ball through several phases inside the Blues' 22 before Bryn Hall fired out a superb skip pass to Manasa Mataele, who dived over in the left-hand corner.
It did not take long for the Blues to respond, however, and 5 minutes later Pulu crossed for his side's 2nd try after side-stepping a couple of opponents deep inside the Crusaders' half.
Shortly afterwards, the Blues took the ball through several phases inside the Blues half before Moala found himself in space on the edge of the home side's 22. The All Black was confronted by Joe Moody but ghosted past the prop thanks to a superb turn of speed before crossing for his second try.
Piers Francis slotted the conversion which meant the Blues had their tails up as they led 21-5 at the interval.
The visitors were fastest out of the blocks after the break when a Francis penalty extended his side's lead in the 48th minute, but it wasn't long before the Crusaders took control of proceedings.
In the 53rd minute the hosts were camped close to the Blues' try-line and they were soon celebrating when Pete Samu spotted a gap at a ruck before barging over.
Mitchell Hunt added the extras and two minutes later, he slotted his second conversion when Ben Funnell crossed for the Crusaders' third try from a line-out drive inside the Blues' 22.
That meant the Blues led 24-19 and for the next 10 minutes the men from Auckland were on the defensive before Hunt rounded off a flowing move which tied the score at 24-24.
His conversion gave his side the lead for the first time in the match and they secured the result when Mitchell Drummond sold Patrick Tuipulotu a dummy before crossing for his side's 5th try in injury time.
And the Chiefs just blasted the Rebels in Melbourne to remain unbeaten along with the Crusaders & Stormers back & forth by still leading the New Zealand conference ahead of the Crusaders on points difference with another news report delivered to you:
The Chiefs retained their unbeaten status when they claimed a hard-fought 27-14 win over the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
In a tightly contested encounter, the visitors had to dig deep to secure the win but they eventually took control of proceedings and outscored the Rebels by four tries to one.
The win means the men from Hamilton return to the top of the New Conference while the Rebels are still languishing at the bottom of the Australian Conference without any points from three matches.
In a closely contested affair, the home side - who conceded 50 points in each of their two previous matches against the Blues and Hurricanes - delivered their best performance of the season and held the lead for large periods.
They ran out of steam in the game's latter stages, however, and 2 late tries from Sam Cane and Shaun Stevenson secured the visitors a try-scoring bonus-point.
The opening half was characterised by several handling errrors from both sides and both Chiefs goalkicker Damian McKenzie and Reece Hodge of the Rebels missed shots at goal which would have given their side the lead in the opening quarter.
The visitors eventually took the lead, albeit in bizarre fashion when Dominic Bird dotted down after scooping up a loose ball close to the Rebels' try-line.
This, after Solomon Alaimalo laid the grounwork with a superb run down the left-hand touchline in the build-up. 3 minutes later, the Chiefs thought they had increased their lead when Stevenson crossed the whitewash but television replays revealed that he stepped into touch in the build-up.
The Chiefs suffered a setback in the 28th minute when Liam Messam was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul on defence deep inside his half. Jackson Garden-Bachop slotted the resulting penalty which meant the men from Hamilton held a slender 7-3 lead at half-time.
The Rebels made a superb start to the second half when, 3 minutes after the restart, Garden-Bachop glided through a gap in the Chiefs defence before throwing a splendid long pass to Marika Koroibete, who dived over in the left-hand corner.
The Rebels increased their lead 10 minutes later courtesy of another Garden-Bachop and they received a shot in the arm shortly afterwards when Alaimalo was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Sefa Naivalu.
The home side did not exploit their numerical advantage, however, and the Chiefs did well to soak up the pressure on defence during this period. The visitors upped the ante on attack when Alaimalo returned from his spell on the sidelines and were rewarded in the 66th minute when Brodie Retallick barged over from close quarters.
Damian McKenzie's successful conversion meant they now held a three-point lead but the Rebels drew level when Garden-Bachop slotted his third penalty in the 70th minute.
The Chiefs finished stronger, however, made sure of the win when Cane dotted down after showing great leg strength in the build-up in the 77th minute.
Despite having the game in the bag, the visitors did not stop playing and secured the bonus point when Steven rounded off a flowing move in injury time.
And the Bulls get their 1st win of the season against the Sunwolves after Namibian international Renaldo Bothma got sent off for a head high tackle on Sunwolves captain Ed Quirk so he may be facing suspension just like Steven Luatua & Michael Leitch.
And the Hurricanes knife edge the Highlanders with a bonus point victory so here is another news report in order to improvise like Phoenix Foundation agent Angus MacGyver:
With the bonus-point win the Hurricanes jump to the top of the table to 15 points as they leap frog the Chiefs. The Highlanders desperately needed a win today as they are stuck at the Roddy Bottum of the table with 5 points.
The game got off to a quiet as 10 minutes in no points had been scored despite a vicious competition on the field.
The Hurricanes would be the 1st on the scoreboard though when they set up a maul 10 metres out and drove the Highlanders back for Ardie Savea to score, but Barrett missed the conversion.
The Highlanders looked as though they had scored when Malakai Fekitoa made a searing break down the right wing, before Jordie Barrett made a hit on the centre taking him into. The referee went to the TMO to check whether the tackle was illegal but Gardner was happy and the Hurricanes had possession on their 5-metre line.
Rookie number 10 Fletcher Smith then closed the gap after the Highlanders were awarded a penalty from 40 metres out and the Smith keenly slotted it through.
The Highlanders then took the lead for the 1st time in the match when the visitors had a scrum 10 metres out from the Crusaders line which they used well after replacement Matt Faddes ran a hard line off the inside shoulder on the blindside of the set-piece and Smith gave him a pop pass to score.
The Hurricanes stole back their lead after a perfectly weighted chip over the defence from Jordie Barrett went straight into the hands of Ngani Laumape who scored in the corner. The half ended 10-8 to the hosts after a tight contest.
The Hurricanes then came out of the blocks firing in the second half after scoring in the 42nd minute when Proctor finshed off a great run of play from the home side. Their luck would run out moments later when Perenara was yellow carded for a deliberate knock down.
Once the number nine was off the Highlanders used the advantage well and scored through flanker Dixon. The Highlanders had a 5-metre lineout, and went wide before Dixon barged over.
Laumape then scored his second try of the match after receiving the ball in the midfield before showing some incredible pace to dance around the opposition defence to score in the corner, charging through Ben Smith.
Julian Savea scored his side’s 5th try of the match after receiving a pass down the left wing from Wes Goosen and simply cantered over the line for an easy try.
And the champions continued their dominance of the 2nd half after Aso scored his first try of the match, and after ten minutes would grab his second, to seal the game off.
And the Waratahs have lost 3 games in a row by going down to the Australian conference leaders, the Brumbies in Sydney while a sending off by Quade Cooper for a high shot has landed the Reds in hot water, losing to the dominant Lions side over in Joburg while the Kings were out of reach against the Sharks in Durban & the Jaguares who were without first five-eighth Nicolas Sanchez due to suspension produced a bonus point victory against the Cheetahs by elevating on top of the Africa 2 conference.
So that was Round 4 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 5:
Crusaders Vs Force: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Rebels vs Waratahs: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Blues vs Bulls: QBE Stadium, Albany
Brumbies Vs Highlanders: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Sunwolves vs Stormers: National Stadium, Singapore
Kings vs Lions: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Cheetahs vs Sharks: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
& the Jaguares Vs Reds at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 5 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Chiefs & Hurricanes taking a week off to prepare for Round 6).
And finally in the Six Nations as Scotland kept Italy scoreless to win 29 points to nil as Federico Ruzza (Italy) made his test debut while Vern Cotter had his last game as coach of Scotland as this was the first ever time Scotland has kept Italy scoreless against them while this was the first time, since beating Canada 41–0 in 2008, that Scotland kept their opponent scoreless as this was Scotland's first ever match in the Six Nations where they kept their opponent scoreless & the match concluded Scotland's most successful Six Nations tournament since they won 3 games in 2006 while France snatch it right to the death against Wales as Ken Owens (Wales) won his 50th test cap while this was France's first win over Wales since their 9 – 8 victory during the 2011 Rugby World Cup (And so on in 2011, the All Blacks opened with a win over the kingdom of Tonga (Who hijacked us at the start) at Eden Park in Auckland (41 - 10) followed by Japan at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton 83 - 7 (The night before the mighty green throng of Ireland turned the tables on Australia, causing an upset), then France in Auckland (37 - 17) with captain Richie McCaw becoming the 1st All Black to reach 100 test caps followed by beating Canada at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington 79 - 15 (The day after Tonga providing another upset victory over France as well as Dan Carter, who was ruled out of the tournament altogether with a groin injury), then it is quarter final time as we scraped Argentina 33 - 10 in Auckland (Although Colin Slade suffered an injury similar to Dan Carter's), then finally beating against our traditional Trans Tasman rivals Australia (Who defeated South Africa in the quarter final which was better off forgotten) in the semifinal 20 - 6 (It was the night after the French flair titans (Who gave England the chop in the quarterfinal) defeated the Welsh (Who had beaten the mighty green throng in the quarters) in the other semifinal in which Sam Warburton got sent off for that famous spear tackle) before we once again took on France in the final, just as it was back in 1987, with the weight of the nation above our shoulders (Although Stephen 'Beaver' Donald was called up in the last minute whilst he was white baiting, YA GOT THAT!! WHITEBAITING), we have won us the CUP!!! HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!! I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEL!!! And yeah, not only that we have ended our Rugby World Cup curse after 24 years of agony and pain, as if, not ONLY we beat France 8 - 7, we have managed to lift the World Cup trophy, not only because it is the greatest moment of my life) as France finished in the top half of the table for the first time since 2011 and Wales finished in the bottom half for the first time since that same year, with fifth their lowest position since 2007 & the winning points were scored in the 100th minute of the match in one of the longest games on record while a Iain Henderson try for Ireland denies England's hopes by falling short of both the world record for most consecutive victories & the 2nd straight Grand Chelem as Jamie Heaslip withdrew from the team after suffering an injury during the pre-match warm-up while Andrew Conway (Ireland) made his international debut as Tom Wood (England) won his 50th test cap as this was Eddie Jones's 1st ever loss as England coach, and England's 1st since losing 33–13 to Australia in the 2015 Rugby World Cup & Ireland reclaims the Millennium Trophy.
So Ireland deny both the All Blacks & England their 19th consecutive victories (From Chicago to Dublin) so the Kiwi born Irish coach Joe Schmidt would be proud meaning that he was fired up with the win...So it was the 1st defeat for England under coach Eddie Jones so Jones is no longer the Savior as well as the Second City Saint, well that is a big blow for England because they are in mourning as Ireland put both the All Black & English trains off their rails...so uncivilized, what a day. Real drama here as the Irish Curse has struck again! So England are now 18 & 1 under Eddie Jones.
And finally I am overshadowed by watching more TV on Sky (Well I've got Sky now as a result) as I record a whole lot of programmes that I usually watch so I fear that I might not do blogging that much.
So that is my 15th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 95th overall (Only 5 left until I reach my 100th) so ka kite ano fellas.
P.S. The brand new 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season begins next week at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne (1st they have the 1st 2 practice sessions in 5 days time as well as the 3rd practice session & qualifying in 6 days time & the race next week) so I will be doing a post race review next week because I will also be doing a review of round 5 next week of the 2017 Super Rugby season.
The Crusaders claimed their third successive come-from-behind win of the season when they beat the Blues 33-24 in Christchurch on Friday.
Just like their previous fixtures against the Highlanders and the Reds, the seven-time champions were trailing by a huge deficit at half-time but launched a superb second half fightback and eventually outscored the Blues by five tries to three.
The result means the Crusaders are still unbeaten after 4 games and they move provisionally top of the New Zealand conference although that situation could change if the Chiefs beat the Rebels later on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Blues leave Christchurch with their tail between their legs and they are still in 4th place in the New Zealand conference although they could be at the bottom of the table if the Highlanders beat the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Blues were fastest out of the blocks and after dominating the early exchanges, George Moala crossed for the opening try in the 11th minute after Augustine Pulu and Matt Duffie played prominent roles in the build-up.
The Crusaders seemed stunned by that opening salvo from their opponents but a quick change in tactics saw the home side gradually taking control of proceedings.
After a 30 metre drive from a line-out, inside the visitors' half, the ball was shifted it wide to Ryan Crotty who was tackled into touch close to the Blues' corner flag by Melani Nanai.
And five minutes later, the hosts took the ball through several phases inside the Blues' 22 before Bryn Hall fired out a superb skip pass to Manasa Mataele, who dived over in the left-hand corner.
It did not take long for the Blues to respond, however, and 5 minutes later Pulu crossed for his side's 2nd try after side-stepping a couple of opponents deep inside the Crusaders' half.
Shortly afterwards, the Blues took the ball through several phases inside the Blues half before Moala found himself in space on the edge of the home side's 22. The All Black was confronted by Joe Moody but ghosted past the prop thanks to a superb turn of speed before crossing for his second try.
Piers Francis slotted the conversion which meant the Blues had their tails up as they led 21-5 at the interval.
The visitors were fastest out of the blocks after the break when a Francis penalty extended his side's lead in the 48th minute, but it wasn't long before the Crusaders took control of proceedings.
In the 53rd minute the hosts were camped close to the Blues' try-line and they were soon celebrating when Pete Samu spotted a gap at a ruck before barging over.
Mitchell Hunt added the extras and two minutes later, he slotted his second conversion when Ben Funnell crossed for the Crusaders' third try from a line-out drive inside the Blues' 22.
That meant the Blues led 24-19 and for the next 10 minutes the men from Auckland were on the defensive before Hunt rounded off a flowing move which tied the score at 24-24.
His conversion gave his side the lead for the first time in the match and they secured the result when Mitchell Drummond sold Patrick Tuipulotu a dummy before crossing for his side's 5th try in injury time.
And the Chiefs just blasted the Rebels in Melbourne to remain unbeaten along with the Crusaders & Stormers back & forth by still leading the New Zealand conference ahead of the Crusaders on points difference with another news report delivered to you:
The Chiefs retained their unbeaten status when they claimed a hard-fought 27-14 win over the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
In a tightly contested encounter, the visitors had to dig deep to secure the win but they eventually took control of proceedings and outscored the Rebels by four tries to one.
The win means the men from Hamilton return to the top of the New Conference while the Rebels are still languishing at the bottom of the Australian Conference without any points from three matches.
In a closely contested affair, the home side - who conceded 50 points in each of their two previous matches against the Blues and Hurricanes - delivered their best performance of the season and held the lead for large periods.
They ran out of steam in the game's latter stages, however, and 2 late tries from Sam Cane and Shaun Stevenson secured the visitors a try-scoring bonus-point.
The opening half was characterised by several handling errrors from both sides and both Chiefs goalkicker Damian McKenzie and Reece Hodge of the Rebels missed shots at goal which would have given their side the lead in the opening quarter.
The visitors eventually took the lead, albeit in bizarre fashion when Dominic Bird dotted down after scooping up a loose ball close to the Rebels' try-line.
This, after Solomon Alaimalo laid the grounwork with a superb run down the left-hand touchline in the build-up. 3 minutes later, the Chiefs thought they had increased their lead when Stevenson crossed the whitewash but television replays revealed that he stepped into touch in the build-up.
The Chiefs suffered a setback in the 28th minute when Liam Messam was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul on defence deep inside his half. Jackson Garden-Bachop slotted the resulting penalty which meant the men from Hamilton held a slender 7-3 lead at half-time.
The Rebels made a superb start to the second half when, 3 minutes after the restart, Garden-Bachop glided through a gap in the Chiefs defence before throwing a splendid long pass to Marika Koroibete, who dived over in the left-hand corner.
The Rebels increased their lead 10 minutes later courtesy of another Garden-Bachop and they received a shot in the arm shortly afterwards when Alaimalo was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Sefa Naivalu.
The home side did not exploit their numerical advantage, however, and the Chiefs did well to soak up the pressure on defence during this period. The visitors upped the ante on attack when Alaimalo returned from his spell on the sidelines and were rewarded in the 66th minute when Brodie Retallick barged over from close quarters.
Damian McKenzie's successful conversion meant they now held a three-point lead but the Rebels drew level when Garden-Bachop slotted his third penalty in the 70th minute.
The Chiefs finished stronger, however, made sure of the win when Cane dotted down after showing great leg strength in the build-up in the 77th minute.
Despite having the game in the bag, the visitors did not stop playing and secured the bonus point when Steven rounded off a flowing move in injury time.
And the Bulls get their 1st win of the season against the Sunwolves after Namibian international Renaldo Bothma got sent off for a head high tackle on Sunwolves captain Ed Quirk so he may be facing suspension just like Steven Luatua & Michael Leitch.
And the Hurricanes knife edge the Highlanders with a bonus point victory so here is another news report in order to improvise like Phoenix Foundation agent Angus MacGyver:
With the bonus-point win the Hurricanes jump to the top of the table to 15 points as they leap frog the Chiefs. The Highlanders desperately needed a win today as they are stuck at the Roddy Bottum of the table with 5 points.
The game got off to a quiet as 10 minutes in no points had been scored despite a vicious competition on the field.
The Hurricanes would be the 1st on the scoreboard though when they set up a maul 10 metres out and drove the Highlanders back for Ardie Savea to score, but Barrett missed the conversion.
The Highlanders looked as though they had scored when Malakai Fekitoa made a searing break down the right wing, before Jordie Barrett made a hit on the centre taking him into. The referee went to the TMO to check whether the tackle was illegal but Gardner was happy and the Hurricanes had possession on their 5-metre line.
Rookie number 10 Fletcher Smith then closed the gap after the Highlanders were awarded a penalty from 40 metres out and the Smith keenly slotted it through.
The Highlanders then took the lead for the 1st time in the match when the visitors had a scrum 10 metres out from the Crusaders line which they used well after replacement Matt Faddes ran a hard line off the inside shoulder on the blindside of the set-piece and Smith gave him a pop pass to score.
The Hurricanes stole back their lead after a perfectly weighted chip over the defence from Jordie Barrett went straight into the hands of Ngani Laumape who scored in the corner. The half ended 10-8 to the hosts after a tight contest.
The Hurricanes then came out of the blocks firing in the second half after scoring in the 42nd minute when Proctor finshed off a great run of play from the home side. Their luck would run out moments later when Perenara was yellow carded for a deliberate knock down.
Once the number nine was off the Highlanders used the advantage well and scored through flanker Dixon. The Highlanders had a 5-metre lineout, and went wide before Dixon barged over.
Laumape then scored his second try of the match after receiving the ball in the midfield before showing some incredible pace to dance around the opposition defence to score in the corner, charging through Ben Smith.
Julian Savea scored his side’s 5th try of the match after receiving a pass down the left wing from Wes Goosen and simply cantered over the line for an easy try.
And the champions continued their dominance of the 2nd half after Aso scored his first try of the match, and after ten minutes would grab his second, to seal the game off.
And the Waratahs have lost 3 games in a row by going down to the Australian conference leaders, the Brumbies in Sydney while a sending off by Quade Cooper for a high shot has landed the Reds in hot water, losing to the dominant Lions side over in Joburg while the Kings were out of reach against the Sharks in Durban & the Jaguares who were without first five-eighth Nicolas Sanchez due to suspension produced a bonus point victory against the Cheetahs by elevating on top of the Africa 2 conference.
So that was Round 4 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 5:
Crusaders Vs Force: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Rebels vs Waratahs: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Blues vs Bulls: QBE Stadium, Albany
Brumbies Vs Highlanders: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Sunwolves vs Stormers: National Stadium, Singapore
Kings vs Lions: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Cheetahs vs Sharks: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
& the Jaguares Vs Reds at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 5 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Chiefs & Hurricanes taking a week off to prepare for Round 6).
And finally in the Six Nations as Scotland kept Italy scoreless to win 29 points to nil as Federico Ruzza (Italy) made his test debut while Vern Cotter had his last game as coach of Scotland as this was the first ever time Scotland has kept Italy scoreless against them while this was the first time, since beating Canada 41–0 in 2008, that Scotland kept their opponent scoreless as this was Scotland's first ever match in the Six Nations where they kept their opponent scoreless & the match concluded Scotland's most successful Six Nations tournament since they won 3 games in 2006 while France snatch it right to the death against Wales as Ken Owens (Wales) won his 50th test cap while this was France's first win over Wales since their 9 – 8 victory during the 2011 Rugby World Cup (And so on in 2011, the All Blacks opened with a win over the kingdom of Tonga (Who hijacked us at the start) at Eden Park in Auckland (41 - 10) followed by Japan at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton 83 - 7 (The night before the mighty green throng of Ireland turned the tables on Australia, causing an upset), then France in Auckland (37 - 17) with captain Richie McCaw becoming the 1st All Black to reach 100 test caps followed by beating Canada at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington 79 - 15 (The day after Tonga providing another upset victory over France as well as Dan Carter, who was ruled out of the tournament altogether with a groin injury), then it is quarter final time as we scraped Argentina 33 - 10 in Auckland (Although Colin Slade suffered an injury similar to Dan Carter's), then finally beating against our traditional Trans Tasman rivals Australia (Who defeated South Africa in the quarter final which was better off forgotten) in the semifinal 20 - 6 (It was the night after the French flair titans (Who gave England the chop in the quarterfinal) defeated the Welsh (Who had beaten the mighty green throng in the quarters) in the other semifinal in which Sam Warburton got sent off for that famous spear tackle) before we once again took on France in the final, just as it was back in 1987, with the weight of the nation above our shoulders (Although Stephen 'Beaver' Donald was called up in the last minute whilst he was white baiting, YA GOT THAT!! WHITEBAITING), we have won us the CUP!!! HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!! I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEL!!! And yeah, not only that we have ended our Rugby World Cup curse after 24 years of agony and pain, as if, not ONLY we beat France 8 - 7, we have managed to lift the World Cup trophy, not only because it is the greatest moment of my life) as France finished in the top half of the table for the first time since 2011 and Wales finished in the bottom half for the first time since that same year, with fifth their lowest position since 2007 & the winning points were scored in the 100th minute of the match in one of the longest games on record while a Iain Henderson try for Ireland denies England's hopes by falling short of both the world record for most consecutive victories & the 2nd straight Grand Chelem as Jamie Heaslip withdrew from the team after suffering an injury during the pre-match warm-up while Andrew Conway (Ireland) made his international debut as Tom Wood (England) won his 50th test cap as this was Eddie Jones's 1st ever loss as England coach, and England's 1st since losing 33–13 to Australia in the 2015 Rugby World Cup & Ireland reclaims the Millennium Trophy.
So Ireland deny both the All Blacks & England their 19th consecutive victories (From Chicago to Dublin) so the Kiwi born Irish coach Joe Schmidt would be proud meaning that he was fired up with the win...So it was the 1st defeat for England under coach Eddie Jones so Jones is no longer the Savior as well as the Second City Saint, well that is a big blow for England because they are in mourning as Ireland put both the All Black & English trains off their rails...so uncivilized, what a day. Real drama here as the Irish Curse has struck again! So England are now 18 & 1 under Eddie Jones.
And finally I am overshadowed by watching more TV on Sky (Well I've got Sky now as a result) as I record a whole lot of programmes that I usually watch so I fear that I might not do blogging that much.
So that is my 15th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 95th overall (Only 5 left until I reach my 100th) so ka kite ano fellas.
P.S. The brand new 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season begins next week at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne (1st they have the 1st 2 practice sessions in 5 days time as well as the 3rd practice session & qualifying in 6 days time & the race next week) so I will be doing a post race review next week because I will also be doing a review of round 5 next week of the 2017 Super Rugby season.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Alive/Better Man/Black/Even Flow: Trip to New Plymouth round-up & 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season preview
It was on Monday where we went to New Plymouth (Well I haven't been to New Plymouth in 8 years) for a Midhirst reunion so we went to The Warehouse 1st to get more plates before we went to a cafe where the reunion supposed to take place but we went to Stumble Inn instead for a big lunch where I had Mediterranean pasta & it tasted really nice so after that we went to New World to get the groceries such as the muffins where we went to Uncle Nigel & Isaac's for a couple of hours before we went back all the way home.
So Tuesday's dinner was chicken with spaghetti pasta & pesto while yesterday (I managed to get the radio again so it was working because it had been switched off for a few days but I always now read the F1 circuits book as well as the 3 rugby books which are Richie McCaw: The Openside, Sir Graham Henry Celebrates The World Cups! 1987 to 2015 & of course Richie McCaw 148 in the last 2 days & played the F1 2016 game where I raced Australia & Singapore as Nico Rosberg on Tuesday & Monaco & Canada as Lewis Hamilton yesterday so I did Azerbaijan today as Rosberg) we had chicken again with taro & coleslaw so we will be having coleslaw with something for a light dinner because we went to the Brick House again where I had a gourmet chicken burger with wedges & for dessert I had was a passion fruit cheesecake with ice cream before we went to The Warehouse & to Nan's grave before I was watching Sky Sport (We now got Sky as a fair result) & then doing my blog right now.
And I'm now doing a preview of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season because it is only 10 days (Originally I was going to do a blog about it just a week out from the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, but I decided that I'm going to do it today instead) until the 1st Grand Prix of the year which is in Australia located at Albert Park, deep in the heart of the city of Melbourne so here are the teams & drivers list who are competing:
Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
44. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain)
77. Valtteri Bottas (Finland)
Red Bull Racing
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
33. Max Verstappen (The Netherlands)
Scuderia Ferrari
5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)
Sahara Force India F1 Team
11. Sergio Perez (Mexico)
31. Esteban Ocon (France)
Williams Racing
18. Lance Stroll (Canada)
19. Felipe Massa (Brazil) *4
McLaren-Honda
2. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium)
14. Fernando Alonso (Spain) *2
Scuderia Toro Rosso
26. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) *1/*3
55. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) *3
Haas F1 Team
8. Romain Grosjean (France)
20. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)
Renault Sport Formula One Team
27. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)
30. Jolyon Palmer (Great Britain) *5
Sauber F1 Team
9. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) *3
1*: 10. Pierre Gasly (France) replaces Kvyat for both the Malaysia Grand Prix & Japanese Grand Prix & replaces Sainz Jr for the last 3 races.
2*: 22. Jenson Button (Great Britain) replaces Alonso for the Monaco Grand Prix to compete in the 101st Indianapolis 500
3*: 28/39. Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) replaces Gasly for the United States Grand Prix & Kvyat for the last 3 races
3*: 36. Antonio Giovinazzi (Italy) replaces Wehrlein for the 1st 2 races of the season due to injury suffered during the Race Of Champions in Miami.
4*: 40. Paul di Resta (Great Britain) replaces Massa for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
5*: 55. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) replaces Jolyon Palmer (Great Britain) for the remainder of the season beginning with the United States Grand Prix
And here is the 20 race calendar for the 2017 Formula 1 season:
Round 1: Australia (Albert Park, Melbourne)
Round 2: China (Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai)
Round 3: Bahrain (Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain)
Round 4: Russia (Sochi Autodrome, Sochi)
Round 5: Spain (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona Montmelo)
Round 6: Monaco (Circuit de Monaco, Monaco)
Round 7: Canada (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal)
Round 8: Azerbaijan (Baku City Circuit, Baku)
Round 9: Austria (Red Bull Ring, Osterreichring)
Round 10: Britain (Silverstone Circuit, Sliverstone)
Round 11: Hungary (Hungaroring, Hungaroring)
Round 12: Belgium (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa-Francorchamps)
Round 13: Italy (Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza)
Round 14: Singapore (Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore)
Round 15: Malaysia (Sepang International Circuit, Sepang)
Round 16: Japan (Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka)
Round 17: USA (Circuit of the Americas, Austin)
Round 18: Mexico (Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City)
Round 19: Brazil (Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Interlagos)
Round 20: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi)
And well, I fear that Ferrari might have the fastest car in the field because they set blistering lap times during testing so I'm afraid that Mercedes (Who dominated F1 in the past 3 years with Lewis Hamilton winning twice & Nico Rosberg once) might be beaten because of Ferrari's blistering pace.
And here's the circuit guide to Albert Park in Melbourne who will host the season opening Australian Grand Prix according to Collins Grand Prix circuits book that I've got:
''More than adequate successor to Adelaide as host of Australia's Grand Prix. Located in Albert Park, a tram ride from Melbourne city centre. Instant hit thanks to efficient organisation, lively atmosphere & a reasonable track with good flow. Ideal place to start the season''
And finally I have been revealed that I 1st became a rugby fan by watching the 1995 Rugby World Cup (Then in 1995, disaster struck as New Zealand (Which featured rugby's 1st global superstar, Jonah Lomu) failed to regain the crown (With several players fell victim to food poisoning with the exception of captain Sean Fitzpatrick and the Brooke brothers of Robin & Zinzan), losing to debutants and hosts South Africa in the final in which united the host country as well as their leader Nelson Mandela) final between the All Blacks (Laurie Mains & hooker Sean Fitzpatrick was both the coach & captain respectively at the time which featured the likes of loosehead prop Craig Dowd, tighthead prop Olo Brown, locks Ian Jones & Robin Brooke, blindside flanker Mike Brewer, openside flanker Josh Kronfeld, number 8 Zinzan Brooke, halfback Graeme Bachop, first five eighth Andrew Mehrtens, the late winger Jonah Lomu, second five eighth Walter Little, centre Frank Bunce, winger Jeff Wilson & fullback Glen Osborne) & Springboks (Kitch Christie & openside flanker Francois Pienaar was also both the coach & skipper respectively which also featured the likes of loosehead prop Os du Randt, hooker Chris Rossouw, tighthead prop Bailie Swart, locks Kobus Wiese & Hannes Strydom, blindside flanker Ruben Kruger, number 8 Mark Andrews, the late halfback Joost van der Westhuizen, first five-eighth Joel Stransky, wingers Chester Williams & James Small, second five eighth Hennie le Roux, centre Japie Mulder & fullback Andre Joubert) with my Dad (I was about 4 years old at the time) when Andrew Mehrtens tried to do a match winning drop kick to regain the World Cup from Australia (Although the Aussies (Captained by Michael Lynagh featuring Dan Crowley, Phil Kearns, Ewen McKenzie, John Eales, Rod McCall, Willie Ofahengaue, David Wilson, Tim Gavin, George Gregan, David Campese, Tim Horan, Jason Little, Damian Smith & Matthew Burke) lost to England (Led by Will Carling featuring Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Victor Ubogu, Martin Bayfield, Martin Johnson, Ben Clarke, Tim Rodber, Dean Richards, Dewi Morris, Rob Andrew, Rory Underwood, Jeremy Guscott, Tony Underwood & Mike Catt) in the quarterfinal before the English got thrashed by New Zealand in the semifinal with Lomu scoring 4 tries (Including the one that Keith Quinn said when he ran over Mike Catt: ''Bachop again, New Zealand maintaining possession. Wide to Lomu. He's got the bounce. He's handed off his opposite...Lomu! Oh! Oh!'') causing complete havoc) but missed so Dad was disappointed about it (Even Joel Stransky scored the match winning drop goal which put the game beyond doubt) especially the result when we watched the game in Raetihi (My childhood home that I've lived for 16 years before we moved to Whanganui that I have been living there ever since) meaning that I did follow rugby at all (Well I have been covering every Rugby World Cup since either 1995 or 99 (But in 1999, the All Blacks took on rivals and eventual runners up France (Who lost to the eventual champions Australia) in the semifinal but nek minute, they were torn sky blast apart from the French who enjoyed an insane amount of rugby during the 2nd half) but I still follow Formula 1 because I used to be a fan from 1999 until 2015 (That was 2 years ago so I did a blog about that 2 months ago) where my hiatus began until in January 2017 (This year) during the family trip to the South Island at Akaroa where I revealed that my so called Formula 1 hiatus ended.
So that is my 14th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 94th overall (Only 6 to go until I approach 100 but I don't know what will my title be for my 100th blog? Could it be Operation: Knightfall, a Century Of Blogs?).
P.S. We got rid of the woods today on Saint Patrick's/Paddy's day (AKA Green Day) & after that, went to Caroline's Celtic to have lunch there where I had a Guinness pie with mashed potatoes, mushy peas & gravy then to the recycling centre to get rid of the cardboard boxes then went back to Caroline's to have a caramel slice (gluten free) with a moccachino of course.
So Tuesday's dinner was chicken with spaghetti pasta & pesto while yesterday (I managed to get the radio again so it was working because it had been switched off for a few days but I always now read the F1 circuits book as well as the 3 rugby books which are Richie McCaw: The Openside, Sir Graham Henry Celebrates The World Cups! 1987 to 2015 & of course Richie McCaw 148 in the last 2 days & played the F1 2016 game where I raced Australia & Singapore as Nico Rosberg on Tuesday & Monaco & Canada as Lewis Hamilton yesterday so I did Azerbaijan today as Rosberg) we had chicken again with taro & coleslaw so we will be having coleslaw with something for a light dinner because we went to the Brick House again where I had a gourmet chicken burger with wedges & for dessert I had was a passion fruit cheesecake with ice cream before we went to The Warehouse & to Nan's grave before I was watching Sky Sport (We now got Sky as a fair result) & then doing my blog right now.
And I'm now doing a preview of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season because it is only 10 days (Originally I was going to do a blog about it just a week out from the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, but I decided that I'm going to do it today instead) until the 1st Grand Prix of the year which is in Australia located at Albert Park, deep in the heart of the city of Melbourne so here are the teams & drivers list who are competing:
Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
44. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain)
77. Valtteri Bottas (Finland)
Red Bull Racing
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
33. Max Verstappen (The Netherlands)
Scuderia Ferrari
5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)
Sahara Force India F1 Team
11. Sergio Perez (Mexico)
31. Esteban Ocon (France)
Williams Racing
18. Lance Stroll (Canada)
19. Felipe Massa (Brazil) *4
McLaren-Honda
2. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium)
14. Fernando Alonso (Spain) *2
Scuderia Toro Rosso
26. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) *1/*3
55. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) *3
Haas F1 Team
8. Romain Grosjean (France)
20. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)
Renault Sport Formula One Team
27. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)
30. Jolyon Palmer (Great Britain) *5
Sauber F1 Team
9. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) *3
1*: 10. Pierre Gasly (France) replaces Kvyat for both the Malaysia Grand Prix & Japanese Grand Prix & replaces Sainz Jr for the last 3 races.
2*: 22. Jenson Button (Great Britain) replaces Alonso for the Monaco Grand Prix to compete in the 101st Indianapolis 500
3*: 28/39. Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) replaces Gasly for the United States Grand Prix & Kvyat for the last 3 races
3*: 36. Antonio Giovinazzi (Italy) replaces Wehrlein for the 1st 2 races of the season due to injury suffered during the Race Of Champions in Miami.
4*: 40. Paul di Resta (Great Britain) replaces Massa for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
5*: 55. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) replaces Jolyon Palmer (Great Britain) for the remainder of the season beginning with the United States Grand Prix
And here is the 20 race calendar for the 2017 Formula 1 season:
Round 1: Australia (Albert Park, Melbourne)
Round 2: China (Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai)
Round 3: Bahrain (Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain)
Round 4: Russia (Sochi Autodrome, Sochi)
Round 5: Spain (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona Montmelo)
Round 6: Monaco (Circuit de Monaco, Monaco)
Round 7: Canada (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal)
Round 8: Azerbaijan (Baku City Circuit, Baku)
Round 9: Austria (Red Bull Ring, Osterreichring)
Round 10: Britain (Silverstone Circuit, Sliverstone)
Round 11: Hungary (Hungaroring, Hungaroring)
Round 12: Belgium (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa-Francorchamps)
Round 13: Italy (Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza)
Round 14: Singapore (Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore)
Round 15: Malaysia (Sepang International Circuit, Sepang)
Round 16: Japan (Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka)
Round 17: USA (Circuit of the Americas, Austin)
Round 18: Mexico (Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City)
Round 19: Brazil (Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Interlagos)
Round 20: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi)
And well, I fear that Ferrari might have the fastest car in the field because they set blistering lap times during testing so I'm afraid that Mercedes (Who dominated F1 in the past 3 years with Lewis Hamilton winning twice & Nico Rosberg once) might be beaten because of Ferrari's blistering pace.
And here's the circuit guide to Albert Park in Melbourne who will host the season opening Australian Grand Prix according to Collins Grand Prix circuits book that I've got:
''More than adequate successor to Adelaide as host of Australia's Grand Prix. Located in Albert Park, a tram ride from Melbourne city centre. Instant hit thanks to efficient organisation, lively atmosphere & a reasonable track with good flow. Ideal place to start the season''
And finally I have been revealed that I 1st became a rugby fan by watching the 1995 Rugby World Cup (Then in 1995, disaster struck as New Zealand (Which featured rugby's 1st global superstar, Jonah Lomu) failed to regain the crown (With several players fell victim to food poisoning with the exception of captain Sean Fitzpatrick and the Brooke brothers of Robin & Zinzan), losing to debutants and hosts South Africa in the final in which united the host country as well as their leader Nelson Mandela) final between the All Blacks (Laurie Mains & hooker Sean Fitzpatrick was both the coach & captain respectively at the time which featured the likes of loosehead prop Craig Dowd, tighthead prop Olo Brown, locks Ian Jones & Robin Brooke, blindside flanker Mike Brewer, openside flanker Josh Kronfeld, number 8 Zinzan Brooke, halfback Graeme Bachop, first five eighth Andrew Mehrtens, the late winger Jonah Lomu, second five eighth Walter Little, centre Frank Bunce, winger Jeff Wilson & fullback Glen Osborne) & Springboks (Kitch Christie & openside flanker Francois Pienaar was also both the coach & skipper respectively which also featured the likes of loosehead prop Os du Randt, hooker Chris Rossouw, tighthead prop Bailie Swart, locks Kobus Wiese & Hannes Strydom, blindside flanker Ruben Kruger, number 8 Mark Andrews, the late halfback Joost van der Westhuizen, first five-eighth Joel Stransky, wingers Chester Williams & James Small, second five eighth Hennie le Roux, centre Japie Mulder & fullback Andre Joubert) with my Dad (I was about 4 years old at the time) when Andrew Mehrtens tried to do a match winning drop kick to regain the World Cup from Australia (Although the Aussies (Captained by Michael Lynagh featuring Dan Crowley, Phil Kearns, Ewen McKenzie, John Eales, Rod McCall, Willie Ofahengaue, David Wilson, Tim Gavin, George Gregan, David Campese, Tim Horan, Jason Little, Damian Smith & Matthew Burke) lost to England (Led by Will Carling featuring Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Victor Ubogu, Martin Bayfield, Martin Johnson, Ben Clarke, Tim Rodber, Dean Richards, Dewi Morris, Rob Andrew, Rory Underwood, Jeremy Guscott, Tony Underwood & Mike Catt) in the quarterfinal before the English got thrashed by New Zealand in the semifinal with Lomu scoring 4 tries (Including the one that Keith Quinn said when he ran over Mike Catt: ''Bachop again, New Zealand maintaining possession. Wide to Lomu. He's got the bounce. He's handed off his opposite...Lomu! Oh! Oh!'') causing complete havoc) but missed so Dad was disappointed about it (Even Joel Stransky scored the match winning drop goal which put the game beyond doubt) especially the result when we watched the game in Raetihi (My childhood home that I've lived for 16 years before we moved to Whanganui that I have been living there ever since) meaning that I did follow rugby at all (Well I have been covering every Rugby World Cup since either 1995 or 99 (But in 1999, the All Blacks took on rivals and eventual runners up France (Who lost to the eventual champions Australia) in the semifinal but nek minute, they were torn sky blast apart from the French who enjoyed an insane amount of rugby during the 2nd half) but I still follow Formula 1 because I used to be a fan from 1999 until 2015 (That was 2 years ago so I did a blog about that 2 months ago) where my hiatus began until in January 2017 (This year) during the family trip to the South Island at Akaroa where I revealed that my so called Formula 1 hiatus ended.
So that is my 14th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 94th overall (Only 6 to go until I approach 100 but I don't know what will my title be for my 100th blog? Could it be Operation: Knightfall, a Century Of Blogs?).
P.S. We got rid of the woods today on Saint Patrick's/Paddy's day (AKA Green Day) & after that, went to Caroline's Celtic to have lunch there where I had a Guinness pie with mashed potatoes, mushy peas & gravy then to the recycling centre to get rid of the cardboard boxes then went back to Caroline's to have a caramel slice (gluten free) with a moccachino of course.
Saturday, 11 March 2017
Bulls On Parade/Come Out And Play/Decadence/Quarter: Super Rugby Round 3 & Six Nations Round 4 review
It was on Friday when Pops & I went to the Rutland Arms Inn where I had an entree such as wedges & nachos with the American Association before we went to the Brick House where I had crumbed chicken with vegetables for the main course & a chocolate cheesecake for dessert before we headed back to my new home at 15A Kells Avenue to watch the rugby on Sky Go but it didn't work so we headed to Dad's to watch the Chiefs play my beloved Hurricanes at FMG Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Sky Sport with the match being played in miserable conditions but yesterday we went to Palmerston North (Well I haven't been there since the 29th of January last year where I had to go to the Rugby Museum with Poppa & Rejean) to look at The Plaza where we got some cushions from K-Mart & we went to The Warehouse to get some stuff such as the Collins Grand Prix Circuits book that I got (Although I have got about 4 as part of my new book collection (Well I play 2 PS4 games such as F1 2016 & Rugby Challenge 3 as part of my gaming collection because both Formula 1 & rugby are my 2 favourite sports that I follow) along with all 3 rugby books such as Richie McCaw: The Open Side, Sir Graham Henry Celebrates The World Cups! 1987 to 2015 & of course Richie McCaw 148) before we left there to head back home by having noodles with cold meat & vegetables for lunch as well as having smoothies & going to 28 Koromiko Road to celebrate Andrew's 25th birthday where I had a baguette with chili dip, salami & camembert cheese for starters before having lasagna, chicken, potatoes & tomatoes & coleslaw for dinner then we had a birthday chocolate cake with ice cream, cream & scorched almonds for dessert before we headed back home to watch the rugby again to watch the Blues play the Highlanders at Eden Park in Auckland & today we had breakfast before I took a nap then played the F1 2016 game before we had lunch which is noodles with chicken that I had & vegetables before Dad & Jansen arrived here & when they left, I had a smoothie with potato chips before I watched Sachie's Kitchen as well as Rugby Nation & Prime News: 1st at 5:30 & now doing my blog about the wrap up for today (I also had dinner then before I'm back into blogging).
Well, injuries...injuries, injuries, injuries. Now that is a bit of a problem for New Zealand rugby fans ahead of the highly anticipated British & Irish Lions rugby tour here in 3 months time so Nehe Milner-Skudder was the 1st to go followed by Waisake Naholo then Lima Sopoaga, Israel Dagg & Seta Tamanivalu as the All Blacks have a player injury crisis which had taken its toll so the 2017 Super Rugby season heads into its 3rd round, the Chiefs remain unbeaten by handing the Hurricanes our 1st loss of the season being played in miserable conditions in 'the Tron' so here's the news report about the match:
The Chiefs overcame an indisciplined Hurricanes side & the Hamilton deluge to win 26-18 on Friday.
It was disastrous conditions in the 1st half as both teams battled to get a decent string of moves together in the rain after knock-ons and handling errors marred the day. But the Chiefs stamped their dominance early on after 1st half tries from Brodie Retallick and Toni Pulu, with the boot of Damian McKenzie keeping them in the game. The Hurricanes' cause was blown when both flanker Ardie Savea and second-rower Michael Fatialofa were given yellow cards that overlapped.
With the win the Chiefs go top of the New Zealand conference after to 14 points while the Hurricanes take second place with the rest of the New Zealand sides still to play on 10 points after the Chiefs took the losing bonus point away from them in the final minute through a penalty from McKenzie.
It was interesting clash with the amount of All Black match ups taking place as Beauden Barrett took on Aaron Cruden, TJ Perenara vs Tawera Kerr-Barlow and McKenzie vs Nehe Milner-Skudder.
It was as a slow start to the game as neither side could get any points of the board for the first 10 minutes, as both seemed shocked at the state of the weather on the day.
Beauden Barrett scored the first points of the game when the Chiefs were penalised at the breakdown and finally after 14 minutes there were some points on the board.
After several waves of Chiefs drives towards the Hurricanes line, Ardie Savea was yellow carded for infringing at the maul as Chiefs hooker Hika Elliot was about to dot down. The home side took advantage of having the extra man and after sustained pressure on the Hurricanes line Brodie Retallick barged over the whitewash with Damian McKenzie adding the extras.
Moments later the Hurricanes closed the gap when Barrett kicked over another penalty making the score 7-6 to the home side.
The Hurricanes then picked up their 2nd yellow card when Hurricanes lock Michael Fatialofa punched the ball out of mid-air and the referee immediately called off play and gave Fatialofa a yellow card. It was more bad news for the Hurricanes as McKenzie kicked through another penalty widening the gap to four points.
The Chiefs added to their lead just before the end of the 1st half to score their second try. The home side had a scrum on the Hurricanes 10 metre line which halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow used well by running on the blind side with ball in hand before chipping behind the Hurricanes' defence for winger Toni Pulu to chase. Pulu did so with aplomb and grounded the ball with his chest. McKenzie's conversion made the half-time score 17-6.
After the rain seemed to have subsided over the half-time break the game opened up more in the 2nd half with the most of the momentum behind the Chiefs as they pressured the Hurricanes defence, and a try looked eminent before one of the Canes' front-rowers plucked the ball out of the air for the interception.
After the away side set up a few defensive rucks they were awarded a penalty and kicked for touch after a scintillating period of rugby.
The Chiefs, still had all the cards though as McKenzie slotted another penalty to extend his side's lead.
The Hurricanes finally scored a try of their own when they were awarded a penalty in the Chiefs 22 metre and kicked for line. After a strong maul that took them straight up to the Chiefs tryline, Perenara was able to push some bigger men over to score his side's first try.
Most of the excitement came in the last 2 minutes of the fixture. On the 78th minute Michael Leitch was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle which meant he could go and get an early shower.
The Hurricanes used the advantage well and decided to spread the ball quickly to their outside men, with Julian Savea finding himself alone on the wing with the cover defence bearing down on him. He has scored in far more trying circumstances though and gassed the defenders for the line.
It looked as though the Hurricanes had won themselves a bonus point after being within seven points of their winners but McKenzie used a last-gasp penalty to remove them from losing-bonus point territory.
And the Brumbies get their 1st win of the season off the back of 2 losses against both the Crusaders & Sharks by topping the Australian conference, displacing the Western Force while the Highlanders held on for their 1st win of the season against the Blues to avenge the loss last year in miserable conditions so here's another news report about the match:
The Highlanders secured their 1st Super Rugby win of the season when they beat the Blues 16-12 in wet conditions Auckland on Saturday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a tight tussle with the result in the balance throughout the game although the standard of this game was not that of a usual New Zealand derby.
The Highlanders eventually outscored their hosts by one try to none, although the win could prove costly for the 2015 champions as both Waisake Naholo and Lima Sopoaga had to leave the field through injury.
Both sides committed several unforced handling errors in attack and their decision making was not of its normal high quality.
The Highlanders dominated early on and came close to opening the scoring as early as the sixth minute. This, after Richard Buckman gathered a pass from Naholo before offloading to Malakai Fekitoa, who had the ball knocked from his grasp while crossing the whitewash by Matt Duffie.
The visitors took the lead courtesy of a Lima Sopoaga penalty minutes later after the home side infringed on defence at a ruck.
Fekitoa made up for his earlier mishap when he pounced on an error by Rene Ranger and Michael Collins, who failed to deal with a bouncing ball inside their 22 - after a well-weighted box-kick from Aaron Smith.
The ball was eventually gathered by Fekitoa, who traded passes with Marty Banks, before diving over for the opening try.
Sopoaga slotted the conversion which meant the visitors were leading 10-0 midway through the half. The Blues upped the ante on attack and narrowed the gap via an Ihaia West penalty in the 24th minute after Richard Buckman infringed at a ruck.
On the half-hour mark, West narrowed the gap to four points when he slotted his second penalty after Luke Whitelock was penalised for a high tackle on Augustine Pulu.
The rest of the half was littered with handling errors and poor execution on attack from both sides and there was little enterprising play up to the interval.
Three minutes after the restart, Sopoaga extended his side's lead from the kicking tee after West was penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground.
It did not take long for the Blues to respond, however, and after the Highlanders defence was blown up for offside play on defence, West added his third penalty in the 50th minute.
The next 15 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to take control of proceedings but neither side could add any points during this period.
The Blues wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 65th minute when George Moala gathered a pass from Piers Francis close to the halfway line and made a superb break.
He was eventually hauled in by the cover defence close to the Highlanders try-line but his pass was intercepted by Buckman. Three minutes later, Francis narrowed the gap to a point when he converted his side's third penalty after the visitors were blown up for straying offside on defence again.
The last 10 minutes was a frantic affair as the Blues went in search of a try which would give them the win and although the Highlanders were reduced to 14 men when Gareth Evans was sent to the sin-bin in injury time - for a cynical defensive infringement close to his try line - they held on for their maiden win.
And the Crusaders remain unbeaten just like the Chiefs (But the Chiefs lead on points difference) by dispatching the Reds with a match winning penalty scored by first five-eighth Mitchell Hunt (The Crusaders had been awarded or should I say...given a penalty after one of the Reds players such as centre Samu Kerevi went off his feet because that is the rule that a player must be on their feet in a ruck) by snatching it right to the death with a miraculous comeback (Just like FC Barcelona did against Paris Saint Germain in the UEFA Champions League Round Of 16 but both the Hurricanes & Blues were trying to do a Barcelona esque comeback against the Chiefs & Highlanders respectively but they failed) by scoring 15 unanswered points just like the Sharks did against the Brumbies last week with another news report:
The Crusaders staged a remarkable second-half comeback to claim a 22-20 victory over the Reds in Brisbane.
Just like last week, when they fought back to beat the Highlanders in Dunedin, the 7 time champions were trailing on the scoreboard for most of this match but a Mitchell Hunt penalty in injury time secured them their 3rd win from as many matches in 2017.
The Reds had the better of the early exchanges and dominated territory and possession, but the Crusaders didn't panic and eventually outscored their hosts by 3 tries to 2 after trailing 20-7 at half-time.
The win moves the Crusaders into 2nd place on the New Zealand Conference – behind the Chiefs – while the Reds are in joint first place with the Brumbies although they could be overtaken by the Waratahs who play the Sharks in Durban later on Saturday.
The Reds made a superb start and opened the scoring in the 5th minute via a Quade Cooper penalty. The Crusaders were then dealt a blow when Israel Dagg was forced off the field with a knee injury.
The home side dominated the possession and territorial stakes during this period and increased their lead in the 12th minute when Samu Kerevi increased their lead with a trademark try.
This after gathering a pass from Cooper inside the visitors' 22 and then slipping through a tackle from Jack Goodhue. Cooper added the extras which meant the hosts led 10-0 and things went from bad to worse for the Crusaders 10 minutes later when, like Dagg, Seta Tamanivalu limped off with a crocked knee.
Shortly afterwards, Kerevi left his stamp on this match again – this time as provider – when he gathered a pass from Stephen Moore just inside the Crusaders' half and slipped out of a Codie Taylor tackle before setting off towards the visitors' try-line.
He still had work to do but did well to draw in a couple of defenders inside the visitors' 22 before throwing a long pass to Eto Nabuli who crossed for an easy try.
The visitors did not take long to respond though and 3 minutes later, former Reds wing Digby Ioane launched an attack before delivering a chip kick upfield.
The ball was gathered by Mitchell Drummond who went over the whitewash with two defenders on his back. Mitchell Hunt slotted the conversion but 5 minutes later, Cooper kicked a penalty which gave his side a 13-point lead at the break.
The 2nd half saw the visitors stepping up a few gears on attack although neither side added to their points tally during the first 20 minutes of the half.
The Reds had a chance to extend their lead in the 57th minute, after the Crusaders were blown up for illegal scrummaging, but Cooper's shot at goal was off target.
5 minutes later, the Crusaders narrowed the gap when Bryn Hall got over for their 2nd try after Hunt and George Bridge laid the groundwork in the build-up.
Hunt failed to slot the conversion and the visitors suffered a setback in the 69th minute when Jordan Taufua was sent to the sin bin for nearly punching Rob Simmons right in the nose.
That did not deter the Crusaders though and 4 minutes before full-time Hall scored his 2nd try after the visitors took the ball through several phases in the build-up.
With time running out on the clock, the visitors went in search of the win and they were rewarded in the game's closing stages when Hunt held his nerve to land that crucial penalty after Kerevi went off his feet at a ruck.
And in other Super Rugby news such as the Stormers maintain their position on top of the Africa 1 conference with a bonus point win over the Kings then the Cheetahs defeat the hapless Sunwolves in Bloemfontein while the Sharks go 2 in a row with replacement first five eighth Curwin Bosch leading the charge with a resounding victory over the Waratahs who are without inspirational players such as Bernard Foley & Will Skelton & finally the evergreen Jaguares from Argentina dispatching the Lions by 12 points over in Buenos Aires.
So that was Round 3 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 4:
Crusaders Vs Blues: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Rebels vs Chiefs: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Bulls vs Sunwolves: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Hurricanes vs Highlanders: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Waratahs vs Brumbies: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Lions vs Reds: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Sharks vs Kings: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
& the Jaguares Vs Cheetahs at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 4 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Force & Stormers taking a week off to prepare for Round 5).
And in the Six Nations as the rampant Wales who avenged their defeat against Scotland a fortnight ago with a win over Ireland when flanker Justin Tipuric celebrated his 50th cap in style while France claimed a victory over the luckless Italians in Rome by retaining the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy as Luca Sperandio of Italy and Antoine Dupont of France made their test debuts while hooker & captain Guilhem Guirado of France also celebrated his 50th test cap while the Eddie Jones (AKA The Savior/Second City Saint) coached England retain the 6 Nations sponsored by RBS by equalling the record with 18 consecutive victories with the All Blacks (England matched New Zealand's record of 18 consecutive wins set between August 2015 and October 2016) as they thrash Scotland 61 - 21 (Although centre Jonathan Joseph came back after missing 1 game against Italy a fortnight ago with a hat-trick of tries scored & created a try being scored by replacement wing Anthony Watson (So Joseph has been doing the David Campese just like in the 1991 Rugby World Cup semifinal for the Wallabies against the All Blacks by scoring a try then setting up a try scored by Tim Horan because his sensational man of the match performance reminds me of college football player turned FBI agent Johnny Utah from the Keanu Reeves movie Point Break) by retaining the Calcutta Cup as Joe Marler just like Tipuric & Guirado celebrated his 50th test while South African born Cornell du Preez made his test debut for Scotland while for a 2nd straight season, England clinched the Six Nations title with only 1 round to spare & the 61 points scored by England is the most ever scored against Scotland, and the 40-point margin equalled their previous largest winning margin set in 2001 (43–3) & the English won their 11th straight Six Nations match, a new all time championship record.
And finally what about the England rugby team eh? They head into the record books because now their 18 match winning streak is on the line as they face Ireland (Who caused chaos against the All Blacks in Chicago last year ending our hopes for an all time record because the Irish had their 1st win against us in the sport of rugby) in Dublin for a shot of the all time record (For most straight wins by a tier 1 rugby nation) next week in the final round of the 2017 Six Nations championship season.
So that is my unlucky 13th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 93rd overall (Only 7 to go until I reach the ton).
P.S. And we are going to New Plymouth tomorrow so I am looking forward to that because I have never been there for 8 years.
And the brand new Formula 1 season is upon us as the world's 2nd most popular sport behind the beautiful game of football/soccer, is about to start in a fortnight because I will be doing a preview of the 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship (Although the FIA Formula 1 World Championship has been held every year since 1950)...a week out from the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.
And finally Sophie has sent me an email again so here's her message in it's full entirety:
To my dearest whetu,
Hi whetu! Yes i finally got myself a room with flatmates, it is a lot better than staying in the backpackers with 10 people in the room. I also went to an interview for an ice cream job today so let's hope I can get the job so I will have money to visit wanganui more often.
I will come back to wanganui soon and I will meet you again! Love you
Sophia
Well, injuries...injuries, injuries, injuries. Now that is a bit of a problem for New Zealand rugby fans ahead of the highly anticipated British & Irish Lions rugby tour here in 3 months time so Nehe Milner-Skudder was the 1st to go followed by Waisake Naholo then Lima Sopoaga, Israel Dagg & Seta Tamanivalu as the All Blacks have a player injury crisis which had taken its toll so the 2017 Super Rugby season heads into its 3rd round, the Chiefs remain unbeaten by handing the Hurricanes our 1st loss of the season being played in miserable conditions in 'the Tron' so here's the news report about the match:
The Chiefs overcame an indisciplined Hurricanes side & the Hamilton deluge to win 26-18 on Friday.
It was disastrous conditions in the 1st half as both teams battled to get a decent string of moves together in the rain after knock-ons and handling errors marred the day. But the Chiefs stamped their dominance early on after 1st half tries from Brodie Retallick and Toni Pulu, with the boot of Damian McKenzie keeping them in the game. The Hurricanes' cause was blown when both flanker Ardie Savea and second-rower Michael Fatialofa were given yellow cards that overlapped.
With the win the Chiefs go top of the New Zealand conference after to 14 points while the Hurricanes take second place with the rest of the New Zealand sides still to play on 10 points after the Chiefs took the losing bonus point away from them in the final minute through a penalty from McKenzie.
It was interesting clash with the amount of All Black match ups taking place as Beauden Barrett took on Aaron Cruden, TJ Perenara vs Tawera Kerr-Barlow and McKenzie vs Nehe Milner-Skudder.
It was as a slow start to the game as neither side could get any points of the board for the first 10 minutes, as both seemed shocked at the state of the weather on the day.
Beauden Barrett scored the first points of the game when the Chiefs were penalised at the breakdown and finally after 14 minutes there were some points on the board.
After several waves of Chiefs drives towards the Hurricanes line, Ardie Savea was yellow carded for infringing at the maul as Chiefs hooker Hika Elliot was about to dot down. The home side took advantage of having the extra man and after sustained pressure on the Hurricanes line Brodie Retallick barged over the whitewash with Damian McKenzie adding the extras.
Moments later the Hurricanes closed the gap when Barrett kicked over another penalty making the score 7-6 to the home side.
The Hurricanes then picked up their 2nd yellow card when Hurricanes lock Michael Fatialofa punched the ball out of mid-air and the referee immediately called off play and gave Fatialofa a yellow card. It was more bad news for the Hurricanes as McKenzie kicked through another penalty widening the gap to four points.
The Chiefs added to their lead just before the end of the 1st half to score their second try. The home side had a scrum on the Hurricanes 10 metre line which halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow used well by running on the blind side with ball in hand before chipping behind the Hurricanes' defence for winger Toni Pulu to chase. Pulu did so with aplomb and grounded the ball with his chest. McKenzie's conversion made the half-time score 17-6.
After the rain seemed to have subsided over the half-time break the game opened up more in the 2nd half with the most of the momentum behind the Chiefs as they pressured the Hurricanes defence, and a try looked eminent before one of the Canes' front-rowers plucked the ball out of the air for the interception.
After the away side set up a few defensive rucks they were awarded a penalty and kicked for touch after a scintillating period of rugby.
The Chiefs, still had all the cards though as McKenzie slotted another penalty to extend his side's lead.
The Hurricanes finally scored a try of their own when they were awarded a penalty in the Chiefs 22 metre and kicked for line. After a strong maul that took them straight up to the Chiefs tryline, Perenara was able to push some bigger men over to score his side's first try.
Most of the excitement came in the last 2 minutes of the fixture. On the 78th minute Michael Leitch was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle which meant he could go and get an early shower.
The Hurricanes used the advantage well and decided to spread the ball quickly to their outside men, with Julian Savea finding himself alone on the wing with the cover defence bearing down on him. He has scored in far more trying circumstances though and gassed the defenders for the line.
It looked as though the Hurricanes had won themselves a bonus point after being within seven points of their winners but McKenzie used a last-gasp penalty to remove them from losing-bonus point territory.
And the Brumbies get their 1st win of the season off the back of 2 losses against both the Crusaders & Sharks by topping the Australian conference, displacing the Western Force while the Highlanders held on for their 1st win of the season against the Blues to avenge the loss last year in miserable conditions so here's another news report about the match:
The Highlanders secured their 1st Super Rugby win of the season when they beat the Blues 16-12 in wet conditions Auckland on Saturday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a tight tussle with the result in the balance throughout the game although the standard of this game was not that of a usual New Zealand derby.
The Highlanders eventually outscored their hosts by one try to none, although the win could prove costly for the 2015 champions as both Waisake Naholo and Lima Sopoaga had to leave the field through injury.
Both sides committed several unforced handling errors in attack and their decision making was not of its normal high quality.
The Highlanders dominated early on and came close to opening the scoring as early as the sixth minute. This, after Richard Buckman gathered a pass from Naholo before offloading to Malakai Fekitoa, who had the ball knocked from his grasp while crossing the whitewash by Matt Duffie.
The visitors took the lead courtesy of a Lima Sopoaga penalty minutes later after the home side infringed on defence at a ruck.
Fekitoa made up for his earlier mishap when he pounced on an error by Rene Ranger and Michael Collins, who failed to deal with a bouncing ball inside their 22 - after a well-weighted box-kick from Aaron Smith.
The ball was eventually gathered by Fekitoa, who traded passes with Marty Banks, before diving over for the opening try.
Sopoaga slotted the conversion which meant the visitors were leading 10-0 midway through the half. The Blues upped the ante on attack and narrowed the gap via an Ihaia West penalty in the 24th minute after Richard Buckman infringed at a ruck.
On the half-hour mark, West narrowed the gap to four points when he slotted his second penalty after Luke Whitelock was penalised for a high tackle on Augustine Pulu.
The rest of the half was littered with handling errors and poor execution on attack from both sides and there was little enterprising play up to the interval.
Three minutes after the restart, Sopoaga extended his side's lead from the kicking tee after West was penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground.
It did not take long for the Blues to respond, however, and after the Highlanders defence was blown up for offside play on defence, West added his third penalty in the 50th minute.
The next 15 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to take control of proceedings but neither side could add any points during this period.
The Blues wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 65th minute when George Moala gathered a pass from Piers Francis close to the halfway line and made a superb break.
He was eventually hauled in by the cover defence close to the Highlanders try-line but his pass was intercepted by Buckman. Three minutes later, Francis narrowed the gap to a point when he converted his side's third penalty after the visitors were blown up for straying offside on defence again.
The last 10 minutes was a frantic affair as the Blues went in search of a try which would give them the win and although the Highlanders were reduced to 14 men when Gareth Evans was sent to the sin-bin in injury time - for a cynical defensive infringement close to his try line - they held on for their maiden win.
And the Crusaders remain unbeaten just like the Chiefs (But the Chiefs lead on points difference) by dispatching the Reds with a match winning penalty scored by first five-eighth Mitchell Hunt (The Crusaders had been awarded or should I say...given a penalty after one of the Reds players such as centre Samu Kerevi went off his feet because that is the rule that a player must be on their feet in a ruck) by snatching it right to the death with a miraculous comeback (Just like FC Barcelona did against Paris Saint Germain in the UEFA Champions League Round Of 16 but both the Hurricanes & Blues were trying to do a Barcelona esque comeback against the Chiefs & Highlanders respectively but they failed) by scoring 15 unanswered points just like the Sharks did against the Brumbies last week with another news report:
The Crusaders staged a remarkable second-half comeback to claim a 22-20 victory over the Reds in Brisbane.
Just like last week, when they fought back to beat the Highlanders in Dunedin, the 7 time champions were trailing on the scoreboard for most of this match but a Mitchell Hunt penalty in injury time secured them their 3rd win from as many matches in 2017.
The Reds had the better of the early exchanges and dominated territory and possession, but the Crusaders didn't panic and eventually outscored their hosts by 3 tries to 2 after trailing 20-7 at half-time.
The win moves the Crusaders into 2nd place on the New Zealand Conference – behind the Chiefs – while the Reds are in joint first place with the Brumbies although they could be overtaken by the Waratahs who play the Sharks in Durban later on Saturday.
The Reds made a superb start and opened the scoring in the 5th minute via a Quade Cooper penalty. The Crusaders were then dealt a blow when Israel Dagg was forced off the field with a knee injury.
The home side dominated the possession and territorial stakes during this period and increased their lead in the 12th minute when Samu Kerevi increased their lead with a trademark try.
This after gathering a pass from Cooper inside the visitors' 22 and then slipping through a tackle from Jack Goodhue. Cooper added the extras which meant the hosts led 10-0 and things went from bad to worse for the Crusaders 10 minutes later when, like Dagg, Seta Tamanivalu limped off with a crocked knee.
Shortly afterwards, Kerevi left his stamp on this match again – this time as provider – when he gathered a pass from Stephen Moore just inside the Crusaders' half and slipped out of a Codie Taylor tackle before setting off towards the visitors' try-line.
He still had work to do but did well to draw in a couple of defenders inside the visitors' 22 before throwing a long pass to Eto Nabuli who crossed for an easy try.
The visitors did not take long to respond though and 3 minutes later, former Reds wing Digby Ioane launched an attack before delivering a chip kick upfield.
The ball was gathered by Mitchell Drummond who went over the whitewash with two defenders on his back. Mitchell Hunt slotted the conversion but 5 minutes later, Cooper kicked a penalty which gave his side a 13-point lead at the break.
The 2nd half saw the visitors stepping up a few gears on attack although neither side added to their points tally during the first 20 minutes of the half.
The Reds had a chance to extend their lead in the 57th minute, after the Crusaders were blown up for illegal scrummaging, but Cooper's shot at goal was off target.
5 minutes later, the Crusaders narrowed the gap when Bryn Hall got over for their 2nd try after Hunt and George Bridge laid the groundwork in the build-up.
Hunt failed to slot the conversion and the visitors suffered a setback in the 69th minute when Jordan Taufua was sent to the sin bin for nearly punching Rob Simmons right in the nose.
That did not deter the Crusaders though and 4 minutes before full-time Hall scored his 2nd try after the visitors took the ball through several phases in the build-up.
With time running out on the clock, the visitors went in search of the win and they were rewarded in the game's closing stages when Hunt held his nerve to land that crucial penalty after Kerevi went off his feet at a ruck.
And in other Super Rugby news such as the Stormers maintain their position on top of the Africa 1 conference with a bonus point win over the Kings then the Cheetahs defeat the hapless Sunwolves in Bloemfontein while the Sharks go 2 in a row with replacement first five eighth Curwin Bosch leading the charge with a resounding victory over the Waratahs who are without inspirational players such as Bernard Foley & Will Skelton & finally the evergreen Jaguares from Argentina dispatching the Lions by 12 points over in Buenos Aires.
So that was Round 3 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 4:
Crusaders Vs Blues: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Rebels vs Chiefs: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Bulls vs Sunwolves: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Hurricanes vs Highlanders: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Waratahs vs Brumbies: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Lions vs Reds: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Sharks vs Kings: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
& the Jaguares Vs Cheetahs at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 4 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Force & Stormers taking a week off to prepare for Round 5).
And in the Six Nations as the rampant Wales who avenged their defeat against Scotland a fortnight ago with a win over Ireland when flanker Justin Tipuric celebrated his 50th cap in style while France claimed a victory over the luckless Italians in Rome by retaining the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy as Luca Sperandio of Italy and Antoine Dupont of France made their test debuts while hooker & captain Guilhem Guirado of France also celebrated his 50th test cap while the Eddie Jones (AKA The Savior/Second City Saint) coached England retain the 6 Nations sponsored by RBS by equalling the record with 18 consecutive victories with the All Blacks (England matched New Zealand's record of 18 consecutive wins set between August 2015 and October 2016) as they thrash Scotland 61 - 21 (Although centre Jonathan Joseph came back after missing 1 game against Italy a fortnight ago with a hat-trick of tries scored & created a try being scored by replacement wing Anthony Watson (So Joseph has been doing the David Campese just like in the 1991 Rugby World Cup semifinal for the Wallabies against the All Blacks by scoring a try then setting up a try scored by Tim Horan because his sensational man of the match performance reminds me of college football player turned FBI agent Johnny Utah from the Keanu Reeves movie Point Break) by retaining the Calcutta Cup as Joe Marler just like Tipuric & Guirado celebrated his 50th test while South African born Cornell du Preez made his test debut for Scotland while for a 2nd straight season, England clinched the Six Nations title with only 1 round to spare & the 61 points scored by England is the most ever scored against Scotland, and the 40-point margin equalled their previous largest winning margin set in 2001 (43–3) & the English won their 11th straight Six Nations match, a new all time championship record.
And finally what about the England rugby team eh? They head into the record books because now their 18 match winning streak is on the line as they face Ireland (Who caused chaos against the All Blacks in Chicago last year ending our hopes for an all time record because the Irish had their 1st win against us in the sport of rugby) in Dublin for a shot of the all time record (For most straight wins by a tier 1 rugby nation) next week in the final round of the 2017 Six Nations championship season.
So that is my unlucky 13th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 93rd overall (Only 7 to go until I reach the ton).
P.S. And we are going to New Plymouth tomorrow so I am looking forward to that because I have never been there for 8 years.
And the brand new Formula 1 season is upon us as the world's 2nd most popular sport behind the beautiful game of football/soccer, is about to start in a fortnight because I will be doing a preview of the 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship (Although the FIA Formula 1 World Championship has been held every year since 1950)...a week out from the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.
And finally Sophie has sent me an email again so here's her message in it's full entirety:
To my dearest whetu,
Hi whetu! Yes i finally got myself a room with flatmates, it is a lot better than staying in the backpackers with 10 people in the room. I also went to an interview for an ice cream job today so let's hope I can get the job so I will have money to visit wanganui more often.
I will come back to wanganui soon and I will meet you again! Love you
Sophia
Saturday, 4 March 2017
Epic/Seven Nation Army: 2017 Super Rugby season Round 2 review
Well, it was yesterday that we had an Austrian dinner last night so I quite enjoyed that because it was a great experience (Although we had noodle canteen for dinner (Well I ate 2 3rd's of it so I had leftovers with eggs & pork crackling for lunch yesterday) on Friday but we went to the market yesterday so I had a spaghetti goreng for the main course of breakfast because we had cereal for our 1st course but for lunch today was chicken with greek salad & cauliflower rice & breakfast was cereal & croissants with moccachino for drinks).
Round 2 of the Super Rugby season got under way as the Force defeated the Reds 26 - 19 in the Australian derby despite Eto Nabuli getting a hat-trick for the Reds then on Friday, the Chiefs go 2 in a row against the 14 man Blues in the battle of the Bombays after blindside flanker Steven Luatua getting sent off for a head high tackle without the ball (It was direct contact with force (Compared to indirect contact with force which is an automatic penalty & direct contact without force which will always result in a yellow card offence) but I thought it was one of the most controversial decisions in the history of Super Rugby but it isn't because they got it right according to the current laws being in place since the 3rd of January this year) so here's the news report about it:
The Blues, reduced to 14-men just before half-time, could not stop a rampant Chiefs side scoring six tries to earn a 41-26 bonus point win.
Aaron Cruden led the Chiefs to a 41-26 bonus point win over the Blues after flanker Steven Luatua was red carded in Hamilton on Friday.
It was a competitive game throughout the first with the Blues and the Chiefs exchanging exciting runs. The Blues should have had a greater tally before the red card but fly-half Ihaia West failed to get the ball though the uprights on a number of occasions. The Chiefs had the advantage on the scoreboard after two tries from Liam Messam and Damian McKenzie in the first stanza but Luatua's 41-minute red card looked as though it had already sealed the victory.
The Chiefs now jump to top of the table with the bonus-point win, with the rest of the New Zealand conference still to play. The Blues are still tied for second with the Hurricanes in the same conference after their bonus point win last week.
Cruden had a near-perfect game as he kicked over 11 points to add to his side's tally while contributing three try assists in his side's six try romp of the 14-man Blues.
The Blues get on the scoreboard first when West nailed a penally after his side were awarded two penalties in a row and originally went for line but after a cross kick went awry they used their next opportunity to get the three points.
The home side replied quickly though as the Chiefs were given a penalty and kicked for touch. They used their line out drive well and rumbled over the line for Liam Messam to score. Cruden missed the extras, which proved costly moments later as West slotted another three-pointer and retook the lead making the score 6-5 to the Blues.
West kept the scoreboard ticking with another penalty from 40 metres out which looked uncharacteristic from a Blues that loves to the run the ball, but the decision worked for them as they extended their lead.
The Blues didn't get to hang onto their lead though as minutes later the Chiefs started an electric break from the halfway line, with Tim Nanai-Williams using his quick feet to dance around the opposition before giving it wide with the mercurial Damian McKenzie who scored in the corner. Cruden found some kicking form later in the half after adding another five points to his side through the conversion and a penalty.
West was given another opportunity to kick for goal in the 32nd minute but it hit the posts with the Chiefs kicking for touch and the Blues once again getting a penalty, the Chiefs' discipline proving to be a problem for the Hamilton men. Number eight Michael Leitch proving to be the culprit on two occasions after being caught not rolling away at the ruck, luckily for the Japanese international, West missed on both occasions.
The Chiefs almost scored a try before the halftime buzzer went when scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow took the ball from the back of the ruck, took the ball right up the Blues line before throwing a sneaky dummy which opened up a the smallest of gaps which allowed the number nine to skip through and run 40 metres but unfortunately for the number nine knocked it on just before touching down.
It wasn't the relief the Blues were looking for as the TMO went back to check a late, high hit from Luatua on Cruden, which the TMO deemed was a red card offence and the former All Black was sent off for the rest of the match. Moments later the Chiefs used the lack of men on the field to start a maul from the line out and hooker Hika Elliot scored his side's third try off the back of it. His try, coupled with Cruden's conversion took the Chiefs to a 22-9 lead at half time.
The Chiefs scored minutes into the second half after they used their one-man advantage ruthlessly as they bossed their opponents, who came out of the change rooms looking shell shocked. Anton Lienert-Brown almost scored, it was called back for a forward pass but the Chiefs were given another opportunity when they used their advantage in a maul for Lachlan Boshier to drive over. The Chiefs were well into bonus-point territory now.
James Lowe then added to the Blues' woes when they used a 22 metre line out and spread it wide, Johnny Faauli popped it to Cruden who saw the pressure was coming quickly and slapped it inside to Lowe who ran the try in to make the score 36-9 after the conversion at 50 minutes.
Cruden kick-started another a try this time through Lienert-Brown after the Chiefs ran the Blues ragged through some forward dominance before swinging the ball wide to Cruden who sucked in the defence and gave it short to the outside centre to score.
The Blues never know when they're beaten though as replacement lock Patrick Tuipulotu barged over the whitewash for his side's first try of the game. Ten minutes later, desperate to deny the opposition the bonus point, Charlie Faumuina also scored and closed the gap with West finally nailing a kick.
After Blues coach Tana Umaga flushed his bench onto the field, Rene Ranger's presence on the field was bound to equate into points at some stage. Which it did after the Blues pressured the Chiefs defence with some barnstorming runs before they swung it wide to Ranger, who was all by himself on the wing with plenty of space and before dotting down, threw his body weight into a Chiefs defender, to repel him.
The game ended 41-26.
And the Hurricanes remain on top of the New Zealand & overall conference as they demolish or thrash the Rebels 71 - 3 with Nehe Milner-Skudder (Rising All Black star in 2015 to missing All Black last year) returning from a serious shoulder injury (Although Milner-Skudder didn't play last week against the Sunwolves due to a minor hamstring injury picked up during the preseason match against the Crusaders at Waverley) against the Blues last year which kept him out for the season by producing a hat-trick of tries so here's the news report about the most other exciting but epic game being played in round 2:
The Hurricanes pummeled the hapless Rebels 71-6 after scoring 11 tries in Wellington including 40 points in the second half.
The half back pairing of Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara were instrumental in the dismantling of the Rebels. With some perfectly weighted chips, short passes and excellent vision, the duo creating four tries between the two of them.
The Rebels started well after being 6-0 up in the first 17 minutes by putting the Hurricanes under a lot of pressure at the ruck time with Reece's Hodge's boot punishing the Hurricanes from all over the park with his rocket-launcher of a boot but they could keep up the intensity and eventually succumbed the Hurricanes extraordinary skill.
The win sees the Hurricanes tie with the Chiefs at the top of the table on ten points after two consecutive bonus-point wins. The Rebels leave the game with nothing but bruised knees and egos.
The half back pairing of Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara were instrumental in the dismantling of the Rebels. With some perfectly weighted chips, short passes and excellent vision, the duo creating four tries between the two of them.
The Rebels started well after being 6-0 up in the first 17 minutes by putting the Hurricanes under a lot of pressure at the ruck time with Reece's Hodge's boot punishing the Hurricanes from all over the park with his rocket-launcher of a boot but they could keep up the intensity and eventually succumbed the Hurricanes extraordinary skill.
The win sees the Hurricanes tie with the Chiefs at the top of the table on ten points after two consecutive bonus-point wins. The Rebels leave the game with nothing but bruised knees and egos.
The first points of the game came through Rebels centre Reece Hodge after Hurricanes prop Jeffery To’omaga-Allen was caught offside at the ruck, meaning the Rebels led the game 3-0 2 minutes in. The Wallaby added to his score moments later when the home side conceded a penalty in their own 22 metre which was a gift for the centre and easily put the ball over.
Hurricanes had an opportunity to score when TJ Perenara kicked a beautifully weighted chip over the defence which he collected and ran into the Rebels 22 metre, where they were given a penalty after Nic Stirzaker tried to pluck the ball from the Canes side of the ruck illegally. The Hurricanes took a quick tap and were about to score before Perenara knocked it on, on the line.
The home side would get their first try when the Hurricanes were in a good attacking position just inside the Rebels 22 metre. Perenara flung it wide to Beauden Barrett who drifted across field, dragging the opposition defence with him before giving an inside pass to Nehe Milner-Skudder to score under the posts, for the best possible welcome back to Super Rugby.
The chip kicks were working well for the Canes as Barrett put another one in behind the line for Vince Aso to grab. The rookie winger collected the ball despite fierce competition from the opposition and scored. After Barrett's conversion it was 14-6 to the Hurricanes.
Ngani Laumape scored his side's third try of the match when the Hurricanes had a scrum on the five metre line, centre field. The home side gestured as though they were going to go blind but instead the number 12 ran a strong line on the shoulder of the scrum, where the ball was popped to him and barreled over the line. Barrett's kick for was charged down.
Aso then nabbed his side's fourth try of the match when the Hurricanes broke from their own 22 metre. Perenara was given the ball running wide where he drew the cover defence before giving a pop pass to Aso, the winger then ran up the field before the second wave of cover defence, and gave it back to Perenara and then the scrum-half gave it back to the winger for his second try. The home side led the Rebels 24-6.
It became child's play for the 'Canes as they scored their fifth try of the match with Matt Proctor went over for the try after the mercurial first five-eighth sent a long pass over the defence for the 13 to score. The half ended 31-6 to the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes perpetuated their momentum into the second half when Julian Savea got his first whiff of the ball and made a break, going one-on-one with the fullback before handing off to his brother Ardie Savea to score.
The Home side couldn't keep themselves off the score sheet as they scored this time through rookie number eight Reed Prinsep after he was given the ball close to the line before barging over. Minutes later Julian Savea finally got his own try after some quick interplay from the Hurricanes as they scored a team try, finished off by Savea.
The Rebels tried to get back into the by playing the Hurricanes at their own game and spreading it wide but they just didn't have the skill to compete and couldn't get momentum going after a slew of handling errors.
Milner-Skudder then got his second try of the game when he swan dived over the line for the score. Otere Black, who had just replaced Barrett at 10, missed the conversion. Moments later the fullback scored again after an injection of pace from Jordie Barrett took the Rebels by surprise and sent the ball out to the 15 to score. Making his side's tally 64-6.
Laumape grabbed a brace for himself when the inside centre snatched the ball against the run of play against the Rebels to score the intercept try.
The Hurricanes ended the game with another searing break but couldn't finish off the move not that it mattered as the they had already smited their opponents, grabbing five points from the fixture before they play fellow table toppers the Chiefs in Hamilton next week.
And the Crusaders have torn the Highlanders apart with a miraculous comeback victory after Highlanders centre Malakai Fekitoa was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous aerial challenge which resulted both tries scored by number 8 filling in for injured All Black captain Kieran Read, Whetu Douglas & centre turned winger Seta Tamanivalu so here is another news report about it:
The game got off to a slow start but came alive after the first half-hour mark when Gareth Evans scored his side's first try of the match. After that the Highlanders trio of Aaron Smith, Lima Sopoaga and Waisake Naholo were the conductors in the symphony of fantastic, running rugby from the home side.
And up until the 66th minute it looked as though the Highlanders had it in the bag till the Crusaders sparked a revolution and overturned the status quo, and would score three tries through David Havili, Whetu Douglas and Seta Tamanivalu.
Their second home loss in a row means the Highlanders stay rooted to the bottom of the New Zealand conference but do claim a losing bonus point from the fixture. While the Crusaders jump the Blues for third place in the conference and sit on 9 points.
Forsyth Barr Stadium became what you would expect the Colosseum was like in the height of the Roman empire. It was bloody and physical while the crowd roared with excitement with every whip-lashing collision.
After the first phase Highlanders flanker James Lentjes took a knock to the elbow which saw him go off the field with one minute on the clock which was the first taste of an intensely physical game between these two sides with casualties all over the pitch in the first 20 minutes.
The Crusaders drew first blood when the Highlanders were penalised which allowed Mitchell Hunt to take a shot at goal from 40 metres out, which he nailed and added the extras.
The visitors were eager to score as they created some exciting opportunities on the left wing but couldn't quite finish off the move with the Highlanders cover defence too well organised.
The Highlanders etched their first scribble on the score sheet after first-five eighth Sopoaga scored a penalty from 30 metres out equaling the scored 3-3. The prolific number 10 had another shot moments later but it fell by the wayside.
The home side then scored their 1st try of the season when they pulled a well-worked move that saw Waisake Naholo get the ball running at pace through the centre of the field before passing out wide to Gareth Evans to score with Sopoaga adding the extras. Moments late Hunt narrowed the gap with another penalty making the score line 10-6.
Naholo scored an incredible try on the 35th minute after the Highlanders had a scrum midfield. Aaron Smith grubbed the ball down field from the foot of the set-piece which Naholo collected and crossed the whitewash. The half ended 17-6 to the Highlanders.
The home side consolidated their lead in the second half when Sopoaga added another three points to the score board after the Crusaders were penalised behind their own 10 metre line.
Naholo then put his side into bonus-point territory after Sopoaga put in a fantastic chip over the Crusaders' defence which Malakai Fekitoa expertly plucked from mid air. He then sucked in the cover defence before popping inside to Naholo who ran 40 metres at full tilt to score.
The Crusaders almost crossed the whitewash 51 minutes in but their chance was expertly held up by Fekitoa, who wrapped his arms around the player and kept his hand under the ball, cancelling the try.
The visitors would get a try moments later though when the Crusaders were awarded a scrum on the Highlanders 5 metre line after Israel Dagg almost scored after an advantage. The Crusaders scrum proved to be too strong and in the process of pushing the Highlanders back, won themselves a penalty try.
As is if it had only struck them in the 60th minute, the Crusaders realised their forward pack was dominating the Highlanders in the collision area which they started to use to their advantage. They scored a try on the 66th minute when the visitors set up a maul midfield in the Highlanders 22 metre. The Crusaders went wide and David Havili scored in the corner.
The Highlanders' psychological hold on the game was all but lost after Fekitoa was sin binned for the remainder of the match when he was confused for Richard Buckman who was blown up for a high tackle. There was 7 minutes left in the game with the Highlanders in the lead but all the momentum was with the visitors.
And their momentum finally percolated into points after the Crusaders scored their 3rd try of the match through Whetu Douglas in the 75th minute with replacement number 10 Marty McKenzie slotting the conversion making it a two point game with five minutes left to play.
It seemed as though there was only one team on the field, as the Crusaders crossed the line again when they set up a fantastic run up the right side of the field for Seta Tamanivalu to win his side a famous comeback victory.
And finally the Sharks defeated the pluckless Brumbies after they snatched it right from the death to win while the Kings produced a victory against the Sunwolves in Singapore while the Waratahs were sawn off by losing against the strong Lions side then the Stormers finished off the Jaguares with a late try scored by SP Marais & of course, last but not least...The Cheetahs held on to win against the Bulls after losing to the dominant Lions last week.
So that was Round 2 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 3:
Chiefs Vs Hurricanes: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
Brumbies Vs Force: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Blues Vs Highlanders: Eden Park, Auckland
Reds Vs Crusaders, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kings Vs Stormers: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Cheetahs Vs Sunwolves: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Sharks Vs Waratahs: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
& the Jaguares Vs Lions at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 3 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Bulls & Rebels taking a week off to prepare for Round 4).
So that is my 12th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 92nd overall (Only 8 remain until I reach the milestone which is the 100 mark).
Round 2 of the Super Rugby season got under way as the Force defeated the Reds 26 - 19 in the Australian derby despite Eto Nabuli getting a hat-trick for the Reds then on Friday, the Chiefs go 2 in a row against the 14 man Blues in the battle of the Bombays after blindside flanker Steven Luatua getting sent off for a head high tackle without the ball (It was direct contact with force (Compared to indirect contact with force which is an automatic penalty & direct contact without force which will always result in a yellow card offence) but I thought it was one of the most controversial decisions in the history of Super Rugby but it isn't because they got it right according to the current laws being in place since the 3rd of January this year) so here's the news report about it:
The Blues, reduced to 14-men just before half-time, could not stop a rampant Chiefs side scoring six tries to earn a 41-26 bonus point win.
Aaron Cruden led the Chiefs to a 41-26 bonus point win over the Blues after flanker Steven Luatua was red carded in Hamilton on Friday.
It was a competitive game throughout the first with the Blues and the Chiefs exchanging exciting runs. The Blues should have had a greater tally before the red card but fly-half Ihaia West failed to get the ball though the uprights on a number of occasions. The Chiefs had the advantage on the scoreboard after two tries from Liam Messam and Damian McKenzie in the first stanza but Luatua's 41-minute red card looked as though it had already sealed the victory.
The Chiefs now jump to top of the table with the bonus-point win, with the rest of the New Zealand conference still to play. The Blues are still tied for second with the Hurricanes in the same conference after their bonus point win last week.
Cruden had a near-perfect game as he kicked over 11 points to add to his side's tally while contributing three try assists in his side's six try romp of the 14-man Blues.
The Blues get on the scoreboard first when West nailed a penally after his side were awarded two penalties in a row and originally went for line but after a cross kick went awry they used their next opportunity to get the three points.
The home side replied quickly though as the Chiefs were given a penalty and kicked for touch. They used their line out drive well and rumbled over the line for Liam Messam to score. Cruden missed the extras, which proved costly moments later as West slotted another three-pointer and retook the lead making the score 6-5 to the Blues.
West kept the scoreboard ticking with another penalty from 40 metres out which looked uncharacteristic from a Blues that loves to the run the ball, but the decision worked for them as they extended their lead.
The Blues didn't get to hang onto their lead though as minutes later the Chiefs started an electric break from the halfway line, with Tim Nanai-Williams using his quick feet to dance around the opposition before giving it wide with the mercurial Damian McKenzie who scored in the corner. Cruden found some kicking form later in the half after adding another five points to his side through the conversion and a penalty.
West was given another opportunity to kick for goal in the 32nd minute but it hit the posts with the Chiefs kicking for touch and the Blues once again getting a penalty, the Chiefs' discipline proving to be a problem for the Hamilton men. Number eight Michael Leitch proving to be the culprit on two occasions after being caught not rolling away at the ruck, luckily for the Japanese international, West missed on both occasions.
The Chiefs almost scored a try before the halftime buzzer went when scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow took the ball from the back of the ruck, took the ball right up the Blues line before throwing a sneaky dummy which opened up a the smallest of gaps which allowed the number nine to skip through and run 40 metres but unfortunately for the number nine knocked it on just before touching down.
It wasn't the relief the Blues were looking for as the TMO went back to check a late, high hit from Luatua on Cruden, which the TMO deemed was a red card offence and the former All Black was sent off for the rest of the match. Moments later the Chiefs used the lack of men on the field to start a maul from the line out and hooker Hika Elliot scored his side's third try off the back of it. His try, coupled with Cruden's conversion took the Chiefs to a 22-9 lead at half time.
The Chiefs scored minutes into the second half after they used their one-man advantage ruthlessly as they bossed their opponents, who came out of the change rooms looking shell shocked. Anton Lienert-Brown almost scored, it was called back for a forward pass but the Chiefs were given another opportunity when they used their advantage in a maul for Lachlan Boshier to drive over. The Chiefs were well into bonus-point territory now.
James Lowe then added to the Blues' woes when they used a 22 metre line out and spread it wide, Johnny Faauli popped it to Cruden who saw the pressure was coming quickly and slapped it inside to Lowe who ran the try in to make the score 36-9 after the conversion at 50 minutes.
Cruden kick-started another a try this time through Lienert-Brown after the Chiefs ran the Blues ragged through some forward dominance before swinging the ball wide to Cruden who sucked in the defence and gave it short to the outside centre to score.
The Blues never know when they're beaten though as replacement lock Patrick Tuipulotu barged over the whitewash for his side's first try of the game. Ten minutes later, desperate to deny the opposition the bonus point, Charlie Faumuina also scored and closed the gap with West finally nailing a kick.
After Blues coach Tana Umaga flushed his bench onto the field, Rene Ranger's presence on the field was bound to equate into points at some stage. Which it did after the Blues pressured the Chiefs defence with some barnstorming runs before they swung it wide to Ranger, who was all by himself on the wing with plenty of space and before dotting down, threw his body weight into a Chiefs defender, to repel him.
The game ended 41-26.
And the Hurricanes remain on top of the New Zealand & overall conference as they demolish or thrash the Rebels 71 - 3 with Nehe Milner-Skudder (Rising All Black star in 2015 to missing All Black last year) returning from a serious shoulder injury (Although Milner-Skudder didn't play last week against the Sunwolves due to a minor hamstring injury picked up during the preseason match against the Crusaders at Waverley) against the Blues last year which kept him out for the season by producing a hat-trick of tries so here's the news report about the most other exciting but epic game being played in round 2:
The Hurricanes pummeled the hapless Rebels 71-6 after scoring 11 tries in Wellington including 40 points in the second half.
The half back pairing of Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara were instrumental in the dismantling of the Rebels. With some perfectly weighted chips, short passes and excellent vision, the duo creating four tries between the two of them.
The Rebels started well after being 6-0 up in the first 17 minutes by putting the Hurricanes under a lot of pressure at the ruck time with Reece's Hodge's boot punishing the Hurricanes from all over the park with his rocket-launcher of a boot but they could keep up the intensity and eventually succumbed the Hurricanes extraordinary skill.
The win sees the Hurricanes tie with the Chiefs at the top of the table on ten points after two consecutive bonus-point wins. The Rebels leave the game with nothing but bruised knees and egos.
The half back pairing of Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara were instrumental in the dismantling of the Rebels. With some perfectly weighted chips, short passes and excellent vision, the duo creating four tries between the two of them.
The Rebels started well after being 6-0 up in the first 17 minutes by putting the Hurricanes under a lot of pressure at the ruck time with Reece's Hodge's boot punishing the Hurricanes from all over the park with his rocket-launcher of a boot but they could keep up the intensity and eventually succumbed the Hurricanes extraordinary skill.
The win sees the Hurricanes tie with the Chiefs at the top of the table on ten points after two consecutive bonus-point wins. The Rebels leave the game with nothing but bruised knees and egos.
The first points of the game came through Rebels centre Reece Hodge after Hurricanes prop Jeffery To’omaga-Allen was caught offside at the ruck, meaning the Rebels led the game 3-0 2 minutes in. The Wallaby added to his score moments later when the home side conceded a penalty in their own 22 metre which was a gift for the centre and easily put the ball over.
Hurricanes had an opportunity to score when TJ Perenara kicked a beautifully weighted chip over the defence which he collected and ran into the Rebels 22 metre, where they were given a penalty after Nic Stirzaker tried to pluck the ball from the Canes side of the ruck illegally. The Hurricanes took a quick tap and were about to score before Perenara knocked it on, on the line.
The home side would get their first try when the Hurricanes were in a good attacking position just inside the Rebels 22 metre. Perenara flung it wide to Beauden Barrett who drifted across field, dragging the opposition defence with him before giving an inside pass to Nehe Milner-Skudder to score under the posts, for the best possible welcome back to Super Rugby.
The chip kicks were working well for the Canes as Barrett put another one in behind the line for Vince Aso to grab. The rookie winger collected the ball despite fierce competition from the opposition and scored. After Barrett's conversion it was 14-6 to the Hurricanes.
Ngani Laumape scored his side's third try of the match when the Hurricanes had a scrum on the five metre line, centre field. The home side gestured as though they were going to go blind but instead the number 12 ran a strong line on the shoulder of the scrum, where the ball was popped to him and barreled over the line. Barrett's kick for was charged down.
Aso then nabbed his side's fourth try of the match when the Hurricanes broke from their own 22 metre. Perenara was given the ball running wide where he drew the cover defence before giving a pop pass to Aso, the winger then ran up the field before the second wave of cover defence, and gave it back to Perenara and then the scrum-half gave it back to the winger for his second try. The home side led the Rebels 24-6.
It became child's play for the 'Canes as they scored their fifth try of the match with Matt Proctor went over for the try after the mercurial first five-eighth sent a long pass over the defence for the 13 to score. The half ended 31-6 to the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes perpetuated their momentum into the second half when Julian Savea got his first whiff of the ball and made a break, going one-on-one with the fullback before handing off to his brother Ardie Savea to score.
The Home side couldn't keep themselves off the score sheet as they scored this time through rookie number eight Reed Prinsep after he was given the ball close to the line before barging over. Minutes later Julian Savea finally got his own try after some quick interplay from the Hurricanes as they scored a team try, finished off by Savea.
The Rebels tried to get back into the by playing the Hurricanes at their own game and spreading it wide but they just didn't have the skill to compete and couldn't get momentum going after a slew of handling errors.
Milner-Skudder then got his second try of the game when he swan dived over the line for the score. Otere Black, who had just replaced Barrett at 10, missed the conversion. Moments later the fullback scored again after an injection of pace from Jordie Barrett took the Rebels by surprise and sent the ball out to the 15 to score. Making his side's tally 64-6.
Laumape grabbed a brace for himself when the inside centre snatched the ball against the run of play against the Rebels to score the intercept try.
The Hurricanes ended the game with another searing break but couldn't finish off the move not that it mattered as the they had already smited their opponents, grabbing five points from the fixture before they play fellow table toppers the Chiefs in Hamilton next week.
And the Crusaders have torn the Highlanders apart with a miraculous comeback victory after Highlanders centre Malakai Fekitoa was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous aerial challenge which resulted both tries scored by number 8 filling in for injured All Black captain Kieran Read, Whetu Douglas & centre turned winger Seta Tamanivalu so here is another news report about it:
The game got off to a slow start but came alive after the first half-hour mark when Gareth Evans scored his side's first try of the match. After that the Highlanders trio of Aaron Smith, Lima Sopoaga and Waisake Naholo were the conductors in the symphony of fantastic, running rugby from the home side.
And up until the 66th minute it looked as though the Highlanders had it in the bag till the Crusaders sparked a revolution and overturned the status quo, and would score three tries through David Havili, Whetu Douglas and Seta Tamanivalu.
Their second home loss in a row means the Highlanders stay rooted to the bottom of the New Zealand conference but do claim a losing bonus point from the fixture. While the Crusaders jump the Blues for third place in the conference and sit on 9 points.
Forsyth Barr Stadium became what you would expect the Colosseum was like in the height of the Roman empire. It was bloody and physical while the crowd roared with excitement with every whip-lashing collision.
After the first phase Highlanders flanker James Lentjes took a knock to the elbow which saw him go off the field with one minute on the clock which was the first taste of an intensely physical game between these two sides with casualties all over the pitch in the first 20 minutes.
The Crusaders drew first blood when the Highlanders were penalised which allowed Mitchell Hunt to take a shot at goal from 40 metres out, which he nailed and added the extras.
The visitors were eager to score as they created some exciting opportunities on the left wing but couldn't quite finish off the move with the Highlanders cover defence too well organised.
The Highlanders etched their first scribble on the score sheet after first-five eighth Sopoaga scored a penalty from 30 metres out equaling the scored 3-3. The prolific number 10 had another shot moments later but it fell by the wayside.
The home side then scored their 1st try of the season when they pulled a well-worked move that saw Waisake Naholo get the ball running at pace through the centre of the field before passing out wide to Gareth Evans to score with Sopoaga adding the extras. Moments late Hunt narrowed the gap with another penalty making the score line 10-6.
Naholo scored an incredible try on the 35th minute after the Highlanders had a scrum midfield. Aaron Smith grubbed the ball down field from the foot of the set-piece which Naholo collected and crossed the whitewash. The half ended 17-6 to the Highlanders.
The home side consolidated their lead in the second half when Sopoaga added another three points to the score board after the Crusaders were penalised behind their own 10 metre line.
Naholo then put his side into bonus-point territory after Sopoaga put in a fantastic chip over the Crusaders' defence which Malakai Fekitoa expertly plucked from mid air. He then sucked in the cover defence before popping inside to Naholo who ran 40 metres at full tilt to score.
The Crusaders almost crossed the whitewash 51 minutes in but their chance was expertly held up by Fekitoa, who wrapped his arms around the player and kept his hand under the ball, cancelling the try.
The visitors would get a try moments later though when the Crusaders were awarded a scrum on the Highlanders 5 metre line after Israel Dagg almost scored after an advantage. The Crusaders scrum proved to be too strong and in the process of pushing the Highlanders back, won themselves a penalty try.
As is if it had only struck them in the 60th minute, the Crusaders realised their forward pack was dominating the Highlanders in the collision area which they started to use to their advantage. They scored a try on the 66th minute when the visitors set up a maul midfield in the Highlanders 22 metre. The Crusaders went wide and David Havili scored in the corner.
The Highlanders' psychological hold on the game was all but lost after Fekitoa was sin binned for the remainder of the match when he was confused for Richard Buckman who was blown up for a high tackle. There was 7 minutes left in the game with the Highlanders in the lead but all the momentum was with the visitors.
And their momentum finally percolated into points after the Crusaders scored their 3rd try of the match through Whetu Douglas in the 75th minute with replacement number 10 Marty McKenzie slotting the conversion making it a two point game with five minutes left to play.
It seemed as though there was only one team on the field, as the Crusaders crossed the line again when they set up a fantastic run up the right side of the field for Seta Tamanivalu to win his side a famous comeback victory.
And finally the Sharks defeated the pluckless Brumbies after they snatched it right from the death to win while the Kings produced a victory against the Sunwolves in Singapore while the Waratahs were sawn off by losing against the strong Lions side then the Stormers finished off the Jaguares with a late try scored by SP Marais & of course, last but not least...The Cheetahs held on to win against the Bulls after losing to the dominant Lions last week.
So that was Round 2 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 3:
Chiefs Vs Hurricanes: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
Brumbies Vs Force: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Blues Vs Highlanders: Eden Park, Auckland
Reds Vs Crusaders, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kings Vs Stormers: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Cheetahs Vs Sunwolves: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Sharks Vs Waratahs: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
& the Jaguares Vs Lions at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 3 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Bulls & Rebels taking a week off to prepare for Round 4).
So that is my 12th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 92nd overall (Only 8 remain until I reach the milestone which is the 100 mark).
Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Alive/Boom/Youth Of The Nation: Blog number XI of 2017 (MMXVII)
Well, it was today that we had breakfast this morning so we went to see my old flat at 28 Koromiko Road where my Dad lives before we went to Mitre 10, The Warehouse & Steve O's before Pops dropped me off so I could play Playstation so I played that F1 2016 game because I was racing at Singapore with eventual world champion Nico Rosberg because he won in Singapore so I played Australia on Sunday with Rosberg, Monaco on Monday & Canada on Tuesday with Lewis Hamilton, & Azerbaijan yesterday with Rosberg so I was recreating the races last season because I like all street circuits in Formula 1 so there is all 5 of them that I like which is Melbourne, Monte Carlo, Montreal, Baku & Singapore & well I thought Russia was a street circuit but I found out that it is a road circuit instead. And after I played the F1 game, we went to 25 Somme Parade restaurant where we had an amazing lunch because I had a Fettucine Carbonara for a big meal because we're having chili beans with eggs for a light meal & we had a white chocolate cheesecake & iced coffee for dessert before heading off to New World then we headed back to pack all the stuff then to Nan's grave where we saw Nan's headstone & after that, I always ask Poppa 3 simple questions every week after we have been to Nan's grave which are ''Have you been isolated?'', ''Was there any lateral passes?'' & of course, ''How about fumbles?'' before I said to Poppa ''Any things nearby?''. And so that was it so here I am now doing my blog for today so my plans for today are watching Prime News: First At 5:30 then TVNZ 1 news as well as watching my favourite programme on at half past 7 which is MacGyver (A remake of the original which I have never seen).
So that is my 11th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 91st overall (Only 9 left till my century).
P.S. And Sophie the Malaysian Princess has sent me an email so here's her message in it's entirety (I haven't sent Sophie an email in 7 months since August last year):
To my dearest whetu,
Yes I'm back in New Zealand and studying in Wellington! Sorry I haven't emailed because all the visa I have to deal with hahaha it's a complicated process but I've made it!
I hope you are well! And we will meet again really really soon!
Love
Sophia
So that is my 11th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 91st overall (Only 9 left till my century).
P.S. And Sophie the Malaysian Princess has sent me an email so here's her message in it's entirety (I haven't sent Sophie an email in 7 months since August last year):
To my dearest whetu,
Yes I'm back in New Zealand and studying in Wellington! Sorry I haven't emailed because all the visa I have to deal with hahaha it's a complicated process but I've made it!
I hope you are well! And we will meet again really really soon!
Love
Sophia
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