Hero/Monster: All Blacks team naming against the Springboks & Singapore Grand Prix preview

Well, the All Blacks have named their team against the strong Springboks side for round 4 of the Rugby Championship at QBE Stadium in Albany for our last Aotearoa test of 2017 so here is the starting lineup:

FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Kane Hames (Tasman/Chiefs)
2 (Hooker): Dane Coles (Wellington/Hurricanes)
3 (Tight head prop): Nepo Laulala (Counties Manukau/Chiefs)

SECOND ROW
4 (Lock): Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay/Chiefs)
5 (Lock): Sam Whitelock (Canterbury/Crusaders)

BACK ROW
6 (Blindside Flanker): Liam Squire (Tasman/Highlanders)
7 (Openside Flanker): Sam Cane (Bay Of Plenty/Chiefs)
8 (Number 8): Kieran Read (Captain, Counties Manukau/Crusaders)

HALVES
9 (Half-back): Aaron Smith (Manawatu/Highlanders)
10 (First five eighth): Beauden Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes)

MIDFIELD
12 (Second five eighth): Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau/Blues)
13 (Centre): Ryan Crotty (Canterbury/Crusaders)

OUTSIDE BACKS
11 (Left Wing): Rieko Ioane (Auckland/Blues)
14 (Right Wing): Nehe Milner-Skudder (Manawatu/Hurricanes)
& 15 (Fullback): Damian McKenzie (Waikato/Chiefs)

And in the reserves are:

16. Codie Taylor
17. Wyatt Crockett
18. Ofa Tu'ungafasi
19. Scott Barrett
20. Ardie Savea (Who will start on the bench with Sam Cane returning to the starting lineup)
21. TJ Perenara (Replaces Tawera Kerr-Barlow with Aaron Smith also returning to the starting lineup)
22. Lima Sopoaga
& 23. Anton Lienert-Brown (Who replaces Ngani Laumape with Ryan Crotty coming back after being rested for the match against Argentina).

And finally the F1 circus is heading back to Asia from Europe with Singapore hosting round 14 of the 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship with the race being held under lights at the street circuit located in Marina Bay since it was 1st held in 2008. And with Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) in the Mercedes hoping to go one better (Well, I predicted Lewis Hamilton's victory in Singapore by playing that F1 2017 game that I always love now) after taking over the lead of the championship following back to back victories in Belgium & Italy (He has 6 victories so far in the 2017 season compared to Vettel's 4, Bottas's 2 & Ricciardo's 1).

And here is the circuit guide which will host the Singapore Grand Prix (It's round 14 of the Formula 1 World Championship before the Grand Prix heads to Malaysia (Sepang) then Japan (Suzuka), USA (Austin), Mexico (Mexico City), Brazil (Interlagos) & the season finale at Abu Dhabi (And it's only 7 races left in the 2017 season) in the UAE (United Arab Emirates):

''Adventurous project on streets of business district & alongside Marina Bay, Introduced in 2008: the 1st Grand Prix to be run at night. Paid off handsomely. Rapidly became one of the most popular - & different - Grands Prix on the calendar. Bumpy surface, angular corners & humidity make it a tough test.''

So that is my 143rd blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 63rd this year.