The year in review (Part 6 AKA #TheGrandFinaleIII)

Well, it all comes down to this because this is the final part of my year in review so here's another of those best blogs with the most views of the month from the November - December (Excluding the 6 part year in review) period beginning with All Blacks team naming against Italy:

Well, after our devastating, heart breaking & gut wrenching loss against the Irish, the All Blacks have named their team against Italy (Our pool opponents at next years Rugby World Cup in Japan) for our final rugby test match of the year (Well, can we wrap up 2018 with a win?) at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome so here is the starting lineup in it's entirety:

FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Auckland/Blues)
2 (Hooker): Dane Coles (Wellington/Hurricanes)
3 (Tight head prop): Nepo Laulala (Counties Manukau/Chiefs)

SECOND ROW
4 (Lock): Patrick Tuipulotu (Auckland/Blues)
5 (Lock): Scott Barrett (Taranaki/Crusaders)

BACK ROW
6 (Blindside Flanker): Vaea Fifita (Wellington/Hurricanes)
7 (Openside Flanker): Ardie Savea (Wellington/Hurricanes)
8 (Number 8): Kieran Read (Captain, Canterbury/Crusaders)

HALVES
9 (Half-back): TJ Perenara (Wellington/Hurricanes)
10 (First five eighth): Beauden Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes)

MIDFIELD
12 (Second five eighth): Ngani Laumape (Manawatu/Hurricanes)
13 (Centre): Anton Lienert-Brown (Waikato/Chiefs)

OUTSIDE BACKS
11 (Left Wing): Waisake Naholo (Taranaki/Highlanders)
14 (Right Wing): Jordie Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes)
& 15 (Fullback): Damian McKenzie (Waikato/Chiefs)

And in the reserves are:

16. Nathan Harris (Who replaces Dane Coles with Coles elevated to the starting lineup to replace Codie Taylor)
17. Karl Tu'inukuafe (Who is dropped to the bench to replace Ofa Tu'ungafasi with Tu'ungafasi elevated to the starting lineup)
18. Angus Ta'avao (Who also replaces Nepo Laulala with Laulala elevated to the starting lineup to replace Owen Franks)
19. Brodie Retallick (Who is dropped to the bench to replace Scott Barrett with Scott Barrett elevated to the starting lineup to replace Sam Whitelock)
20. Dalton Papali'i (Who replaces Matt Todd to cover at the open side flanker position)
21. Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (Who also replaces TJ Perenara with Perenara elevated to the starting lineup to replace Aaron Smith)
22. Richie Mo'unga
& 23. Rieko Ioane (Who is also dropped to the bench to replace Anton Lienert-Brown with Lienert-Brown elevated to the starting lineup to replace Jack Goodhue).

And the 2nd one is taken from Italy Vs All Blacks review (My very last rugby report of 2018):

Well, the All Blacks have completed the year 2018 in style, finishing it off with a win against Italy (AB's utility back Jordie Barrett was the hero of that test match, scoring 4 tries just like his brother Beauden did against the Wallabies at Eden Park in Auckland during the month of August this year while Damian McKenzie got a hat trick of tries as well (Just like Rieko Ioane did against France at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin & Ngani Laumape against Japan at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu, Tokyo) so here is the match commentary provided by Newshub:

Kia ora and welcome into Newshub's live updates between the All Blacks and Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The test is the final match of the year for both teams.

In total there are 11 changes to the starting side with an all-new tight five, midfield and wing pairing the most significant changes to the team.

Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie have retained the 10 and 15 jerseys respectively with Jordie Barrett slotting onto the right wing and TJ Perenara coming in at halfback.

The final change from last week’s starting fifteen against Ireland is Vaea Fifita at blindside flanker in place of the injured Liam Squire.

Line-ups

All Blacks

1-Ofa Tuungafasi, 2-Dane Coles, 3-Nepo Laulala, 4-Patrick Tuipulotu, 5-Scott Barrett, 6-Vaea Fifita, 7-Ardie Savea, 8-Kieran Read (c), 9-TJ Perenara, 10-Beauden Barrett , 11- Waisake Naholo, 12-Ngani Laumape, 13-Anton Lienert-Brown, 14-Jordie Barrett, 15-Damian McKenzie

Reserves: 16-Nathan Harris, 17-Karl Tu'inukuafe, 18-Angus Ta'avao, 19-Brodie Retallick, 20-Dalton Papali'i, 21-Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22-Richie Mo'unga, 23-Rieko Ioane.

Italy

1-Andrea Lovotti, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 3-Simone Ferrari, 4-Alessandro Zanni, 5-Dean Budd, 6-Sebastian Negri, 7-Jake Polledri, 8-Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 9-Tito Tebaldi, 10-Tommaso Allan, 11-Luca Sperandio, 12-Tommaso Castello, 13-Michele Campagnaro, 14-Tommaso Benvenuti, 15-Jayden Hayward

Replacements: 16-Luca Bigi, 17-Cherif Traore, 18-Tiziano Pasquali, 19-Marco Fuser, 20-Johan Meyer, 21-Guglielmo Palazzani, 22-Luca Morisi, 23-Edoardo Padovani.

Head-to-head and past results

Played: 14
Won: All Blacks 14

Previous results:

2016: New Zealand won 68-10 in Rome
2012: New Zealand won 42-10 in Rome
2009: New Zealand won 20-6 in Milan
2009: New Zealand won 27-6 in Christchurch
2007: New Zealand won 76-14 in Marsellie (RWC)

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gaüzère (France), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

2:25 AM: The match is due to start in just over 30 minutes. This is the last All Blacks test of the year.

2:35 AM: Last week, Italy lost to Australia 26-7, while the All Blacks lost to Ireland 16-9.

2:45 AM: We're now 15 minutes away. Both teams are back in the sheds and will be back out shortly for the anthems and then the haka.

2:51 AM: The stadium isn't full which is off to see in an All Blacks test admittedly. Both teams emerge from the sheds and are out on the field.

2:53 AM: There is a choir singing in the New Zealand anthem and they sound great doing it. Something different instead of music blasting out of the speakers.

2:56 AM: The 2 Kiwis in the Italian squad - Dean Budd and Jayden Hayward - are both pictured singing Italy's anthem with lots of passion.

2:57 AM: Kieran Read is leading the haka which i've never seen before. TJ Perenara is at the front where Read is usually placed.

2:58 AM: As talked about yesterday, most of the All Blacks are wearing rainbow laces.

KICK OFF: We're underway in Rome. Beauden Barrett gets us underway.

1ST MINUTE: Early line out to the All Blacks and captain Read wins it on the halfway line. New Zealand drive forward, but the maul goes to ground, and Italy wins the turnover.

3RD MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): After multiple re-sets, Italy wins a free kick and they take a quick tap.

4TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks get the ball, but a loose carry means Italy go on the counter attack. There was another fumble and the referee says "no advantage" and Italy have another scrum.

6TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): Penalty to NZ, and they take the quick tap and TJ Perenara kicks the ball forward.

7TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: The All Blacks are caught offside and now Italy has another penalty. They kick for touch, but their line out throw isn't straight, so we have another scrum...

9TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: TJ Perenara is over for New Zealand. They caught Italy napping. They attack down the right wing, and Jordie Barrett passes the ball back infield and Perenara dives over.

10TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION MISS: A poor coversion by Beauden Barrett and the All Blacks have a 5-0 lead.

11TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Italy get inside the All Blacks' 22 for the first time as Luca Sperandio goes on a big run.

13TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), PENALTY: Penalty to the hosts. They will kick for goal here.
PENALTY GOAL ITALY: Tommaso Allan lands the penalty attempt and now the score is 5-3 to New Zealand.

14TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): All Blacks knock the ball on from the re-start.

15TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Another free kick to Italy from the scrum. They take the tap and go for it.

16TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Time is off here but referee Andrew Brace is down with a knee injury. The medics come on and use some magic spray and water on the Irishman's knee. Hopefully he doens't need to go off with injury.

17TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: Play resumes and the All Blacks had a penalty so they kick for touch.

18TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie goes in under the posts. That was a beauty. Kieran Read attacks the line and somehow gets the ball to Patrick Tuipulotu, who runs a great line and a simple draw and pass to his fullbacks sends him through.

19TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION: Beauden Barrett lands the conversion. All Blacks lead 12-3.

21ST MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): Italy building some phases together, but then a poor pass goes to ground and then Dane Coles kicks the ball away. What can't Coles do?

22ND MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Scrum to the All Blacks after Italy drops the ball just inside NZ's half.

24TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): Big news here as Andrew Brace is leaving the field. The Irishman has a knee injury. He had it looked at earlier but he is in pain (And is unable to continue). Assistant Pascal Gaüzère will take his place, but then who replaces the Frenchman on the sideline?

25TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Play resumes with a scrum to Italy.

26TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: Penalty to the All Blacks and they kick for touch and they will have a line out inside the 22.

27TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie has a brace. Nice easy try as Beauden Barrett gets the ball, and grubbers the ball through and the fullback scores. The in-goals are massive so plenty of space to try kicks like that.

29TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION MISS: Another missed conversion by Barrett as the All Blacks lead 17-3.

30TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: Penalty to Italy. They could kick for goal here, but they opt to kick for touch. They'll have a line out about 10 out from the line.

32ND MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett gets in on the scoring as he finishes off a move started inside their half. Ardie Savea turns the ball over and they counter. Dane Coles makes a break and finds Damian McKenzie who then gives it to Barrett to score under the posts.

33RD MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Beauden Barrett lands the conversion. All Blacks lead 24-3.

35TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): The All Blacks have an attacking line out here. Can they score their fifth here.

37TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): The All Blacks are just messing with Italy now. They nearly score an amazing five-pointer, but the last pass from Jordie Barrett to TJ Perenara is forward. Vaea Fifita goes on a big run which involved about five or six of the players.

38TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SUBSTITUTION: Marco Fuser comes on for Alessandro Zanni.

39TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: Penalty to New Zealand as a mini scuffle breaks out. Nothing serious. All Blacks will look for one more try before halftime.

40TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: Another penalty to NZ. They really want that 5th try right now.

40TH MINUTE + 3RD MINUTE (3 MINUTES LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett has his brace now as he scores a rugby league-esque try. Beauden Barrett gets the ball and kicks out to the wing where his brother is one-on-one with Jayden Hayward, and he soars through the air and catches the ball to score in the corner (Well, Beauden Barrett hasn't been doing a lot of his cross field kicking lately this year).

HALFTIME, CONVERSION: Beauden Barrett lands the conversion and the All Blacks lead 31-3 at the break. Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett both have two tries while TJ Perenara has the All Blacks' other.

40TH MINUTE: The 2nd half is underway in Rome. Pascal Gaüzère (Who took over from the injured Andrew Brace) blows his whistle as Tommaso Allan gets us started.

42ND MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): Italy with the ball inside the All Blacks' half with a penalty advantage.

43RD MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: But their advantage comes to nothing as the All Blacks win a penalty and now they're just outside Italy's 22.

44TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Ngani Laumape gets in on the scoring act as some great offloading gets the second-five into space to score near the posts.

45TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION: The conversion goes over. The All Blacks lead 38-3.

46TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Now Beauden Barrett scores for the All Blacks. Italy tries a trick play from the line out and Barrett reads it to perfection as he intercepts the ball and sprints over for the try.

47TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION: The conversion goes over from the tryscorer Beauden Barrett. The score is now 45-3.

48TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SUBSTITUTION: Ardie Savea comes off for Dalton Papalii Would have liked to have seen Savea out there more due to his form, but great to see Dalton get 30-odd minutes.

50TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): The All Blacks are back on the attack one more and are just outside the 22.

51ST MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SUBSTITUTION: The All Blacks have a line out five out from the line. Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Richie Mo'unga both come on now. TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett are the ones to come off.

52ND MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks take a quick line out and they attack down the left wing, but it comes to nothing as the ball goes into touch.

53RD MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie has a hat-trick now as he dives over for his 3rd. The All Blacks grubber through and it bounces off the post, into the path of McKenzie to score.

54TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION: Richie Mo'unga lands the conversion.

55TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks try some trick plays now with a kick over the top, and it sits up nicely, but a pass out wide goes to ground.

56TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SUBSTITUTION: Waisake Naholo's night is over. He was very quiet. Rieko Ioane will come on the park as his replacement.

57TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY: Things are going from bad to worse for Italy who give away a penalty at the scrum. The AB's kick for touch and they have another line out 5 out from the line.

58TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks try a grubber kick to the corner, but it doesn't hold up for Rieko Ioane and goes dead.

60TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): We're into the final quarter in Rome. Can the All Blacks score four more tries to bring up 80?

61ST MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks clear the bench so Nathan Harris, Karl Tu'inukuafe, Angus Ta'avao, and Brodie Retallick all come on.

63RD MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): Scrum to Italy after a mistake by the All Blacks.

65TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): That took a long time to complete as the scrum is finally complete.

66TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Italy looking more deadly with the ball now, as they build some phases together.

67TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Italy have an attacking line out and they get a drive going, but play is brought back for a penalty advantage.

69TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): This game as turned very scrappy now and quite dull in all fairness. All Blacks have a scrum to feed.

71ST MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), PENALTY: Penalty to the All Blacks as once again the scrum takes forever to complete.

72ND MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks make a nice run down the middle of the field. The next play, they kick the ball forward, but it touched in-goal by Jayden Hayward.

74TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett now has a hat-trick, and Nathan Harris has set up a try. The All Blacks make a break and the hooker puts in a grubber to the wing of Barrett who scores in the corner.

76TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION: Richie Mo'unga lands the conversion and the lead is now 59-3.

78TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): Now Italy is close to the line. Can the end their season with a try?

79TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Italy with a line out 5 out from the line. But it is a poor throw and the All Blacks get the ball.

80TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): The All Blacks have a line out no and they'll try get one more try before the match ends.

80TH MINUTE + 2ND MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett scores his 4th and what a statement match by the 21-year-old. Way too easy there.

FULL TIME, CONVERSION: The conversion goes over and that is it. The All Blacks win 66-3 against Italy.

5:05am: Thanks for tuning in. Check back in later. But don't forget, the World Rugby awards are tomorrow (All Black second rower Brodie Retallick won try of the year for his dummy pass against the Wallabies during the 1st Bledisloe Cup test then star Irish first five Johnny Sexton becoming world's best rugby player (Effectively taking over from Beauden Barrett by ending Barrett's 2 year reign as the best rugby player in the world) while Ireland have been awarded team of the year (That's why because of their 6 Nations crown in which they won as well as the grand slam (By beating all 5 teams participating in the 6 Nations such as England, France (Including that epic match winning drop goal by the newly crowned best player in the world, Johnny Sexton), Italy, Scotland & Wales) & triple crown (By beating all 3 home unions such as England, Scotland & Wales) for the 1st time since 2009 then they won the test series against Australia despite the single blip in the 1st test at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane & they had a clean sweep in the autumn internationals including that famous win at home against the All Blacks) while speedy South African winger Aphiwe Dyantyi had been crowned best breakthrough player of the year (Rieko Ioane won last years award (English second rower Maro Itoje won it in 2016 & injury prone All Black winger Nehe Milner-Skudder won it in 2015 which was in fact, World Cup year) but Dyantyi's stellar rugby career began as an aspiring young up & coming winger who played in the Currie Cup last year then earned selection for the Lions Super Rugby team in which he performed well by scoring a heap of tries & known for his lightning pace then a Springbok call up beckoned meaning that he is now officially a Springbok after an impressive Super Rugby season due to his good performances so the rest is history about the miracle story of pace man Aphiwe Dyantyi), beating the likes of Irish winger & fullback Jordan Larmour & rookie All Black prop Karl Tu'inukuafe (Although at the start of the year that he probably might get a short term Super Rugby contract with the Chiefs then an All Black call up later because he was so overweight (Although he provided security at a nightclub or bar down in Auckland as a bouncer or should I say, a doorman because he was out of shape) but he had to shed that one off (He is now 135 kilos, the required weight for a prop like that) by getting a short term deal with the Chiefs (Although he is playing with the Blues next year for family/whanau reasons) then an All Black call up beckoned meaning that he was declared fit enough to join the squad & the rest is history about the miracle story of big Karl Tu'inukuafe) & Coach of the year went to Joe Schmidt for his excellence in coaching Ireland.

ITALY 3-66 ALL BLACKS

Well, all good things must come to an end because it is most definitely the end of the rugby season because we are now entering the cricket season (Well, England is the birthplace of rugby (Our number 1 sport here in New Zealand & Wales), cricket (Our main summer sport here in New Zealand & number 1 sport in Australia (Along with Aussie rules football), England & the West Indies (Including Barbados, Guyana & Jamaica (Spiritual home of cricket & reggae music) & soccer (World's most popular sport & of course the number 1 sport in Denmark (Along with handball) isn't it?) so we will see you next year in February with the 6 Nations 1st then Super Rugby & after that it's the shortened Rugby Championship as well as the Mitre 10 Cup before the big one which is the Rugby World Cup in Japan (I am most looking forward to next year (Along with my father & Raewyn's wedding on the 16th of February).

And finally I will be doing a blog (I'll be covering 8 blogs to reach my target of 80 this year (My all time record number of blogs for the year currently stands at 100) about the year in review about highlights of 2018 with the main sports topics of the year from ball tampering fiasco by the Aussies in South Africa (With Steve Smith (The modern day Bradman), David Warner (The enforcer of Australian cricket) & Cameron Bancroft being the 3 culprits that are serving a ban (Smith & Warner: 1 year & Bancroft: 9 months) to soccer world cup fever in Russia (Won by the glorious but entertaining French side (Featuring Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, young Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe & captain Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) against the high flying but spirited Croatia (Featuring captain & Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, FC Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, Juventus forward Mario Mandzukic & AS Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic) in the final at Luzhniki Stadium in Russia's capital city, Moscow, 20 years after their last triumph in front of their adoring home fans in France).

P.S. And Joe Schmidt is stepping down as coach of the Ireland Rugby team (The Irish are captained by Ulster hooker Rory Best but can Best become the 1st Irish captain to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy? Because Ireland (Who are competitive now because they have now found the competitive edge) have never reached the semifinal stages & final of the Rugby World Cup before (But can they finally break their drought by reaching the semifinals & final?), reaching the quarterfinal (That's always their best result but their worst result was in the pool stages in 2007, losing both games to hosts France (They used to have big second & back rower Sebastien 'Cave Man/Seabass' Chabal) & the tournament's surprise package Argentina (Featuring future vice chairman of the sport's governing body which is in fact, World Rugby, halfback & former captain, Agustin 'Gus' Pichot) 6 times (In 1987 (Losing to Australia featuring the likes of David 'Campo' Campese, captain Andrew Slack, Michael Lynagh, Nick-Farr Jones, Simon Poidevin, Enrique 'Topo' Rodriguez & Tom Lawton), 1991 (Australia again featuring the likes of Campese as well as captain Farr-Jones, Phil Kearns (AKA Kearnsy), Ewen McKenzie, David Nucifora, John Eales (World class second rower known as Ealesy), Lynagh, Tim Horan & his midfield partner Jason Little), 1995 (France featuring the likes of both Philippe Sella & Philippe Saint-Andre as well as Fabien Galthie, Abdelatif 'Abdel' Benazzi, Christian Califano, Thierry Lacroix, Emile Ntamack, Jean-Luc Sadourny, Olivier Brouzet & Christophe Deylaud), 2003 (France again featuring the likes of Raphael Ibanez, Fabien Pelous, Serge Betsen, Oliver Magne, Imanol Harinorduquy, Galthie, Frederic Michalak, Christophe Dominci, Yannick Jauzion, Kiwi born player Tony Marsh, Aurelien Rougerie, Dimitri Yachvili, Clement Poitrenaud & Sebastien Chabal as I mentioned before), 2011 (Wales featuring the likes of captain Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau (Known as Toby at the time), Leigh Halfpenny, Shane Williams, George North, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Rhys Priestland, Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips, Dan Lydiate, Alun Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies, Luke Charteris, Adam Jones, Huw Bennett & Ken Owens) & 2015 (Argentina featuring the likes of captain Agustin 'Gus' Creevy, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Pablo Matera, Leonardo Senatore, Tomas Cubelli, Martin Landajo, Nicolas Sanchez, Marcelo Bosch, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Juan Martin 'El Mago' Hernandez, Matias Moroni, Horacio Agulla, Santiago Cordero, Juan Imhoff, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino & Joaquin Tuculet) after next years Rugby World Cup for family reasons (Although Joe Schmidt has a son who is suffering from a convulsive fit (Just like Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo had prior to the 1998 FIFA World Cup final against hosts France in which they lost by 3 goals (Zinedine Zidane scored both headers from corners as well as Emmanuel Petit finishing the Brazilians off with a wonder strike that clinched France their 1st of 2 World Cup titles despite during the game when Marcel Desailly got sent off after receiving a second yellow card) because he is about to be replaced by ex England league & union player Andy Farrell (Owen's father) just like Wayne Pivac (Ex Auckland coach) replacing Warren Gatland (Bryn's dad) as head coach of Wales from 2020.

And finally I'll tell you an interesting story that the lead singer of Pearl Jam (Lifelong friends of Soundgarden compared to Queens Of The Stone Age who are lifelong friends of the Foo Fighters), Eddie Vedder (Who is a friend of the late Soundgarden & Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell), is the only one left (1st it was Kurt Cobain of Nirvana in 1994 (Cobain's bandmate Dave Grohl (Another one of the late Chris Cornell's friends) went on to establish the Foo Fighters in the same year) who tragically passed away followed by Layne Staley of Alice In Chains way back in 2002 then Scott Weiland of both the Stone Temple Pilots (Still operating under a new lead singer Jeff Gutt who took over from the late Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington (And another friend of the late Chris Cornell) & Velvet Revolver in 2015 & most recently, Chris Cornell (He has a number of good friends including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters & the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park) of both Soundgarden (How did they break up again in 2018? Because of Chris Cornell's sudden passing in 2017) & Audioslave last year in 2017) as lead singers of grunge rock (Took over from glam rock which made an impact during the 1980's because it was the main rock music genre of the early to mid 1990's followed by Nu Metal in both the late 1990's & early 2000's before alternative rock took over since the mid 2000's as the most popular rock music genre).

And the 3rd one is taken from 2019 Rugby World Cup pool & match schedule (My 1st blog in December):

Well, it gives me great pleasure that I will reveal the pool & match schedule for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan next year:

Pool A

Ireland
Scotland
Japan (Host nation)
Russia
Samoa

Japan Vs Russia: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
Ireland Vs Scotland: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Russia Vs Samoa: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya
Japan Vs Ireland: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka
Scotland Vs Samoa: Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Ireland Vs Russia: Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Japan Vs Samoa: City of Toyota Stadium, Aichi
Scotland Vs Russia: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka
Ireland Vs Samoa: Fukuoka Hakatamori Stadium, Fukuoka
Japan Vs Scotland: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama

Pool B

New Zealand (Defending champion)
South Africa
Italy
Namibia
Canada

New Zealand Vs South Africa: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Italy Vs Namibia: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka
Italy Vs Canada: Fukuoka Hakatamori Stadium, Fukuoka
South Africa Vs Namibia: City of Toyota Stadium, Aichi
New Zealand Vs Canada: Oita Stadium, Oita
South Africa Vs Italy: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka
New Zealand Vs Namibia: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
South Africa Vs Canada: Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
New Zealand Vs Italy: City of Toyota Stadium, Aichi
Namibia Vs Canada: Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, Kamaishi

Pool C (AKA pool of death)

England
France
Argentina
United States
Tonga

France Vs Argentina: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
England Vs Tonga: Sapporo Dome, Sapporo
England Vs United States: Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Argentina Vs Tonga: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka
France Vs United States: Fukuoka Hakatamori Stadium, Fukuoka
England Vs Argentina: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
France Vs Tonga: Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto
Argentina Vs United States: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya
England VS France: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
United States Vs Tonga: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka

Pool D

Australia
Wales
Georgia
Fiji
Uruguay

Australia Vs Fiji: Sapporo Dome, Sapporo
Wales Vs Georgia: City of Toyota Stadium, Aichi
Fiji Vs Uruguay: Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, Kamaishi
Georgia Vs Uruguay: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya
Australia Vs Wales: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
Georgia Vs Fiji: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka

Australia Vs Uruguay: Oita Stadium, Oita

Wales Vs Fiji: Oita Stadium, Oita

Australia Vs Georgia: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka

Wales Vs Uruguay: Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto

Quarterfinals

Winner Pool C Vs Runner up Pool D: Oita Stadium, Oita

Winner Pool B Vs Runner up Pool A: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo

Winner Pool D Vs Runner up Pool C: Oita Stadium, Oita

Winner Pool A Vs Runner up Pool B: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo

Semifinals

Winner QF1 Vs Winner QF2: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama

Winner QF3 Vs Winner QF4: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama

3rd & 4th place playoff

Runner up SF1 Vs Runner up SF2: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo

Final

Winner SF1 Vs Winner SF2: International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama

And last but not the very least, the 4th one is taken from All Blacks history at the Rugby World Cup:

Well, hello hello, with Japan set to host the next Rugby World Cup in 2019, here is some of the history of the All Blacks Rugby World Cup campaigns over the years:

1987 - The 1st World Cup

Captain: David Kirk (Originally Jock Hobbs (Concussion) then Andy Dalton (Hamstring)
Coach: Sir Brian 'BJ' Lochore
Standout players: John 'JK' Kirwan (Backs) & Michael 'Iceman' Jones (Forwards)
Main challenger: France (Final)

1991 - The downfall

Captain: Gary Whetton
Coaches: John Hart & Alex 'Grizz' Wyllie
Standout players: Graeme Bachop (Backs) & Ian 'Kamo' Jones (Forwards)
Main challenger: Australia (Semifinal)

1995 - The heartbreak

Captain: Sean Fitzpatrick
Coach: Laurie Mains
Standout players: Jonah Lomu (Backs) & Zinzan 'Zinny' Brooke (Forwards)
Main challengers: England (Semifinal) & South Africa (Final)

1999 - The professional era

Captain: Taine Randell
Coach: John Hart
Standout players: Andrew 'Mehrts' Mehrtens (Backs) & Josh Kronfeld (Forwards)
Main challengers: France (Semifinal) & South Africa (3rd/4th place playoff)

2003 - The disappointment

Captain: Reuben Thorne
Coach: John Mitchell
Standout players: Doug 'Dougie' Howlett (Backs) & Ali Williams (Forwards)
Main challengers: South Africa (Quarterfinal) & Australia (Semifinal)

2007 - The low point

Captain: Richie McCaw
Coach: Sir Graham 'Ted' Henry
Standout players: Dan 'DC' Carter (Backs) & Jerry 'JC' Collins (Forwards)
Main challenger: France (Quarterfinal)

2011 - All Blacks forever

Captain: Richie McCaw
Coach: Sir Graham 'Ted' Henry
Standout players: Cory 'CJ' Jane (Backs), Richie McCaw & Jerome Kaino (Forwards)
Main challengers: Australia (Semifinal) & France (Final)

2015 - Back to black

Captain: Richie McCaw
Coach: Steve Hansen
Standout players: Dan 'DC' Carter (Backs) & Brodie 'Guzzler' Retallick (Forwards)
Main challengers: South Africa (Semifinal) & Australia (Final)

2019 - Seeking history

Coach: Steve Hansen
Main challengers: Australia, Ireland & South Africa

So that is my 260th blog of the year 2018 (MMXVIII) & my 80th of this year (Happy new year tomorrow so 40 more blogs till I reach the triple ton which is 300).

P.S. And I did enjoy Christmas 6 days ago, it was better than last year but my favourite Christmas presents are the money that I've got (I did get a total of $300 meaning that I've now got $2,878 because I always save a lot of money in the meantime as usual) & a new copy of my favourite book which is the Team New Zealand Story 1995 - 2003 as well as the world of football/soccer book.

And the Kane Williamson led Black Caps have taken victory against the Dinesh Chandimal led Sri Lanka by a world record 423 runs in the boxing day test to win the test series 1 - 0 after a dominant display at Hagley Oval in Christchurch to end 2018 on a high for New Zealand.

And what do I think of 2018? Me oh my I have enjoyed that yes boy! (As said by famous ex All Black rugby player turned commentator Justin Marshall) It was way better than 2017. Because it's PANDEMONIUM! ABSOLUTE SCENES! (As said by Andrew 'Mulls' Mulligan from The Rock FM's Morning Rumble show & Prime's sports show The Crowd Goes Wild).

And finally I would like to say thanks to my whole friends & family such as Pops, my dog Buck, Dad, Jansen, Raewyn, Aunty Tania, Rejean, Uncle Bryan, Aunty Viv, Ashley, Leon Benbaruk, Hanne, Sophia Ong, Paige Williams, Kathryn, Ken Branch, Ben Blain, Ben's girlfriend Robina, Sherylle-Anne Collins, Carole Webb, Carole's son Andrew, Carole's brother Martin, Martin's wife Leila, Martin & Leila's son Marat, Wai Lam (My 4th Asian friend along with both Malaysians Lim & Sophia & a Filipina woman who is Murray Gray's partner named Viluz), Wai Lam's wife Marie as well as my Mum (Who stayed here at 15A Kells Avenue from the 27th of December until yesterday) for all my support, thank you...As we will see you in 2019.