Well, in Super Rugby news, round 7 got started as the Hurricanes go 2 in a row this year against the Highlanders by 3 (Including that double from Hurricanes open side flanker Ardie Savea who had to shine) at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin while at Orangetheory Stadium, the Crusaders (Although they were without Israel Dagg (Who had to retire due to ongoing issues with a chronic but serious & severe knee injury that made him quit playing rugby) took to the field against the Brumbies for their 1st home game since the shootings have happened in Christchurch last month & they won it by thumping them on the back of an electrifying 2nd half performance (It was 0 - 0 after 33 minutes when the Brumbies first-five Christian Leali'ifano dived over for the try after the Brumbies took advantage of the extra man & were on the power play mode after that yellow card by Crusaders tight head prop Owen Franks in the 27th minute (Well, he did not make an attempt to wrap his arms because that is the letter of the law) before the Blues have won 4 consecutive games by sealing the Waratahs off by 3 points at Eden Park in Auckland including that runaway try by Blues second five Ma'a Nonu (I thought he was going to make the All Blacks squad at 36 or 37 years of age but he is too old nonetheless unless an All Black call up beckons if someone gets injured) as well as a popular try by Blues blindside flanker known as 'Big Red' or 'Sauce', Tom Robinson (Son of All Black tourist Alastair who picked up his 1st try of the 2019 season).
And finally here are the rest of the results from round 8 of the 2019 Super Rugby season:
Reds 24 - 12 Stormers
Lions 5 - 40 Sharks
Rebels 45 - 15 Sunwolves
& Bulls 20 - 22 Jaguares
And finally the Black Caps (Who will try to follow up their success 4 years ago by reaching the final (It was the semifinal against South Africa at Eden Park when our South African born hero playing for New Zealand, Grant Elliott...Who hit the match winning six with only 2 balls remaining under the Duckworth-Lewis system) squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England (Well they are favourites because they are ranked the best one day international team in the world) had been named so here is the full 15 man squad:
Kane Williamson (Captain)
Tom Blundell (Wicket-keeper)
Trent Boult
Colin de Grandhomme
Lockie Ferguson
Martin Guptill
Matt Henry
Tom Latham (Wicket-keeper)
Colin Munro
Jimmy Neesham
Henry Nicholls
Mitchell Santner
Ish Sodhi
Tim Southee
& Ross Taylor
And here is my squad predictions for the All Blacks 31 man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan:
Forwards
Hookers
Dane Coles
Liam Coltman
Codie Taylor
Props
Nepo Laulala
Atu Moli
Joe Moody
Angus Ta'avao
Ofa Tu'ungafasi
Locks
Scott Barrett
Brodie Retallick
Patrick Tuipulotu
Sam Whitelock
Back rowers
Sam Cane
Luke Jacobson
Kieran Read (Captain)
Ardie Savea
Matt Todd
Backs
Halfbacks
TJ Perenara
Aaron Smith
Brad Weber
First-fives
Beauden Barrett
Richie Mo'unga
Midfielders
Ryan Crotty
Jack Goodhue
Anton Lienert-Brown
Sonny Bill Williams
Outside Backs
Jordie Barrett
George Bridge
Rieko Ioane
Sevu Reece
Ben Smith
So that is my 279th blog of the year 2019 (MMXIX) & my 19th of this year.
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