Well, the semifinals of the 2019 Super Rugby championship has been decided, it will be the Crusaders (Who'll attempt to make history again to do a threepeat just like in 2000 but can the Crusaders do as the Golden State Warriors (Who missed out on a threepeat against the strong Toronto Raptors side from Canada in this years NBA finals) can't) taking on the Jaguares in the final at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch as the Jaguares became the 1st team to advance to the final as well as becoming the 1st Argentinian side to reach the final after thrashing the Brumbies 39 - 7 at the Jose Amalfitani Stadium before the Crusaders, well, they're in the final for the 3rd year running after beating the Hurricanes in a nail biting encounter at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch (Including that controversial decision made by Australian referee Nic Berry to award the Crusaders a scrum but he got the decision wrong as he should've awarded the penalty to the Hurricanes (And they should've & could've won the game but that cost the Hurricanes a big opportunity to seal the deal & head off to Buenos Aires for the final (And most Hurricanes fans are livid about that controversial decision that will always be remembered) after Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock knocked the ball out of Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara's hands (And the ball was out as Whitelock was on his feet & he was onside) but the Crusaders have lost both players (They could miss for up to 6 - 8 weeks on the sidelines) for the final through hand injuries such as lock Scott Barrett (Ruled out with a broken finger) & second-five eighth Ryan Crotty (Also out with a broken thumb).
And finally in the 2019 Cricket World Cup news desk, South Africa get their 2nd win of the Cricket World Cup by thrashing Sri Lanka before Pakistan defeat minnows Afghanistan then New Zealand miss out on a win against the dominant Australian side at Lord's, losing 2 in a row in the process (Despite that hat-trick from New Zealand pace man Trent Boult (He got one against Pakistan in an ODI in 2018 then against Australia in a World Cup match but now he has 2 ODI hat-tricks throughout his career) while England turn the tables on India to keep their semifinal hopes alive before Sri Lanka win by 23 runs against the West Indies with the help of Sri Lankan Avishka Fernando getting a century in the match then India book a place in the semifinal by finishing off Bangladesh then New Zealand (Who have now been losing 3 in a row (1st it was Pakistan then defending champions Australia & now hosts England but they have ruled pace bowler Lockie Ferguson out for the match against England with injury) were no match against hosts England with the hosts qualified for the semifinal (Well, the match between Pakistan & Bangladesh will determine the outcome of a semifinal place...If Pakistan win, New Zealand are out & if the Pakistanis fail to beat Bangladesh, the New Zealanders are through) while the West Indies diminish Afghanistan's hopes for a win with a 23 run victory against the minnows.
So that is my 293rd blog of the year 2019 (MMXIX) & my 33rd of this year (7 to go until I reach the triple ton).
P.S. And guess who's birthday today (And yesterday), it's Pops today because he is 72 years old now (And so too is Mum who turned 61) so I want to wish both of them (I mean no disrespect intended) a happy birthday (And we had a nice curry for lunch yesterday before Mum arrived & we went to Thai Villa to commemorate on Mum's 61st birthday for dinner last night (And we're going to the Club Metro for Pops birthday dinner tonight).
And it's been 3 days since the All Blacks squad has been named for the 2019 Rugby Championship (They open our campaign against Argentina in Buenos Aires before we take on the Springboks at Westpac Stadium in Wellington for a chance to redeem themselves after missing out on a win last year & finally against the Wallabies in the final round which is the 1st of 2 Bledisloe Cup tests in Perth (They face the Wallabies again in the 2nd Bledisloe Cup test at Eden Park in Auckland before taking on Tonga at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton in a pre-Rugby World Cup test match then they face South Africa, Canada, Namibia & Italy in pool B in the 2019 Rugby World Cup (Which is happening in 2 months time) at the Ponsonby Rugby Club so here's the full squad in it's entirety:
Forwards
Hookers
Asafo Aumua (22, Hurricanes / Wellington, uncapped)
Dane Coles (32, Hurricanes / Wellington, 60)
Liam Coltman (29, Highlanders / Otago, 4)
Codie Taylor (28, Crusaders / Canterbury, 41)
Props
Owen Franks (31, Crusaders / Canterbury, 106)
Nepo Laulala (27, Chiefs / Counties Manukau, 17)
Joe Moody (30, Crusaders /Canterbury, 37)
Atu Moli (24, Chiefs / Tasman, uncapped)
Angus Ta’avao (29, Chiefs / Taranaki, 3)
Karl Tu’inukuafe (26, Blues / North Harbour, 13)
Ofa Tu'ungafasi (27, Blues / Auckland, 26)
Locks
Brodie Retallick (28, Chiefs / Hawke’s Bay, 75)
Patrick Tuipulotu (26, Blues / Auckland, 21)
Samuel Whitelock (30, Crusaders / Canterbury, 108)
Utility Forward
Jackson Hemopo (25, Highlanders / Manawatu,3)
Loose Forwards
Sam Cane (27, Chiefs / Bay of Plenty, 60)
Vaea Fifita (27, Hurricanes / Wellington, 9)
Shannon Frizell (25, Highlanders / Tasman, 4)
Luke Jacobson (22, Chiefs / Waikato, new cap)
Dalton Papalii (21, Blues / Auckland, 2)
Kieran Read (33, Crusaders / Counties Manukau, 118) — Captain
Ardie Savea (25, Hurricanes / Wellington, 35)
Matt Todd (31, Crusaders / Canterbury, 17)
Backs
Halfbacks
TJ Perenara (27, Hurricanes / Wellington, 55)
Aaron Smith (30, Highlanders / Manawatu, 82)
Brad Weber (28, Chiefs / Hawke’s Bay, 1)
First five–eighths
Beauden Barrett (28, Hurricanes / Taranaki, 73)
Josh Ioane (23, Highlanders / Otago, new cap)
Richie Mo’unga (25, Crusaders / Canterbury, 9)
Midfielders
Jack Goodhue (24, Crusaders / Northland, 7)
Ngani Laumape (26, Hurricanes / Manawatu, 10)
Anton Lienert-Brown (24, Chiefs / Waikato, 33)
Sonny Bill Williams (33, Blues / Counties Manukau, 51)
Utility Backs
Braydon Ennor (21, Crusaders / Canterbury, new cap)
Jordie Barrett (22, Hurricanes / Taranaki, 9)
Outside backs
George Bridge (24, Crusaders / Canterbury, 1)
Rieko Ioane (22, Blues / Auckland, 24)
Sevu Reece (22, Crusaders / Waikato, new cap)
Ben Smith (33, Highlanders /Otago, 76)
4 new All Blacks (Such as the likes of Braydon Ennor, Josh Ioane, former New Zealand Under 20s captain Luke Jacobson & top try scorer of the 2019 Super Rugby competition, Sevu Reece (Well, that is a controversial selection but he should not have been picked for the AB's like that), so be it. But those 5 have missed out on selection are Scott Barrett, Ryan Crotty, Damian McKenzie, Tim Perry (4 have been injured) & Liam Squire (Who felt like that he's not ready to play international rugby) also as well as Ma'a Nonu whose All Black comeback plans have been put on hold.
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