Well, the Wallabies have become the 1st team since Ireland last year to beat the All Blacks at Optus Stadium in Perth marred by that red card (Well, I of course label the red card or should I say a sending off as a disqualification, ejection (That's the American terminology of a red card/sending off) or a game misconduct penalty (Ice Hockey term) by All Black lock Scott Barrett (He looks like he'll be at least suspended for a minimum of 4 weeks meaning that he'll miss the crucial Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park in Auckland in 6 days time (Well, let's hope that the Bledisloe doesn't return to Australia after 16 long years) along with Jack Goodhue who injured his hamstring but Goodhue is likely to miss both the 2nd Bledisloe Cup test as well as possibly the Rugby World Cup along with Damian McKenzie & possibly Brodie Retallick (He could make the World Cup when he recovers from a broken, dislocated shoulder) for a brutal cheap shot (Well, Scott Barrett let both his team & his family down but...Oh that cost the All Blacks a big deal, it may have cost them the game (The All Blacks were good until Scott Barrett had suffered a brain explosion when he shoulder charged Michael Hooper to the head but French referee Jerome Garces referred it on the big screen but when the TMO announced that the recommendation for the offending player, Garces had no choice but to give Scott Barrett his marching orders as he was the 1st All Black since Sonny Bill Williams to be sent off (And well, I told Pops that the referee always made the right decision because it is not controversial) on Wallaby captain Michael Hooper which proved to be a game changer (I mean, Reece Hodge could be one of the stars for Australia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan after his heroics in the match (Remember the name!) but in the end, Pops told me that the Aussies had outplayed us (And we were inconsistent (We didn't get it done right because we were down & out after the red card & we were fell (21 points) short of a win) but let's hope we can win both the next Bledisloe Cup test (And don't worry, we have home field advantage when the game is held at the garden of Eden) & the Rugby World Cup (We're hoping for a three peat to happen just like the Crusaders did this year in Super Rugby). But it looks like that the Springboks have claimed The Rugby Championship for the 1st time during The Rugby Championship era after winning it 3 times in 1998, 2004 & 2009 during the Tri Nations era with a win against Argentina in Salta.
So that is my 302nd blog of the year 2019 (MMXIX) & my 42nd of this year.
P.S. And here is the review of the opening round of the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season:
A thumping victory by Tasman over Wellington and a draw between defending champions Auckland and North Harbour got Mitre 10 Cup rugby off to an intriguing start at the weekend.
Adding to the efforts for a first-up loss by perennial winners Canterbury at the hands of Waikato. While that is not unusual for the red and blacks it was the manner in which Waikato hung in and claimed the victory with a second half comeback that told a story in itself.
In the Premiership, Tasman and Waikato have started with bonus point wins and the Auckland draw has put it under pressure not to concede games if it wants to stay in touch with the leaders.
In the Championship, Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki have set the early pace sharing bonus point wins.
Southland 17 Northland 27
Desperate to shake-off their losing streak of the last two seasons, Southland had to absorb a lot of pressure from a hard Northland pack who were never happier than when setting up pick-and-goes near the Southland line. The home team did reveal some great running skills for their tries.
Scorers: Southland 17 (Isaac Te Tamaki, Phil Halder, Josh Moorby tries; Marty McKenzie con) Northland 27 (Coree Te Whata-Colley, Jordan Hyland, Temo Mayanavanua tries; Jack Debreczeni 3 con, 2 pen). HT: 10-6
Auckland 28 North Harbour 28
Defending champions Auckland looked set to make an impressive start to their campaign but they reckoned without the doggedness of their rivals from across the bridge. Held scoreless in the second half, Auckland had to settle for a share of the spoils after some great forward play from North Harbour.
Scorers: Auckland 28 (Tanielu Tele'a, Hoskins Sotutu 2, penalty try, tries; Harry Plummer 3 con) North Harbour 28 (Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Karl Tu'inukuafe, Lua Li tries: Jared Page 4 con). HT: 28-14
Tasman 45 Wellington 8
On paper Tasman looked to be one of the teams to beat this year and on grass they demonstrated why in a complete annihilation of Wellington in Blenheim. Thriving in the wet conditions the powerful Tasman pack had too much control and pressured Wellington all the way.
Scorers: Tasman 45 (Liam Squire, Andrew Makalio, David Havili, Tyrel Lomax, Leicester Fainga'anuku 2, Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta tries; Mitch Hunt 5 con) Wellington 8 (Alex Fidow try; Jackson Garden-Bachop pen). HT: 26-3
Counties Manukau 29 Taranaki 34
Blow-for-blow Counties Manukau and Taranaki produced another thriller in the round. The Taranaki pack held the sway at the crucial moments and set up the win in which the ability to get low in driving for the line proved a key element for both sides in this nine-try effort.
Scorers: Counties Manukau 29 (Chris Kuridrani, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Conan O'Donnell, Daniel Hyatt tries; Riley Hohepa 2 con, pen; Andrew Kellaway con) Taranaki 34 (Sean Wainui, Waisake Naholo, Lachlan Boshier, Jackson Ormond, penalty try, tries; Daniel Waite 2con, pen) HT: 19-29
Waikato 31 Canterbury 28
Waikato produced a great first-up effort to push Canterbury all the way in a thrilling contest in Hamilton. But Valynce Te Whare-Crosby had the final say in giving Waikato an edge they were able to hold through some tense final moments.
Scorers: Waikato 31 (Josh Iosefa-Scott, Quinn Tupaea, Hamilton Burr, Valynce Te Whare-Crosby tries; Fletcher Smith 4 con, pen) Canterbury 28 (Josh McKay 2, Luke Whitelock, Sam Gilbert tries; Brett Cameron 4 con). HT: 14-21
Bay of Plenty 50 Otago 7
Otago had plenty of possession but Bay of Plenty had all the points. Thirty missed tackles didn't help Otago who conceded eight tries while they were also guilty of giving away twice as many penalties as the home team. With the Ranfurly Shield around the corner they will be looking to an improvement.
Scorers: Bay of Plenty 50 (Abraham Papali'i, Mitch Karpik, Fa'asiu Fuatai 2, Aidan Ross, Joe Webber, Luke Campbell, Jason Robertson tries; Dan Hollinshead 5 con) Otago 7 (Sio Tomkinson try; Vilimoni Koroi con). HT: 26-0
Manawatu 13 Hawke's Bay 31
A try in the first two minutes suggested Manawatu had a potential upset in the making. But controlled forward play from Hawke's Bay saw it apply all the pressure and by game's end it was a victory backed by all the key statistics with a five tries to one margin a fair reflection of the result.
Scorers: Manawatu 13 (Hamish Northcott try; Otere Black con, pen; Sam Malcolm pen) Hawke's Bay 31 (Brendon O'Connor, Ash Dixon 2, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Folau Fakatava tries; Danny Toala 3 con). HT: 10-10
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