Super Rugby Aotearoa round 7 wrap (Another hat trick of blogs today)

Well, what a round of Super Rugby Aotearoa this has been as the Hurricanes (It was Peter Umaga-Jensen (Unfortunately, he had to come off the field after scoring that try with an injury) who was the top performer of that match as he just shades Wes Goosen & his 2 tries while Ngani Laumape had broken his forearm in the process as he left the field (Although he has been replaced in the squad by the returning Julian Savea who had a spell at French club Toulon) end the Crusaders hopes of remaining unbeaten in the competition at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch (+ The Crusaders 36 game unbeaten stretch in Christchurch (35 wins & a draw against the Sharks last year) has broken when the Canes before that match was the last team to beat the Crusaders in Christchurch in 2016) in an epic & intense game (The turning point of the game went to Jordie Barrett's turnover to win the penalty before he fell victim to a punch to the face by Quinten Strange resulted in a yellow card moments before the Hurricanes tapped the ball & kicked into touch in a famous victory so the Crusaders are now 4 & 1 (Their 100% record is in fact, literally over) in Super Rugby Aotearoa 2020) a day before the resurgent Blues (Led by their inspirational skipper Patrick 'Paddy' Tuipulotu who scored a try (The other try scorers for the Blues were North Harbour man & former league player for the Melbourne Storm, Matt 'Duffman' Duffie & Scottish born Tasman Mako, Finlay Christie & try scorers for the Chiefs are pilfer master Lachlan Boshier & live wire winger Solomon Alaimalo (Although he got injured after being collided by Caleb Clarke in the lead up to the try (Although there was no foul play for that) just like Peter Umaga-Jensen did) resulted in a captain's knock + the immaculate goal kicking of Beauden (Beaudy) Barrett as he lands 3 out of 3 shots at goal) side snap a 2 match losing streak to beat the Chiefs (Who are facing their worst Super Rugby Aotearoa season ever in 2020 with 6 consecutive defeats while Warren Gatland is arguably the worst ever Super Rugby coach (He used to be good when he coached Ireland, Wales & the British & Irish Lions) to keep their 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa title aspirations back on track (The game changer of the match went to Josh Goodhue's turnover that won them the penalty (The Chiefs were complaining of an illegal turnover whether Goodhue was off his feet or not or especially Anton Lienert-Brown had to argue to the ref (I mean you can't do that compared to the NRL that only the team captain has to speak to the referee) whether they should check whether Pita-Gus Sowakula had grounded the ball on the try line but the referees boss Bryce Lawrence has sent the message to the players who are arguing with the referee to back off (And they warn that players that they shouldn't be approached in front of the ref) because these players need to be on their best behavior when they deal to the referee (And I mean, stupid behavior from Lienert-Brown there) after the Blues had a double whammy as they conceded a penalty & sent Harry Plummer to the sin bin for 10 minutes by referee Brendon Pickerill for repeated infringements).

And here is the list of round 8 matches being played in Super Rugby Aotearoa:

Chiefs Vs Crusaders (Their most recent meeting was this year in which the Crusaders won at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch against the Chiefs in round 3 but the last time the Chiefs beat the Crusaders was in round 2 at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton this year)

& Highlanders Vs Blues (The last time both of these sides met was this year in which the Blues took top honors against the Highlanders at Eden Park in Auckland but it's been a year since the Highlanders had last beaten the Blues & it was in round 10 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin).

So that is my 356th blog of the year 2020 (MMXX) & my 16th of this year (And wow! This is my 3rd blog in a row (Makes no difference! Ho ho ho ho!) that I'm posting today just like 3 years ago! (And that is the second time that I completed a hat-trick of blogs today (2nd time I've done it since my blogging career began in 2012).

P.S. And I really had a nice meal today which is a Pie with leftover gravy (Taken from last night) & vegetables (And I had Heineken zero that I've been having during dry July to go with the meal (I always have a low or no alcohol beer when I'm having a big meal compared to when I'm having a still water with lime or lemon to go with a light meal which we're having tonight which is half an omelette according to Pops) & some of the lamb shanks that I had last night.

And according to the new Rugby Challenge 4 game that I've now got that Beauden Barrett is New Zealand's highest rated rugby player compared to Australia's Samu Kerevi, England's Owen Farrell, Fiji's Josua Tuisova & South Africa's Cheslin Kolbe while the highest rated player for the Blues is in fact Beauden Barrett compared to both Anton Lienert-Brown & Damian McKenzie for the Chiefs, Richie Mo'unga for the Crusaders, Aaron Smith for the Highlanders & Ardie Savea for the Hurricanes.

My little known facts about the 2019 Rugby World Cup

Here is my little known facts about the 2019 Rugby World Cup such as my personal highlight of the tournament was the world champion Springboks of South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup in Japan (And it's been 8 months since South Africa dominated & ruled the rugby world in Yokohama, Japan by mastering the art of rugby union when they won the World Cup for the record 3rd time (They previously won the 1995 & 2007 tournaments between a 12 year gap & was the 1st team to win the tournament after losing the opening match against New Zealand in Yokohama) against England (Who famously beat the AB's in the semifinal meaning that the All Blacks hopes of a historic three peat has come to an end) in the final) 4 years after Japan beat South Africa as well as my low point of the tournament was the ever popular All Blacks of New Zealand losing to England in the Rugby World Cup semifinal 4 years after New Zealand had won the Rugby World Cup in England (And lets hope all that can change for the All Blacks if they want to regain the Rugby World Cup in France 2023 (And I hope it's not the Springboks that doesn't defend the title in 2023).

So that is my 355th blog of the year 2020 (MMXX) & my 15th of this year.

P.S. And I did not know that Dad is a vegan now during our phone conversation last night because he is just following Robina's footsteps & he is no longer on the ketogenic diet (He used to be a meat eater until now).

2019 Cricket & Rugby World Cup winning captains: Where are they now?

Well, this is the 2nd time that I'm doing the where are they now series (This time I'm doing both the World Cup winning captains of cricket & rugby from last year), 2 years since I have now been doing the highly successful Back to back black magic, where are they now?

Eoin Morgan (England, cricket)

Made his debut with the Ireland cricket team before playing in the 2007 Cricket World Cup then called up to the English squad to play in the 2011 Cricket World Cup (He 1st played for England in 2009) before injury ruled him out during the tournament as he was replaced by Ravi Bopara (Although he would eventually rejoin the squad as an injury replacement for the South African born Kevin Pietersen), 3 years before being appointed as the new England ODI cricket captain two months before the 2015 Cricket World Cup, taking over from Alastair Cook before a disastrous tournament (They failed to qualify for the quarterfinals losing to co-hosts Australia in Melbourne & New Zealand in Wellington as well as Sri Lanka in Wellington & Bangladesh in Adelaide), retained as England cricket captain in the one day international format after a disappointing campaign, 4 years before going on to win the World Cup against New Zealand last year as a result of a boundary count back rule after a dramatic super over (1st English captain to win the Cricket World Cup to join the likes of other Cricket World Cup winning captains along with West Indian Sir Clive Lloyd (Twice) in both 1975 & 1979, Indians Kapil Dev (The great all-rounder) in 1983 & Mahendra Singh (MS) 'MSD' Dhoni in 2011, Australians Allan 'AB' Border in 1987, Stephen Rodger 'Steve' Waugh in 1999, Ricky 'Punter' Ponting (Twice) in both 2003 & 2007 & Michael 'Clarkey/Pup' Clarke in 2015, Imran Khan (Another great all-rounder & current Prime Minister of Pakistan) of Pakistan in 1992 & Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996) at Lord's.

Siyamthanda 'Siya' Kolisi (South Africa, rugby union)

Born in Zwide (He learnt to speak English when he was a 12 year old because he was a native IsiXhosa speaker), made his test debut with South Africa against Scotland on the 16th of June in 2013, 2 years before being selected in the Springboks 2015 Rugby World Cup squad, lost to Japan in an historic upset before winning 3 games against Samoa, Scotland & the United States on their way to the quarterfinals in which they won against Wales in Cardiff before losing to the New Zealand All Blacks in the semifinal at Twickenham (The home of English rugby) before finishing 3rd against Argentina at London Stadium, 3 years before being appointed as the new Springbok captain (1st black Springbok skipper ever) to replace Warren Whiteley/Eben Etzebeth under new coach Rassie Erasmus (Who replaced embattled coach Allister Coetzee) a year before winning both the Rugby Championship (They had a win against the Wallabies in Johannesburg before they had a draw with the All Blacks in Wellington as well as beating Argentina in Salta) & the Rugby World Cup last year (They began their campaign in defeat against the All Blacks in Yokohama before winning 6 straight (Against Namibia, Italy & Canada in the pool games before facing hosts Japan in the quarters at Tokyo Stadium, Wales in the semis in Yokohama & England in the final) en route to the title) in the final against England (1st black man to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy aloft when he eventually became a rugby god which I labelled him) in Yokohama.

So that is my 354th blog of the year 2020 (MMXX) & my 14th of this year.

P.S. And it's been a few weeks since I now have the deluxe Schumacher edition of the F1 2020 game on the PS4 that Aunty Tania bought it for me as my birthday present (Well it's the best F1 game ever since F1 2017 because I thought both F1 2018 & F1 2019 was a good game but not as successful as F1 2017) but my favourite part of the game has to be the classic F1 machinery ranging from 1988 until 2010 (My favourite classic F1 car has to be the 2004 Ferrari F2004 because it's the fastest classic F1 car in the game except that it is slow on the street circuits so I use the 2009 Brawn BGP-001 instead) & there's 2 Canadian F1 drivers on the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship season grid such as Lance Stroll (Best known as the son of a Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll) of BWT Racing Point F1 team & Nicholas Latifi of Williams Racing but I still don't follow Formula 1 except when playing on the F1 games on the PS4 because of the halo safety device (I got to tell Rejean that the next time I talk to him on the phone).

Super Rugby Aotearoa round 6 wrap

Well, the Hurricanes have won 2 in a row in round 6 of Super Rugby Aotearoa as they beat the resurgent Blues side with a match winning conversion by Hurricanes fullback Jordie Barrett (Who had won bragging rights over his brother Beauden Barrett (Although he got booed by the Hurricanes fans upon his return to Wellington) in Wellington while the Highlanders (Who had their player Rob Thompson yellow carded for the head high tackle on a Chiefs player) managed to pull off a comeback win against the bottom of the table Chiefs (Who had Chiefs & new All Blacks skipper Sam Cane sin binned for repeated infringements) in Hamilton (It was Patelesio 'Sio' Tomkinson who got the last try in the dying seconds to tie the game with a kick to come (Aaron Smith was the top performer when he scored a try then created one for Tomkinson) before Mitch Hunt sealed the deal for the win with a match winning conversion, what a comeback!).

And here is the list of round 7 matches being played in Super Rugby Aotearoa:

Crusaders Vs Hurricanes (Their most recent meeting in was round 2 this year in Super Rugby Aotearoa in which the Crusaders were dominant at Sky Stadium in Wellington against the Hurricanes but the last time the Hurricanes beat the Crusaders was in round 4 at Westpac Stadium (Now Sky Stadium) in 2018)

& Blues Vs Chiefs (The last time both of these sides met was this year in which the Blues took top honors against the Chiefs in Hamilton but it's been 6 months since the Chiefs had last beaten the Blues & it was in round 1 of Super Rugby at Eden Park in Auckland earlier this year).

And it has been 40 years & 5 months since the miracle on ice game (One of the sports greatest upsets ever) took place at Lake Placid in New York in which the amateur USA team defeat the fully professional Soviet Union side 4 - 3 but 1st they had to beat Finland to claim gold in ice hockey.

So that is my 353rd blog of the year 2020 (MMXX) & my 13th of this year.

Super Rugby Aotearoa rounds 4 & 5 wrap

Well, the Crusaders notched up a win against the Highlanders (One of the turning points of that match was one of the Highlanders players Jona Nareki who were about to score a try got tackled by one of the Crusaders players but that cost them the game dearly (He should've passed it to his team mate) in Dunedin in round 4 of Super Rugby Aotearoa to take over the lead of the standings then the Hurricanes beat the bottom of the table Chiefs in Hamilton despite having Hurricanes second rower Scott Scrafton sent off after receiving a second yellow (How did he not get suspended for this? He was lucky not to for the next game against the Highlanders in Wellington but the turning point of the game was Jordie Barrett's monster boot where he landed a long range penalty goal) but in round 5 in Super Rugby Aotearoa, the Crusaders still remain unbeaten after they finished the Blues off on their home patch in Christchurch (Will Jordan's fast finishing try that sealed the deal to end the Blues hopes of remaining undefeated in the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition) then the Hurricanes edged the Highlanders in Wellington to win 2 in a row (Although tries from both sides had been disallowed from the TMO due to obstruction/shepherding).

And here is the list of round 6 matches being played in Super Rugby Aotearoa:

Hurricanes Vs Blues (Their most recent meeting in was round 1 this year in Super Rugby Aotearoa in which the Blues were dominant at Eden Park in Auckland against the Hurricanes but the last time the Hurricanes beat the Blues was in the last round which is round 18 at Westpac Stadium (Now Sky Stadium) last year)

& Chiefs Vs Highlanders (The last time both of these sides met was this year in which the Highlanders took top honors against the Chiefs in Dunedin with a match winning drop goal by reserve Highlanders first five Bryn Gatland (Son of the current Chiefs coach Warren Gatland) but it's been 2 years since the Chiefs had last beaten the Highlanders & it was in round 17 at ANZ National Stadium in Suva in Fiji).

And finally, I haven't been blogging lately since I had a cold but it's been 8 days since I've been tested for COVID & it was on Monday that Dad rang me to tell about the good news that I had been tested negative (Meaning that I was lucky not to get the corona virus).

So that is my 352nd blog of the year 2020 (MMXX) & my 12th of this year.

Super Rugby Aotearoa round 3 wrap

Well, round 3 of Super Rugby Aotearoa began as the table topping Blues (Who had Rieko Ioane yellow carded after an intentional offside but the turning point of the match was Blues number 8 Hoskins Sotutu holding the Highlanders maul up (The law says if the knees are on the ground it's a tackle (But you have got to let it go or else it's a penalty for a no clear release (Tackler not releasing) but it's a maul if the players knees aren't on the ground so the ref may blow the whistle for a scrum as a result of a turnover off a maul) allowing the Blues to win a scrum moments before winning the game) go 3 from 3 (But the Crusaders are catching up (As a result of a 2 man horse race between the Blues & the Crusaders) after winning both games in a row in the inaugural Super Rugby Aotearoa season) as they beat the Highlanders in a close encounter by 3 points in Auckland (Including that excellent try being scored by Caleb Clarke (Son of Auckland, Blues & All Black rugby legend Eroni Clarke) who had to pay tribute to his grandfather who recently passed away just before the match started) then the Chiefs had a disappointing game as they couldn't tame New Zealand's best which is the Crusaders (I thought the turning point of the match was Damian McKenzie knocking the ball on (It looks like not only that the Chiefs have fallen foul of those tricky conditions just before the Crusaders won that match) with several minutes to go but it's the Crusaders getting the try off an intercept from a quick line out from the Chiefs because the Chiefs may or might have fallen asleep from the helm) in Christchurch.

And here is the list of round 4 matches being played in Super Rugby Aotearoa:

Highlanders Vs Crusaders (Their most recent meeting in the great southern derby was earlier this year in round 4 in which the Crusaders were overwhelmingly dominant at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch against the Highlanders but the last time the Highlanders beat the Crusaders was in round 5 at Forsyth Barr Stadium way back in 2018)

& Chiefs Vs Hurricanes (It's a must win game but the last time both of these sides met was this year in which the Hurricanes took top honors against the Chiefs in Hamilton with a match winning penalty by Hurricanes utility back Jordie Barrett just before the 2020 Super Rugby season had been suspended due to corona virus which badly affected not just our country but worldwide but it's been 2 years since the Chiefs had last beaten the Hurricanes & it was at the last round in round 19 at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton (They had a Chiefs player sent off for a sickening high shot on a Hurricanes player just before the end of the game)

So that is my 351st blog of the year 2020 (MMXX) & my 11th of this year.

P.S. And I would like to say happy birthday to my dear Pops who is turning 73 in 2 days this Sunday on the 5th of July this year.