Well...Kia ora, good morning & happy Easter to you all today in this Easter weekend special (I went to Caroline's for brunch & Japanese Takeaway Momiji for dinner with Pops (Who has got a brand new car called the Ford Fiesta which is a older 2005 model to go with the Ssanyong truck that he's got since last year & is a 2 car person again just like last year where he used to own both the Citroen & Nissan & is the son of the late Hemi/James/Jim & the late Nana Minnie, the brother of the late Andy, Wal & Kathryn (Mother of Gemma, Huia & Ben (Partner of Robina), the father of my Dad (Husband of Raewyn, father of me, the late Wiremu & my half brother Jansen) & Aunty Tania (Partner of Rejean) & Carole (Sister of Zaki (Husband of Aysha & father of Yasser) & Martin (Husband of Leyla & father of Marat) & mother of Andy (Husband of Kelsey) yesterday but we have a visitor named Jennifer Morgan (Sister of Marnie & Paul & daughter of the late Aunty Vera & Uncle Reg) who is staying here (She now lives in Wellington (Although I haven't been to Wellington since 2016 but next time Pops, Carole & I are going to Wellington, we should stay at Jennifer's) with her mothers house after spending many years in Los Angeles, California before COVID-19 had happened last year) & just came here yesterday until tomorrow to see her niece playing in a school basketball tournament which is called HoopNation) but Super Rugby Aotearoa news just come in last night as the Blues (Led by 'Big Red' of Tom Robinson who is filling in for regular Blues skipper Patrick 'Paddy' Tuipulotu who is ruled out with a broken shoulder) own the Hurricanes (Who had lost both Du Plessis Kirifi (For a cheap shot on Blues first five Otere Black) & captain Ardie Savea (For going through the middle which should had not deemed both a penalty try & a yellow card (And I mean that officiating was dreadful because it was one of the most controversial decisions in the relatively short history of Super Rugby Aotearoa (That was a marginal call but you label it as controversy corner) to the sin bin) by 10 points at Eden Park in Auckland a night after the Highlanders (No longer bottom of the table as well as the 1st team to outsmart the champion Crusaders side in Super Rugby Aotearoa since the Hurricanes last year & there was one player that Pops told me who was having a blinder, & it was Highlanders centre Scott 'Scotty' Gregory (The Northlander who once played sevens rugby for the All Blacks sevens) as well as the Highlanders & Hawke's Bay halfback named Folau (Which I cannot say his surname because it sounds like an expletive or should I say profanity/foul language) who could be the All Black in waiting (And he is one of several players fighting for a spot at the All Blacks as the 3rd choice halfback to join both Aaron Smith (One of Folau's Highlanders teammates who plays for Manawatu in the newly named Bunnings Warehouse NPC (Formerly known as the Mitre 10 Cup) competition) & Brad Weber (One of Folau's Hawke's Bay teammates) along with Chiefs halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (Of Bay of Plenty) & both Crusaders halfbacks Mitchell Drummond (Canterbury) & Bryn Hall (North Harbour) but Pops told me that Folau has injured his knee meaning that he is gone for the season) & Highlanders first five Mitchell 'Mitch Hunty' Hunt (Well, he could be close of becoming an All Black) who had a great game as well & don't forget there is Connor 'CGB' Garden-Bachop (Brother of injured Hurricane Jackson & the son of former Highlander, Hurricane, All Black player & Samoan international Stephen Bachop & the late Sue Garden as well as nephew of former Canterbury, All Black player & Japanese international Graeme, cousin of the Mauger brothers of Aaron & Nathan & the great nephew of speedway legend Ivan) as well because he scored the last try of the match off a Crusaders mistake) but I wonder the headlines would probably say: CHAMPION CRUSADERS STRUGGLE AGAINST HIGHLANDERS) completed the biggest boil over in Super Rugby Aotearoa as they knocked over top of the table & now previously undefeated Crusaders in an upset win (1st time since 2015 (Which was World Cup year in which the last time the All Blacks triumphed at the Rugby World Cup) that the Highlanders upstaged the 10 time Super Rugby & once defending Super Rugby Aotearoa champions, the Crusaders in Christchurch & it was their title winning year for the Highlanders who in all of a sudden appeared their 2nd Super Rugby final (The 1st time that the Highlanders appeared in the Super Rugby final was in 1999 during the Super 12 era where they hosted a home final against the Crusaders at the old Carisbrook (Known as the House of Pain) in Dunedin but they were unable to overcome the long haul flight from South Africa to lose on their 1st attempt of winning the Super 12 title against their southern rivals because there was no party at Tony Brown's place (Including Afato So'oalo's winning try by making a chip kick over the top as he outsmarted the Highlanders defence which proved to be the game changer) & won their 1st Super Rugby title by outwitting the Hurricanes in the last all New Zealand final at Sky Stadium (Known as Westpac Stadium at the time) in Wellington (Including a winning drop goal by Marty Banks to put the Hurricanes out of reach which proved to be the turning point) as well as the biggest winning margin for the Highlanders (Although it featured the return from a hip injury of the hat-trick hero against the Chiefs in Hamilton & live wire winger, Jona Nareki (One of Pops old students along with Vilimoni Koroi at the old Aramoho School in Whanganui which is now a defunct school) against the Crusaders in a epic great southern derby clash at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch to begin the 2nd half of the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa championship season.
And here is the list of round 7 matches being played in Super Rugby Aotearoa of 2021:
Highlanders Vs Chiefs (Their most recent meeting was this year in which the Highlanders won at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton against the Chiefs with Highlanders winger Jona Nareki scoring a hat-trick of tries during the game (And what a performance from him) but the last time the Chiefs beat the Highlanders was in round 17 of the 2018 Super Rugby season at ANZ National Stadium in Suva, Fiji)
& Hurricanes Vs Crusaders (The last time both of these sides met was this year in which the Crusaders took top honors against the Hurricanes at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch in round 2 but it's been 9 months since the Hurricanes had last beaten the Crusaders & it was in round 7 at the same ground).
And finally in other rugby news such as Hurricanes midfielder & ex-rugby league player Ngani Laumape has signed (Although he has not yet officially signed) with a French club which is rumored to be Stade Francais because he might miss an opportunity to play for the All Blacks (New Zealand's shot at redemption (After losing against England (Who missed out on claiming rugby's most treasured prize, the Rugby World Cup, as they lost to South Africa (Who will begin their title defence against Scotland in Pool B) in the final) at the last Rugby World Cup in 2019 (Well, the AB's disappointing defeat against England at the semifinal of the Rugby World Cup in 2019 is like the fine margins of 2007, the disaster in 2003 & the desperate disappointment in 1999 as well as past failures in 1995 & 1991) begins against the host nation & opponents in Pool A, France, in the opening match of the tournament) at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
So that is my 409th blog of the year 2021 (MMXXI) & my 29th of this year.
P.S. And there are some rugby players who tried out in other sports such as Fijian born Wallaby Filipo Daugunu who originally tried out at a soccer goalkeeper who wanted to follow the footsteps of current world class elite international soccer goalkeepers such as Manuel Neuer of Germany & Hugo Lloris of France as well as Pita Gus Sowakula who was once a basketball player (He once played for the Otago Nuggets in the New Zealand NBL in 2014 & went to college in the American state of Iowa) & tried to follow in the footsteps of the big 3 superstars who played in the NBA, Michael Jordan (The Chicago Bull), the late Kobe Bryant (The LA Laker) & LeBron James (The Cleveland Cavalier (Formerly), Miami Heat (Formerly) & LA Laker) & there was a New Zealand cricketer who once played rugby during his 1st XV schoolboy days, Daryl Mitchell (Son of former All Black coach & current England assistant/defence coach John) because he wanted to follow the footsteps of world class cricketers such as India's Virat Kohli, England's Joe Root & Ben Stokes, Australia's Steve Smith & David Warner & New Zealand's Kane Williamson & he took up cricket because cricket was a safer sport than rugby & a few others who are now rugby players including Jordie Barrett (Who once played cricket as a pace bowler during his secondary school days), Kaylum Boshier (Former New Zealand under 19 cricket captain at the 2018 Under 19 Cricket World Cup) & Salesi Rayasi (Filipe's son who originally played basketball in secondary school level before eventually becoming a rugby player) but don't forget that there is Russell Coutts who was a Olympic gold medalist in the Finn class over in Los Angeles, California (Known as LA &/or the City of Angels) in 1984 & a 3 time America's Cup winning skipper (Twice for Team New Zealand in 1995 (When it was held in San Diego, California against the Dennis Conner led Stars & Stripes aboard the Young America yacht) & 2000 (When it was held in Auckland against the Prada Luna Rossa Challenge of Italy) & once with Alinghi in 2003 (When it was also held in Auckland against the Dean Barker led Team New Zealand) who once played rugby union at junior age grade level.
And just to let you know it's my cousin Paige Williams (You may remember her as the beautiful daughter of my biological aunty Cathey Middelplaats (The Arlo worker who is with the other John Mitchell & mother of Paige as I mentioned before as well as Nico & Luca (Cathey & John's sons as well as Paige's younger brothers) who is having her birthday is tomorrow as she turns 27 because I haven't seen her along with Cathey (Who just had her 54th birthday last month on the 16th of March (It was the day that the Peter Burling (Who was influential & inspirational leader of the syndicate during the regatta) led Emirates Team New Zealand (Who had appeared in all but one America's Cup appearances since 1995) won race 9 (Considered known to be as the best race of the 36th America's Cup match which hailed to be one of the greatest, classic America's Cup races of all time) of the America's Cup against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Which featured the likes of Jimmy Spithill, Francesco Bruni & co in when they became the challenger of America's Cup 36 (They completely outperformed American Magic (Who was the best of the 3 challengers in the America's Cup World Series in December last year) in the semifinal of the Prada Cup before they stunned INEOS Team UK (Who had their biggest turnaround when they won every race in the round robin emerging as the top qualifier & had gone through to the Prada Cup final) in the final of the Prada Cup in which they won, repeating their feat in 2000 when they won the Louis Vuitton Cup against AmericaOne before they unsuccessfully went on to challenge for the Auld Mug against Team New Zealand to be on match point at 6 - 3 (Just like in race 4 of the 30th America's Cup on Russell Coutts 38th birthday (The day before the America's Cup was still New Zealand's cup after the Kiwis took victory in race 5 to complete the 1st successful defence of the Auld Mug outside of the US) on the 1st of March, the Prada Challenge of Italy actually led on the 3rd cross (They could've picked up their 1st win of America's Cup 2000 should they chose to tack) but had chosen not to tack as the New Zealanders went on to win the race in style with Coutts equaling the late Charlie Barr's all time record of 9 straight America's Cup wins (Coutts (Who had left Team New Zealand along with Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Murray Jones & Dean Phipps (And 4 other New Zealanders) after the success of 2000 to join Alinghi which had been part of that successful campaign in 2003 (Billed as a loyal defeat to Team New Zealand led by Dean Barker who took over from Coutts until he left in 2015) had elected not to compete in the next race (So he missed out an opportunity of breaking the all time record of 9 consecutive victories in the America's Cup set by Barr), therefore handing the reins of the helmsman duties to the young back up trial horse skipper Dean Barker in race 5), the day after ETNZ won both races (Including race 8 which was arguably the worst race of America's Cup 36 & the weirdest, bizarre race in the history of the Auld Mug after Luna Rossa copped a boundary penalty 4 times whilst off their foils meaning that Emirates Team New Zealand (Who went off our foils whilst going for the lead then we were speeding up again when Prada was leading & were on the cusp of something special before they came off their foils & got pinged by the umpires 4 times for sailing outside the boundary line) would take the lead at mark 3 whilst Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli were still off their foils & win the race (Although the race was originally going to have 6 legs but it was shortened to 5 because of the time limit according to the race committee) after coming from behind to complete an unbelievable comeback or should I say an incomparable turnaround) to go 5 - 3 up against Luna Rossa & the day before Team New Zealand crossed the line to win race 10 (It was before the race that the Auld Mug was on the line) in the best of 13 first to 7 against Prada by winning the series 7 - 3, & went on to retain sailing's holy grail as well as the Everest of sailing, the America's Cup on St Patrick's Day last month), John, Nico & Luca since 4 years & 10 months ago (The last time she sent me an email was 3 or 4 years ago before she left to go to London with her partner Jarrod Ahearn for a job but last year, Pops told me about Paige & Jarrod who are both safely back home in New Zealand before the corona virus had happened & I heard a comment from Pops that the couple has now got a flat) when we went to see both of them a day after Me, Pops & John Coburn (Who nearly suffered a cardiac arrest a couple of months ago but how did he manage to survive?) went to an All Blacks test match (My only AB's rugby test that I've once been before) against Wales at Westpac Stadium (Now Sky Stadium) in Wellington but I would really like a big shout out to her wishing her a happy 27th tomorrow.
And my best friend from Malaysia, Sophia Ong (Who I have not seen since 2017 when Pops (Who is with Carole) & Sherylle-Anne took me to Leon & Hanne's place (Although the soccer mad Leon Benbaruk (Who I haven't seen last year along with Hanne) is no longer together with Hanne (Their marriage had ended after their rocky road relationship had been going downhill but Hanne still lives here in my hometown of Whanganui (Who I have been living there since 2007 after spending 16 years in Raetihi) & is now living in Auckland with his new partner Michelle (Whom I never met) & she is the daughter of Alex & Evelyn & the elder sister of Amelia & Jason & loves rap & rock music (Sophia's favourite rock bands are 3 Doors Down, Korn, Linkin Park & Nickelback) & has been to China in 1999 & Japan in 2001) sent me a reply on her email that she sent to me about that she is pregnant & is due to give birth to her son named Shaia next month on the 28th of May (And I know that she's married to some kind of Welsh dude back in 2018 (A year before Dad was married again with his new wife Raewyn & Andy married his new wife Kelsey).
And finally there is something that teachers train their kids & teens at schools in order to avoid becoming outlaws unlike a world leader like a president or a prime minister is in fact the law enforcer.