Well, the final round of Super Rugby started as the Hurricanes recover from a tremendous turn around after losing to the Brumbies in round 4 (But they're already out of the picture & out of contention of reaching the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final) to thrash the defending Super Rugby AU champions the Reds (One of 2 of Australia's best sides in the competition along with the Brumbies with 1 win each but they're 2nd best in the competition in the standings) at Sky Stadium in Wellington in Ngani Laumape's farewell game (There were 2 yellow cards in the match, one by a Hurricanes player of Tyrel Lomax for a high hit on Reds loose head prop Fe'ao Fotuaika & the other by a Reds player of Bryce Hegarty for slapping the ball down in the dead ball area resulting in a penalty try but reserve Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles got a double after coming on from the bench to replace Asafo Aumua) before joining Stade Francais in the Top 14 competition in France before the Highlanders (Who had the world's best halfback Aaron Smith getting a double just like Coles but the high flying Highlanders winger of Jona Nareki had to be replaced due to injury as a precaution but has been declared fit for the final along with Pari Pari Parkinson (Who he was under an injury cloud but his grandmother had met one of Pops friends from Northland (Once known as North Auckland), Don Edmonds) to start) have secured a place in the final with an attacking bonus point victory against the Brumbies at GIO Stadium in Canberra followed by the reigning Super Rugby Aotearoa champions the Crusaders (Who had Crusaders winger Sevu Reece in for a hat-trick during the game) came away with a thumping against the Melbourne Rebels at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney but miss out instead of reaching another final after failing to take the victory by more than 33 points (Including that try from Leicester Fainga'anuku that put the Crusaders beyond reach (There were missed opportunities including Crusaders midfielder Braydon Ennor knocked it on before sailing his way to the try line during the 1st half then Crusaders fullback Will Jordan (Who was yellow carded along with Bryn Hall (Who had been sent to the bin for repeated infringements in the dying seconds) during the match for a deliberate knock down) was tackled by a Rebels player into touch whilst attempting to score & Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams attempting to score a try by using a leg spin style maneuver before bobbling it but this is like the France - Scotland game in the Six Nations decider this year where France needed to get an attacking bonus as well as winning the match by more than 21 points than their opponent to win the title but they failed as the French lost the match to the Scots with South African born Scottish winger Duhan van der Merwe scoring the game winning try handing Wales (Who missed out on a grand slam after losing to France in their last game of the tournament) the Six Nations championship (This is much more like in 2017 where Ireland (Who had their 1st win against the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016 followed by another win against the same opponent in Dublin in 2018 2 years before Argentina had beaten the AB's for the 1st time in an historic upset in Sydney last year during the Tri-Nations) denied England a golden opportunity of winning the grand slam & to break the record for most straight test match wins in international rugby (It still stands at 18 with both England & New Zealand sharing the record for the most consecutive international rugby test match victories) but the referee had to go to the TMO to have a look a potential second movement, & after a consultation from the Television Match Official, the try had been disallowed by referee Nic Berry (And the Crusaders fans were left fuming & were robbed on that occasion after the try by Fainga'anuku being rubbed out by the TMO but the Crusaders have missed out on a golden opportunity of advancing through to the final in an attempt to complete a rare double) awarding the penalty to the Rebels for two movements during the match) then the Blues (Who had Hoskins Sotutu in for a double just like Coles & Smith did) have booked a home final for the 1st time since 2003 when they had a hard fought win against the Force (The Blues scored 28 unanswered points at halftime before the Force dominated the 2nd half but it wasn't to be as the Blues held on until the end by 10 points meaning that the final will be played at Eden Park & the Blues have lost the ever popular player Tom Robinson (Who looked a bit groggy after being the victim of an apparent head clash with a Force player) with what looks like to be an HIA (Rieko's brother Akira Ioane came onto the field as a head bin replacement for Robinson & played for the remainder of the game after Big Red had failed his Head Injury Assessment) but failed as Robinson took no further part in the match & is likely to miss the final (Along with Otere Black who got injured during training yesterday ahead of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final (With either Stephen Perofeta, Harry Plummer & possibly Beauden Barrett (Who returned after being out of compulsory isolation for a fortnight upon arrival from Japan when he played for Suntory Sungoliath in the Japan Top League who went down to the Robbie Deans coached Panasonic Wild Knights in the final) to play first five (But there is some good news as Black has been declared fit to play in tomorrow's final after overcoming an injury sustained during training) for the Blues when they clash the Landers at Eden Park in Auckland for the big game which is going to be test match quality (Well, I can't wait this Saturday because of the hype surrounding the final being played) against the Highlanders due to a head knock & there was a yellow card to reserve Blues hooker & Samoan rugby player Ray Niuia (Who had an incredible comeback from a terrible injury he suffered at the beginning of last year) for a dangerous contact to the head without force before the Blues have scored a try which was ruled out by the Television Match Official) at the garden of Eden at Eden Park in Auckland (Which hosted the America's Cup series in March this year resulting victory to the defenders Emirates Team New Zealand (Led by the dynamic duo of Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (Who are in fact the modern day iteration of Russell Coutts (Now Sail GP CEO) & Brad Butterworth (Who worked for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at this years America's Cup as a facilitator) but they're still back home in New Zealand to prepare for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in order to defend the gold medal that they won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016) who had their second successful defence of the Auld Mug against Luna Rossa but there is bad news as we heard reports that the next America's Cup in possibly 2023 will be held overseas like Cowes in Portsmouth in the UK as well as Abu Dhabi & Dubai in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) after Auckland had just said no deal by turning down an offer to host the 37th America's Cup match mainly due to lack of funds & of course, the Prada Cup challenger selection series if both Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli & American Magic have their intentions to return to take part) before the Chiefs sign off the season by mowing the win less Waratahs side (Who had Tahs loose forward Lachlan Swinton (Who had been selected to the Wallabies squad recently for the 3 match test series against France but is likely to miss a couple of matches due to suspension after a red card as a result for a careless high tackle on a Chiefs player) sent off for causing a high tackle as well as the Chiefs lost Tupou Vaa'i to the bin for a high tackle violation (I thought it wasn't a penalty because of the head clash) during the game) down at Lottoland in Sydney with Chiefs winger Sean Wainui becoming the 1st Super Rugby player in history to score 5 tries in a match.
So it's the Blues to play the Highlanders in the 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final (Their most recent meeting between the 2 teams (Although both sides have never met in a final which is the 1st in the relatively short history of SR TT) was this year in which the Highlanders won at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin in round 8 of Super Rugby Aotearoa with the match being overshadowed by a red card of Blues prop forward Alex Hodgman for a reckless high tackle on reserve Highlanders loose forward James Lentjes but will it be Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu or Highlanders co-captains Ash Dixon & Aaron Smith to become the 1st Super Rugby Trans-Tasman winning captain? We will find it out in 6 days time but will the Blues end an 18 year drought & win their 1st Super Rugby title since 2003 as well as their 4th overall (They 1st did it in 1996, 1997 & 2003) or will the Highlanders win their 1st SR TT title? (And their 2nd overall since they won their only Super Rugby championship in 2015) at Eden Park in Auckland this Saturday night to decide who will become the historic first ever champions of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (It is going to be another one of New Zealand's biggest sporting days this year on Saturday night since the final of Super Rugby Aotearoa which happened last month on the 8th of May in which the Crusaders triumphed to retain the Tu Kotahi Aotearoa trophy against the Chiefs).
And finally my thoughts before the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final? There is no tomorrow, today we crush the Blues once & for all. Now let's get a move on, we've got a Super Rugby Trans-Tasman title to win here!
So that is my 422nd blog of the year 2021 (MMXXI) & my 42nd of this year.
P.S. And I like to give a shout out to both Gary & Kathy Collis (One of Pops friends) for coming over for a visit today where we had lunch but there was a great concert that I went with Carole (Who watched the tennis on TV that I've got it on record today in which Babora Krejcikova won the French Open women's singles title against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (And there's the French Open men's singles final between Novak Djokovic & Stefanos Tsitsipas due to start tomorrow morning that I've got it on record on mySky) but her birthday is on the 17th so I want to wish her a happy 69th) & Pops last night to Teeks at the Whanganui Opera House where I had to sit next to Dad during the concert because I had to fill in for Jans after he had to pull out due to illness so I was in but I loved the concert so much but I have been listening to Incubus a lot (The 1st time I heard Incubus (My 4th favourite American rock band (Red Hot Chili Peppers is my favourite ahead of the Foo Fighters but Bush is both my favourite English (Ahead of The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Blur & Muse) & British (I have a favourite Scottish rock band which is Franz Ferdinand ahead of Simple Minds & The Fratellis compared to my favourite Welsh rock band which is The Manic Street Preachers ahead of Feeder & The Stereophonics) rock band as well as U2 being my favourite Irish rock band along with The Cranberries & Thin Lizzy then Nickelback being my favourite Canadian rock band ahead of Three Days Grace, Sum 41 & Finger Eleven then Seether being my favourite South African rock band ahead of The Kongos (Whose band members are in fact Americans despite being born in South Africa) then Silverchair being my favourite Australian rock band ahead of INXS, AC/DC, Eskimo Joe & the John Butler Trio & finally Shihad being my favourite New Zealand rock band ahead of The Feelers & Split Enz) behind Linkin Park & ahead of A Perfect Circle & of course Filter) was in 1999 (That was the same year that I 1st started remembering what year it was when I was at Raetihi Primary School) or 2000 with the song Pardon Me but the 1st time I remembered listening to my favourite Incubus song Drive (My favourite song now along with my favourite rock song) was 21 years ago) because of both albums of Make Yourself & Morning View that I've got for my birthday along with 1 A Perfect Circle album called Thirteenth Step to go with my 2 Red Hot Chili Peppers (Both What Hits? & Stadium Arcadium), both Foo Fighters (Greatest Hits & Wasting Light) & 2 Linkin Park music albums (Also both Hybrid Theory 20th anniversary edition & Meteora) but I always loved Italian food especially both pasta (Which is one of my favourite foods) & pizza since I was a young kid but I'm starting to love Indian food especially curries during my later years (Although the Italians are in fact football followers compared to the Indians who are avid cricket followers).
And finally there are confirmed reports that the world champion Springboks (Who haven't played international rugby since taking victory at the last Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019 & are due to host an highly anticipated 3 match test series against the British & Irish Lions but 1st they will play against Georgia in a 2 match test series & this will be interesting & they match the All Blacks with the most Rugby World Cup tournament victories at 3 (The AB's have won the 1987 (They beat France in the final at Eden Park in Auckland with tries scored by Michael Jones, All Black captain David Kirk & John Kirwan as well as Grant Fox scoring 4 penalty goals & a conversion & drop goal each & would not gone on to win a single RWC crown until 2011), 2011 (It was the French again that the AB's beat in a rematch of 1987 at the same ground at the garden of Eden by a single point, ending 24 years of heartbreak & disappointment while All Black prop forward Tony Woodcock scoring the only try in the final for the All Blacks then Stephen Donald (Who was called up to the squad whilst he was white baiting in the Waikato region after Colin Slade got injured (Slade had an injury similar to Dan Carter's during the quarterfinal match against Argentina) had nailed a penalty goal that has surely won the game for New Zealand) & 2015 (And it was against the Wallabies of Australia in which they went on to win in style at Twickenham in London, England where the only time that the AB's had won the tournament on foreign soil & to win back to back Rugby World Cups in Richie McCaw (Who is the only RWC winning captain to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy twice (And one of 2 Rugby World Cup winning skippers for the All Blacks along with David Kirk (Who played for Otago then Auckland & the All Blacks before he announced his retirement from rugby to take up a Rhodes scholar & was once the CEO of Fairfax Entertainment in Australia) but McCaw is now a helicopter (Or should I say chopper) pilot since he retired from playing rugby after the last time the AB's triumphed at the RWC most recently in 2015), Dan Carter (Who is the father of 3 sons now with his wife Honor given birth to son, Cruz Charles to join his brothers Marco & Fox & is the one who injured his groin during the tournament which ruled him out for the rest of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (He didn't play in the last pool match against Canada, the quarterfinal against Argentina, the semifinal against Australia & the final against France, all of them which ended in triumph) but played in the 2015 final against the Wallabies where he had been awarded player of the game for contributing 19 points (He scored 4 penalty goals, both conversions & a drop goal) for New Zealand during the match), Ma'a Nonu (Who was the try scorer for the All Blacks in the 2015 final along with Nehe Milner-Skudder & Beauden Barrett), Conrad Smith & Keven Mealamu's farewell game) tournaments compared to South Africa (Who has a perfect record as they appeared in all 3 RWC finals which resulted in triumphs (The only nation to do so) & the 1st rugby playing nation to win the Rugby World Cup after losing the opening match of the tournament (I mentioned it already in my previous blogs) winning the 1995 (They defeated the AB's on home soil at Ellis Park in Johannesburg with a drop goal by Springbok first five Joel Stransky which broke New Zealand (Which featured the late Jonah Lomu (Who is one of rugby's true global superstars whose career had been derailed by a crippling kidney disease) hearts to put them in the lead before the match had ended, resulting in a famous victory to the Boks just before the late South African president Nelson Mandela handed the trophy to the winning captain, his good friend, Springbok skipper (In 1995), Francois Pienaar), 2007 (In which they defeated England in a try less final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France in a rematch of the pool game where the South Africans thrashed them by 36 points at the same ground) & 2019 (And it was the English (Who famously beat the All Blacks (Who had their 1st loss at a RWC since the fateful, highly controversial quarterfinal match against traditional rivals France in 2007) in the semifinal) again in which they totally dominated the match to win the last Rugby World Cup tournament after English prop forward Kyle Sinckler left the field with a head knock 2 or 3 minutes into the game in a rematch of the 2007 final at the International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan with Springbok number 8 Duane Vermeulen (Well, I think he is a good player when he exhibited the mastery of a veteran during the final in 2019 (Just like Pete Burling did with Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda against Jimmy Spithill (Who sailed with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli recently this year when they won the Prada Cup against INEOS Team UK (Who are now the challenger of record for America's Cup 37 but let's hope that the Brits don't become the next holders of the Auld Mug just like Alinghi (Who hired both Coutts & Butterworth to dethrone the Dean Barker (Who was named as replacement skipper since the departure of Coutts after filling in for him in the 5th & final race in America's Cup 2000 against the Luna Rossa Challenge of Italy in which we managed to win to complete our 1st successful defence of the Auld Mug (And the 1st time that a foreign syndicate successfully defended the America's Cup outside of America) led Team New Zealand) did in 2003) led by Sir Ben Ainslie but missed out on claiming the Auld Mug because it went to Team New Zealand) & co in the all Aussie crew of Oracle Team USA) as I mentioned in my previous blogs) being the top performer of the game after being awarded man of the match honors (Just like Jonny Wilkinson in 2003, Victor Matfield in 2007, Thierry Dusautoir in 2011 & Dan Carter in 2015) as well as the self proclaimed rugby god of Siya Kolisi (Another one of those good rugby players just like Vermeulen) becoming the 1st black captain to lift the William Webb Ellis cup & following the footsteps of both Pienaar & John Smit as the other Rugby World Cup winning captains for South Africa) World Cups so far) have announced their intentions of returning to the Rugby Championship this year after sitting out last year due to the South African government travel restrictions as well as player welfare & safety concerns regarding to COVID-19.
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