Well, there has been a bit of a breaking news such as the 3 New Zealand Super Rugby franchises of the Blues, Crusaders & Highlanders join the Hurricanes as their players had been affected by COVID-19 (With the Blues, Crusaders & Highlanders unable to field 23 fit players compared to the Hurricanes still not able to cope by also not fielding 23 fit players as well) by having their matches in round 5 being postponed for the time being except the Chiefs (Whose players had been unaffected by the corona virus (It's been 2 years since the pandemic had started but from my point of view, they could've suspended the Super Rugby Pacific season here in New Zealand (Unlike the entire 2020 Super Rugby season got cancelled as a result due to travel restrictions surrounding the pandemic) if things continue to escalate due to the rising numbers) match against Moana Pasifika had been brought forward & been given the go ahead as the only New Zealand match to be played in this round of Super Rugby Pacific (And the number of confirmed cases has reached to 10,000 now because we fear that we might get it along with Bernard, Jans & Raewyn's daughter are our family's most affected people but of course Dad (He has COVID-19 omicron now as Pops told me on the 9th of April) who has to self quarantine now (But how come he tested negative? Mainly along with his wife Raewyn while Raewyn's daughter had been tested positive since she picked up a serious disease) & it's now getting worse as nearly 14,000 people have been infected (There is estimates about the 300 to 400 range here in Whanganui (Although Auckland is the worst affected area here in New Zealand to start with) as Pops told me before I went for my walk (He warned me not to approach these people who has been contracting a serious illness by crossing over to avoid the oncoming person) with omicron (And there has been at least 14 to 17 those who passed away from it) but Andy has got the corona virus meaning that Pops & Carole will not be heading to Auckland on the weekend of the 25th to 26th of June, so too is Aunty Tania's partner Rejean, who has picked up a serious illness like COVID-19 back in Canada as Pops told me last month on the 21st of June but now Aunty Tania has got it also back in Canada when Pops also told me a day later (And it must've been the close contact stuff & now has to require to self quarantine at her home in Mont Saint-Hilaire along with Rejean due to getting the corona virus too).
And it has been 25 years on since the release of still considered the greatest video game of all time in the rugby union department called Jonah Lomu Rugby (Both the late William Pollock 'Bill' McLaren & the current World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont were the commentators of that game & I even like that cheesy one-liners including he digs like a demented mole (That would have to be Dad's favourite commentary line) there as well as mercy me! What a tackle! That could have put him in Ward 4. Well, I hope not, that's a maternity ward (And also one of my favourite commentary lines but I always say that every time a player makes a big hit) & marching up the field like a bunch of Sherman tanks) because this video game is about the sport of rugby union & it's star All Black back in the day of the late Jonah Lomu featuring the rugby playing nations that took part in the 1995 Rugby World Cup (Including one Thai player which is Laksanasampong who was a cult hero there) as well as those who took part in the qualifiers of the 1995 tournament but one of the AB's players of Jeff Wilson (He has a son who is a gamer as well as being a huge fan of the NBA 2K series (Well, I'm certainly not a fan of it (I once played a game before called NBA 2K10 on both the PS2 & PS3 formats) but Dad owns one of the NBA 2K series games) said that it was funny about him that he always knocked the damn ball on every time he was trying to make a run, while a current rugby star of Brad Weber embraced the side of it because he used to play that game as a young kid alongside his brother Sam along with Shane Warne Cricket 99 but my thoughts of Jonah Lomu Rugby? Well, I have to say that I've played it before but I was terrible at it but Dad's favourite video game he played was Tony Hawk of course ahead of Rugby League Live 4 that he plays now (My favourite video game series would have to be Gran Turismo as well).
And Pops told me in March that Sonny Bill Williams (A successful rugby league & union legend who was twice the NRL Premiership winning player for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2004 & the Sydney Roosters in 2013 & was twice a Rugby World Cup winning player for the AB's in 2011 & 2015 & the 1st Muslim All Black in history) knocked out ex-AFL player Barry Hall with 20 seconds to spare before the conclusion of round 1 after a boxing bout that had taken place in Australia & is still undefeated (He is 9 & 0 now but his next fight would be one of the former NRL stars of Paul Gallen).
And it's been 4 years since France were the champions of the world in football as I mentioned in my previous blogs when they triumphed over Croatia 4 - 2 (Including goals from including Croatia's Mario Mandzukic off an own goal, Antoine Griezmann off a penalty as well as Paul Pogba & Kylian Mbappe provide both stunning goals for the French while the goalscorers for Croatia are both Ivan Perisic who leveled the scores & Mario Mandzukic off an goalkeeping error from French captain Hugo Lloris) in the final of the most recent Football World Cup in 2018 (It was the 2nd time where the French have won the Football World Cup & their 1st since 1998 on home soil against Brazil 3 - 0 in the final (Including both goals from Zinedine Zidane (He provided headers from corner kicks not once but twice) & Emmanuel 'Manu' Petit who finished the Brazilians off in style with the final goal of the 1998 tournament) at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis) at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow as well as the rematch of the semifinal in 1998, won by France (Who were hosts at the time), a day after France's national day which is Bastille Day (And the French revolution is successfully conquered in Russia in 2018 when they had the Football World Cup there, 2 years after an unsuccessful attempt to claim the Euros on Bastille Day against the Cristiano Ronaldo (Who is the modern day iteration of both the late Eusebio & Luis Figo) led Portugal in the final of Euro 2016 at the Stade de France (The stadium that the late Nan, Pops & Aunty Tania has been in) in front of their adoring home fans at Saint-Denis with a wonder strike by one of the Portuguese players of Eder during the 2nd period of extra time).
And 3 months ago that Ben (Who Pops saw him at a supermarket) gave me a rock music album to complete my rock music collection but Pops is into old school country music while I am more into the modern stuff (And I have got 16 rock albums now ranging from my 7 favourite rock bands the Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as the Foo Fighters (Whose lead singer & guitarist as well as ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl had recently released his autobiography late last year which is Dave Grohl: The Storyteller compared to the front man of the Red Hot Chili Peppers of Anthony Kiedis, who released his autobiography way back in 2004 called Scar Tissue but there is sad news as the rock music world is in mourning with the drummer of the Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins, has suddenly passed away a few weeks ago during the bands tour to South America so all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family of Taylor Hawkins (Who Ben told me on the 1st of May during our afternoon tea that he took drugs which resulted in a cause of death), RIP (Well that was a bit of a shock about my reaction to Taylor Hawkins's sudden passing but I'll listen to the Foo Fighters (I had a privilege of owning both Foo Fighters albums which is Greatest Hits & Wasting Light but never saw them in concert before (Only both Andy (Carole's son & Kelsey's wife) & Ben (Kathryn's son as well as Gemma & Huia's brother & Sanne's partner) did) on Friday in honor of & to pay my respects to the now late drummer of Taylor Hawkins (And 5 years ago in 2017 that they lost both Chris Cornell of Audioslave & Soundgarden fame & of course Chester Bennington from Linkin Park (Unlike in 1994 that the lead singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was gone then Layne Staley from Alice In Chains in 2002 & of course, Scott Weiland of both Stone Temple Pilots & Velvet Revolver in 2015 along with Lemmy (A good friend of Dave Grohl) from Motorhead a year before David Bowie, Gene Wilder (Who was that Willie Wonka guy from Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory movie), Muhammad Ali (A world famous boxer who was born as Cassius Clay before he became a Muslim but he had been suspended from boxing before for 3 years from 1967 until 1970 for his religious beliefs that refused him to be enlisted for the US Army to go to Vietnam as a result of a war being broken out in that country), Carrie Fisher (AKA Princess Leia from the Star Wars original & sequel trilogies that I'm always a fan of) & Prince had passed away) who joined the list of famous people who passed away this year such as Sidney Poitier, William Hurt, Shane Warne, Rod Marsh, Inga Tuigamala, Joeli Vidiri & Andrew Symonds), Linkin Park, Incubus, A Perfect Circle (I have both albums now such as Thirteenth Step & most recently, Mer De Noms (My favourite A Perfect Circle song is always Judith but now Orestes has seemed to take over as one of my new favourite A Perfect Circle song), Shihad (One of my favourite rock bands by far from our country of New Zealand but Killjoy is officially, my favourite rock album now) & Filter + Dire Straits (Which is exactly not my favourite rock band but I like their music anyway & I prefer active rock bands because Dire Straits have broken up already) & also Audioslave (Well, it's certainly not my favourite band but I like a bit of inner Cornell) but here is my list of the music albums I own:
A Perfect Circle: Mer de Noms (2000) & Thirteenth Step (2003)
Alanis Morisette: Jagged Little Pill (1995)
Audioslave: Revelations (2006)
Fatboy Slim: Greatest Hits - Why Try Harder (2006)
Filter: Short Bus (1995) & Title of Record (1999)
Foo Fighters: The Colour & The Shape (1997), Greatest Hits (2009), Wasting Light (2011), Medicine At Midnight (2021) & But Here We Are (2023)
Incubus: Make Yourself (1999) & Morning View (2001)
Lenny Kravitz: Greatest Hits (2000)
Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory (2000, remastered in 2020 as Hybrid Theory 20th anniversary edition) & Meteora (2003, remastered in 2023 as Meteora 20th anniversary edition)
Matchbox Twenty: Exile on Mainstream (2007)
Oasis: (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
Red Hot Chili Peppers: By The Way (2002), Stadium Arcadium (2006) & The Getaway (2016)
& Shihad: Killjoy (1995), Shihad (1996, known as the fish album), The General Electric (1999), the Pacifier album (2002), Beautiful Machine (2008) & Ignite (2010)
And the All Blacks 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign is the most difficult task of our lives in history especially the people of our country of New Zealand because I fear we might not make the semifinals of next year's RWC (Only once in Rugby World Cup history that the AB's has lost a quarterfinal match & it was against hosts at the time, France in 2007 where we produced a worst ever result (Our best result so far was the world champions in 1987, 2011 & 2015) given that we play either Ireland (Who beat us last year along with both France & South Africa, & have always been competitive since their 1st win over the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016) or the defending world champions the Springboks even if we beat or lose to the host nation of the French in the opening match of the tournament but this could be a France - Ireland final compared to a England - New Zealand final, a New Zealand - France final or especially even a South Africa - France final.
And that there is so many matches in sports to look forward to during the weekend (We previously had the Blues defeated MP at Mount Smart Stadium in South Auckland on Tuesday then Australia becoming the 1st side to reach the final of the 50-over women's Cricket World Cup after comprehensively thrashed the West Indies at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Wednesday & of course, England (The defending champions), have put aside South Africa in the other semi which was a replay of the 2017 semifinal at Hagley Oval in Christchurch last night to advance through to the final against the Aussies (Who are looking to dethrone the Poms in order to return to glory come Sunday) for a chance to defend the women's Cricket World Cup that they won in 2017) such as the great southern derby of the Crusaders & the Highlanders tonight at Orangetheory Stadium in the garden city of Christchurch (Otautahi) then tomorrow it's a rematch from last Tuesday between the Blues & Moana Pasifika at Eden Park in the city of sails of Auckland (Tamaki Makaurau) then Sunday, it's the Super Rugby Pacific match between the Hurricanes & the Chiefs at Sky Stadium in the windy city of Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara) but 1st it's the Women's 50 over Cricket World Cup final between Australia (Ahitereiria) & England (Ingarangi) at Hagley Oval in Otautahi (Christchurch).
And in Super Rugby news where round 7 kicked off as the Crusaders end a 2 year wait of beating the Highlanders at home at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch marred by that red card from reserve Crusaders hooker Shilo Klein then a day later the Blues had another win over crosstown rivals Moana Pasifika (Who were without both coach Aaron Mauger & assistant coach Filo Tiatia as part of the virus list) at Eden Park in Auckland with Kurt Eklund having a field day as he becomes the 1st Blues hooker to get a hat-trick but the match has also been marred by the red card of Blues winger & son of famous rugby player Eroni, Caleb Clarke (Who joined Klein along with Fijian Drua captain Nemani Nagusa & Nepo Laulala as part of the suspended players list in Super Rugby Pacific) for a foul play incident a la CJ Stander did against his country of birth of South Africa when he played for Ireland in 2016 before a day later that the Chiefs return to winning ways as they take the victory 3 times in a row against the Hurricanes for the 1st time by the barest of margins in a rescheduled match at Sky Stadium in Wellington.
And here are the results from the other games in the 7th round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Fijian Drua 14 - 38 Waratahs
& Reds 21 - 7 Brumbies
And there has been an update in Super Rugby where round 8 kicked off as the Highlanders (Who had lost both Shannon Frizell & Manaaki Selby-Rickit to serious injuries) get their 1st win of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season against the discipline ridden Moana Pasifika (They had both players sent to the bin such as both Veikoso Poloniati for continuing to mount penalties & Alamanda Motuga for persistently conceding or should I say, giving away penalties) at Forsyth Barr Stadium (AKA The Glasshouse) in Dunedin then the Crusaders managed to hold on for the win against the Hurricanes (Who thought that Canes second-five Jordie Barrett nearly had an opportunity to go into golden point with a penalty goal but it wasn't to be as he opted for the lineout but that didn't work & I mean how could he that ruined a big chance because it might be the officiating cost them a chance for victory & they had a mid week game in hand against Moana Pasifika in which they had their 1st win against them after Moana beat them earlier in a historic upset) at Sky Stadium (Known as the Cake Tin) in Wellington before the Blues become the 1st side in Super Rugby Pacific history to win the match after overcoming 3 yellow cards (There were 4 in the match, one to the Chiefs (It was Kaylum Boshier for a lifting tackle) & 3 of them to the Blues (First it was Luke Romano for blatantly playing the ball on the ground then Sam Nock for a no clear release & Marcel Renata for repeated infringements such as a tackler not releasing (No release) during the 2nd half) against the Chiefs (Who had chances to score tries but had to be overturned several times by the Television Match Official as the Blues managed to keep the Chiefs scoreless for the entire game) at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
And here are the results from the other games in the 8th round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Force 21 - 22 Rebels
& Fijian Drua 12 - 33 Brumbies
And there has also been an update in Super Rugby where round 9 got underway as the Blues finally end a long awaited drought of winning against the Crusaders in Christchurch after 18 long years (It was one of the Blues skippers of Dalton Papali'i who had a blinder of a game when he scored one of the great tries in the game but the match had been overshadowed by the sending off of Crusaders captain Scott Barrett for a foul play incident in which he dangerously took out Alex Hodgman with a no arms in the tackle straight to the head (And players heads are required to be protected under the guidelines regarding to the tackle area since World Rugby is continuing to crack down players who make dangerous contacts to the head & neck area of an opponent even with the trend of red cards to players for serious foul play incidents such as high shots like that) then a day later, the Chiefs have rattled tournament newcomers Moana Pasifika (Who had only one win so far & it was against the Hurricanes in an historic upset in round 6 of the competition this year but there was a yellow card to Moana Pasifika prop forward of Chris Apoua for causing a high tackle on a Chiefs player during the match) at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton before the Hurricanes had to win against the Highlanders (Who had a man being sent off for a dangerous tackle but why didn't Asafo Aumua had not get a red card for serious foul play? I mean, he could've got 3 weeks for that (And then all of a sudden, he gets a 3 week ban for a reckless head high tackle on Highlanders loose forward Gareth Evans after being cited by the citing officer joining the likes of Josh Dickson, Scott Barrett, Nemani Nagusa, Shilo Klein, Caleb Clarke & Tauina Tualima as part of the suspended players list) but referee Angus Mabey thought that it wasn't even foul play at all (And most fans would be saying, aww come on! But Saula Ma'u had the chance to win the game by scoring a try but the ref had to go & have a look upstairs, but after a consultation from the Television Match Official, referee Mabey says that it's a no try meaning that the Hurricanes had survived a late Highlanders rally & they won meaning that the Highlanders crowd had jeered about the no try decision (And it was reminiscent/shades of the Highlanders trying to beat the Crusaders in 2014 where the decision made by the referee to the TMO decided the match, & it was a no try meaning that the Crusaders managed to hold on in the end (And one of the Crusaders players of Israel Dagg started celebrating because he was happy about the result) by a whisker at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
And here are the results from the other games in the 9th round of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season:
Rebels 32 - 36 Reds
& Force 24 - 41 Waratahs
And there has also been an update in Super Rugby where round 10 got underway (Moana Pasifika's match against the Force had to be called off due to troubles caused by COVID-19 throughout the Western Force camp) in the Super Round as the Chiefs (Who were without wounded players as part of the casualty ward such as Brodie Retallick (He has a thumb injury which rules him out for 6 to 8 weeks), Laghlan McWhannell, Anton Lienert-Brown (Who had been ruled out for 6 months altogether with a broken shoulder that requires to go under the knife), Shaun Stevenson & Etene Nanai-Seturo) had a barn storming win over the Waratahs at AAMI Park in Melbourne with Jonah Lowe who was the hero when he picked up 4 tries but the villain went to Angus Bell for his red card for a tip tackle on a Chiefs player (Angus Bell was lucky not to get suspended for the next game after the judiciary cleared him) a day before the Blues defeated the Drua to remain on top of the table then the Hurricanes had a massive come from behind win against the Reds a day before the Brumbies (Who are one of the best & dominant Aussie sides in Super Rugby Pacific this year & of course they're the Penrith Panthers of Super Rugby Pacific) ended the Highlanders aspirations for victory by scoring one for Australia therefore ending New Zealand's hopes of remaining 100% against Australian & Fijian opposition this year by keeping their title race alive in a 2 horse race with the Blues then finally, the Crusaders (Who had their Argentinian loose forward Pablo Matera (Who led Argentina to its historic 1st ever test victory against New Zealand in Sydney back in 2020) being the stand out player of the game for his good performance on the field) had a decent win over the Rebels who fought so bravely in the last 10 minutes.
And finally of course, we're into round 11 of Super Rugby Pacific as the Chiefs & Blues had narrow wins over the Reds & Force respectively with the Australian teams closing the gap on New Zealand sides a day before the Highlanders notch their 2nd win of the season by defeating the Drua in Suva in front of a sell out crowd of 15,000 people at ANZ Stadium Suva in Suva then the Waratahs finally get the win against the Crusaders (Who had a player named Hamish Dalzell sent off for a foul play incident but high tackles in rugby union are the new coward punch/dog shot/king hit/sucker punch) after 3 years at Leichardt Oval in Sydney before the Rebels (Who had Ray Nu'u (Who had returned from a fortnight's suspension instead of 3 when he completed the intervention programme for suspended players set up by the sport's governing body, World Rugby but now he has to return of attending that intervention programme again to avoid a repeat of what he did) red carded for one of the dirtiest acts of the year as a result of a high tackle violation on Moana player Christian Leali'ifano) earn a narrow victory against Moana Pasifika at AAMI Park in Melbourne & then a day later when the Brumbies continue their dominance against the Hurricanes at GIO Stadium in Canberra therefore they remain, Australia's top Super Rugby Pacific side to stay in the title hunt.
So that is my 459th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 7th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And I would like to give my shout out to my beloved Pops (He is one of my favourite persons in the whole wide world because it used to be Dad when I used to live with him but Pops used to be a school teacher (First, he went to Ardmore Teachers College in the 1960's to learn the ways of becoming a teacher at a school) as well as a principal at the old Aramoho School (The alma mater of New Zealand rugby players of Fijian origin of both Vilimoni Koroi & Jona Nareki (Both of them used to play the All Blacks sevens before currently playing for both Otago in the Bunnings NPC & the Highlanders in Super Rugby Pacific, but the last celeb/famous person I've met was indeed Nareki back in 2020) which is now defunct from 1989 (Same year that he made the decision to live here in Whanganui with his wife, the late Nan) until his early retirement in 2011 (4 years after I moved here from Raetihi along with Dad, Dad's 2nd partner, Dad's 2nd partner's family & Jans my half brother (I was like "Oh, not again" when he had another accident in the Hawke's Bay region but his car needs fixing up & he is selling that car in order to get it traded (He was in Christchurch at the moment with his partner Millie last month) for his 75th birthday today so best wishes.
No comments:
Post a Comment