Well, the draw for this year's Football World Cup in Qatar has been unveiled so it gives me great privilege to announce the draw for the 2022 Football World Cup:
Group A
Qatar (Hosts)
Ecuador
Senegal
The Netherlands
Group B
England
IR Iran
USA
Wales
Group C
Argentina
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Poland
Group D
France (Defending champions)
Australia
Denmark
Tunisia
Group E
Spain
Costa Rica
Germany
Japan
Group F
Belgium
Canada
Morocco
Croatia
Group G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon
Group H
Portugal
Ghana
Uruguay
Korea Republic
And my thoughts of this year's Football World Cup draw? Well, so many matchups that are going to be interesting such as England taking on the USA (Who'll face Iran for the 1st time in 24 years at a Football World Cup but there was hostility between the 2 countries that they had since 1980) for the 1st time since 2010 where the Americans defeated the English (Who has never beaten the United States at a Football World Cup before but are they about to change?) in a group match while Argentina haven't fought against Mexico in 12 years (And of course the Uruguayans will play South Korea as well just like in 2010) with the Argentinians coming away with the victory against the Mexicans in the round of 16 match in 2010 & it looks likely that the defending world champions France (Who are looking to become the 1st side since Brazil (The only football playing nation to have appeared in every tournament since it began in 1930 (Both the 1942 & 1946 tournaments were cancelled out due to World War II) in 1962 to successfully defend the Football World Cup & it was in 2014 that their plans of winning the 2018 edition of the tournament started after a quarterfinal defeat against eventual champions Germany when a nation just needed to get in shape in order to get back on top of the football world) will play Denmark (Who'll face Australia (They'll take on France just like in 2018 in which the French began their successful road to the title with a win against the Aussies (Who beat Peru to qualify for this years Football World Cup in Qatar) in their opening group game but the 1st time that Australia had been to the Football/Soccer World Cup, it was in 1974 & had appeared since 2006 (They are now part of the Asian confederation since 2010 in which they qualified because they were once part of the Oceanian confederation until after the 2006 tournament) just like in 2018 after the match had ended in a draw (Denmark were in front during the match until Australia had equalized after they awarded themselves a penalty via VAR (Video assistant referee), ending their Danes hopes of winning) again just like in 2018 (Along with Portugal playing Uruguay then Brazil (Who are in fact the tournament favorites since they're ranked number 1 in the world (They took over from Belgium as the top ranked football playing nation) & haven't triumphed since 2002 in which they beat the Germans in the final in Yokohama with the Brazilian Ronaldo (Not Cristiano Ronaldo (Who had lost his newborn son due to a tragic passing but had scored a goal for his club Manchester United against Arsenal in a Premier League match in which they lost (The Arsenal fans praised him but Ronaldo's celebrations were subdued as he scored his century of goals in the Premier League) getting a brace after making an incredible but astonishing comeback from a serious injury sustained in a Serie A game in Italy in 2000 playing for his club at the time, Inter) playing both Serbia (Who'll face the Swiss again just like 4 years ago) & Switzerland (Who'll have a chance of redemption to take victory against the Swiss after a draw last time out during the group stages at the previous tournament in Russia in 2018) then Spain taking on Germany for the 1st time in 12 years (It was the Spanish (Whose plans of winning the 2010 Football World Cup began after losing to France in the round of 16 during the 2006 tournament) who were victors in the semi final against the Germans (Their chances of winning the tournament would have to wait until 4 years later in 2014 in which they beat Lionel Messi & co of Argentina in the final with a superb goal scored by super sub Mario Goetze during the 2nd period of extra time at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 4 years before they had a disappointing World Cup in 2018 most recently, as they were unable to defend their title but they couldn't advance to the knockout stages after defeats to both Mexico & Korea Republic despite beating Sweden in the 2nd group game meaning that it was the 3rd consecutive tournament that the Football World Cup holders had failed to get past beyond the group stages (It was Italy in 2010 followed by Spain in 2014 but France was a perfect example of them way back in 2002) to go through to the final against Holland for a successful challenge of winning their one & only Football World Cup title in South Africa way back in 2010 (The 2nd time that the All Whites of New Zealand (Who have our intercontinental playoff match in hand against Costa Rica for a chance to qualify in Qatar (Our last shot at it before the expansion to 48 football playing nations in 2026) appeared in most recently (We had 3 draws against Slovakia, Italy & Paraguay to end our campaign undefeated but did not make the round of 16) after previously appeared by making our Football World Cup debut in 1982 (We had lost all 3 games against Brazil, Scotland & the USSR), & we have not appeared since (After failing to qualify in the previous 2 Football World Cups therefore losing to Mexico in 2014 & Peru in 2018, both in an intercontinental playoff) & of course Portugal (Who thought that they were out of it until the defending European champions of Italy (Who lost to Sweden in a qualification playoff in 2017 therefore failing to qualify for the most recent Football World Cup in Russia in 2018) got belted by North Macedonia in an historic upset during the UEFA qualification playoff semifinal before the Portuguese (Who had beaten Turkey in the other semi of the UEFA qualification playoff) easily beat the North Macedonians to book their golden ticket to Qatar) will play Ghana (Who have not appeared at a Football World Cup since 2014 along with Cameroon, Ecuador, the Netherlands & the USA but they are playing against Uruguay for the 1st time at a Football World Cup since 2010 (In which Uruguayan player Luis Suarez (Who deliberately bit Italian defender Giorgio Chellini in the chest in 2014 in which he didn't get sent off by the referee during the match in which Uruguay won the last time Italy had played in the Football World Cup (They failed to qualify on both occasions in the next 2 tournaments (They lost against Sweden in 2017 in a qualification playoff for a place in Russia 2018 & North Macedonia (Who pulled off one of international football's biggest boil overs) this year in a UEFA qualification semifinal & is the 1st time since 2006 that the current European Football Championship holders, will not be involved in this years tournament (Remember Greece won it in 2004 when they defeated hosts at the time of Portugal in the final then they failed to qualify for Germany 2006) before being handed a lengthy ban (He missed the round of 16 game against Colombia in which the Colombians prevailed with a goal of the 2014 tournament scored by James Rodriguez) for the incident) illegally made a save before he got red carded for that (He missed the semi against the Netherlands through suspension) moments before the Ghanaians missed a penalty by Asamoah Gyan in which they agonizingly came so close of winning that quarterfinal in which they fell short even though Suarez was celebrating but in the end, Uruguay had won on penalties by ending Ghana's hopes of becoming the 1st African nation to reach the semifinal) but those returning from the previous tournament in 2018 are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, IR Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia & Uruguay compared to Canada who qualified & hadn't been to a Football World Cup arena since 1986 & for Wales who have not appeared for a long time at a Football World Cup since 1958 while Qatar will make it's Football World Cup debut this year as the host nation) for the 1st time at a Football World Cup since 2014 but just a quick update in the FA Cup semi as Leon Benbaruk's football club that he supports, Liverpool are through to the FA Cup final after beating the defending Premier League champions Manchester City in an action packed affair (It was Liverpool's turn as they scored 3 goals in the 1st half but it was Man City who dominated in the 2nd half when they had a tremendous fight back as they scored 2 unanswered goals but it was quite good enough when time had been expired as Liverpool are in the FA Cup final for the 1st time since 2012) & they'll play Chelsea (Who beat Crystal Palace in the other semifinal & are looking for redemption after losing both FA Cup finals on the bounce against Arsenal in 2020 & Leicester City last year) in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London in a rematch of the Carabao Cup final won by Liverpool (Who'll face Real Madrid in the final of this year's UEFA Champions League at the Stade de France (Venue of next year's Rugby World Cup final as well as the opening match of the tournament between hosts France & 3 time world champions New Zealand (Who have never lost a pool match in Rugby World Cup history but let's not hope that the French are looking to become the 1st side to beat the All Blacks in pool play) in Saint-Denis which is a replay of the 2018 final in which Real Madrid dominated to win the match as well as their most recent UEFA Champions League title (It was Liverpool who redeemed themselves with a win against Spurs in 2019 followed by Bayern Munchen in a COVID-19 impacted year in 2020 & of course, Chelsea last year).
And I already heard that our country of New Zealand is now in a worsening state of omicron especially Dad getting it (He was feeling better but he had been tested positive as a result of a close contact (And Pops told me on the 18th of April that he had to be tested again & this time he was negative so that's the good news) but they have cancelled the ANZAC memorial service thing on ANZAC day due to omicron despite nightclubs are opening up) but I don't know whether we enforce the shutdown if there is too many confirmed number of cases compared to Philadelphia in Pennslyvania where there is an outbreak there because of a community case with the city moving to stage 2 shutdown meaning that masks have been mandated indoors according to the restrictions as well as the Chinese city of Shanghai is in fact returning to shutdown after the figures have gone from bad to worse (Especially several unvaccinated people who are in their 80s to early 90s who have passed away from it but there's reports that 30 Chinese cities are now under shutdown restrictions due to the growing number of confirmed cases in the country).
And I have revealed that I've broken my silence about the reason why the Black Ferns sevens lost the gold medal match in Rio 2016 against Australia was the try scoring machine of Portia Woodman had to be sent to the sin bin as a result for a deliberate knock down, just before half time which resulted in a game changer (And it was proved to be the turning point as well) as the Aussies dominated to win gold meaning that we had to settle for the silver, 5 years before our successful shot at redemption as New Zealand would finally win gold in Tokyo 2020 last year (It was originally going to be held in 2020 but changed it to last year due to the pandemic) against France in the gold medal match of the women's rugby sevens with the demons of Rio 2016, being laid to rest.
And there has been a Dutch success in motor racing last year starting with Max Verstappen (The self proclaimed sim racing guru & son of a former F1 & A1 Grand Prix driver, Jos) becoming the Netherlands 1st ever Formula 1 World Champion (Who beat the likes of 7 time Formula 1 world champion (Along with Germany's Michael Schumacher (My sporting hero growing up as a young kid (Although the late All Black Jonah Lomu would be my rugby idol also growing up as a young kid) & the most successful F1 driver from Britain, Sir Lewis Hamilton (One of 4 world champions in this year's F1 grid (3 former which is twice world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain (In which Alonso is the country's only Formula 1 world champion) in the Alpine (Formerly Renault), a 4 time world champion from Germany in the form of Sebastian Vettel (One of 3 Germans along with Michael Schumacher (Father of current F1 racer Mick & brother of former F1 driver Ralf (Mick's uncle) & Nico Rosberg (A Finnish-German who is the son of 1982 world champion Keke & is one of 2 individuals to win an F1 title as the son of a Formula 1 world champion (The 1st was Damon Hill (Son of the late Graeme who is a twice F1 world champion in both 1962 & 1968) way back in 1996) to have won a world championship before) in the Aston Martin (Formerly Racing Point) as well as Hamilton in the Mercedes of course & 1 current which is Verstappen in the Red Bull), in last years title race) then a Kiwi of Dutch origin of Shane van Gisbergen (One of 4 Kiwis to win an Australian touring car racing title along with Jim Richards, Robbie Francevic & Scott McLaughlin) who just won his 2nd Supercars Championship title (His 1st title was in 2016 in which he became the 1st New Zealander since Jim Richards in 1991 to win an Australian Touring Car title to add to his success in the Bathurst 1000 in 2020 (Same year that future Indycar star Scott McLaughlin won his 3rd straight (He 1st did it in 2018 then in 2019 (Same year that he won the great race with a Frenchman named Alex Premat (A former A1GP & DTM ace) in the Bathurst 1000 touring car endurance race under controversial circumstances) & most recent Supercars Championship which has been dominated by Kiwi drivers since 2018 in which McLaughlin won it 3 times followed by Van Gisbergen (Last year's winner of the prestigious New Zealand Grand Prix (He started in pit lane due to an fire extinguisher problem during a Toyota Racing Series (The premier open wheel racing category in our country of New Zealand compared to the S5000 being Australia's single seater racing equivalent) race) who currently races for Triple Eight Race Engineering founded by Roland Dane (Father of his 2 daughters Ali & Jessica) in which they competed since 2004 by taking over from Briggs Motorsport to establish an Australian arm of the race team led by Dane, Ian Harrison & ex-F1 driver, Le Mans winner & World Sports Car champion Derek Warwick after they once took part & dominated in the British Touring Car Championship before they had their interest of intending to move to Australia to participate in the V8 Supercars which was successful (And it was in 2009 that they announced their intentions of changing manufacturers from Ford to Holden beginning in 2010 in which the fans received a bit of backlash & controversy surrounding the Triple Eight camp) once last year (The last Australian to win a Australian touring car racing title was Jamie Whincup (Current team principal of Triple Eight Race Engineering since his retirement from full time racing last year who took over from founder Roland Dane who stepped down in early 2021) in 2017 in his 7th & final Supercars Championship a year after Van Gisbergen in 2016 & a year before McLaughlin in 2018 (The same year that Craig Lowndes (Who is Australia's biggest motor racing personalities when he won 3 Supercars Championship titles in 1996 (And after his Bathurst & Australian Touring Car Championship that he won in which he was the next big thing in Formula 1 when he competed in Formula 3000 (His team boss was Helmut Marko while his teammate was the future Formula 1, Indycar & NASCAR driver of Juan Pablo Montoya) in which he was unsuccessful before returning home to Australia to compete in ATCC again), 1998 & 1999 (Same year that he had a horrifying crash at Calder Park in which his Holden Commodore went airborne & flipped over, resulting in injuries that he had) & winner of the Bathurst 1000 7 times in 1996, 2006 (Including getting emotional when he won in honor of the great man known as Brocky/Peter Perfect/King of the Mountain who tragically passed away in a car rally accident in the same year) to 2008, 2010, 2015 (Same year that he won his 100th Supercars Championship race a day before his 41st birthday) & 2018 but there was a fact in which he finished 2nd in his Bathurst 1000 debut & also he moved to Ford in 2001 in which he drove for until the team that he drove, Triple Eight switched to Holdens in 2010 after he drove for Holden since his Bathurst 1000 debut in 1994 for the Holden Racing Team (The team now known as Walkinshaw Andretti United he used to race for before moving to 00 Motorsport in 2001 then Ford Performance Racing (Before it was known as Prodrive Racing Australia then adapting to the current name of Tickford Racing) in 2003 until he joined Triple Eight in 2005 until last year at Bathurst where he continues to be the ambassador) but his chances of winning the 2005 (Same year that his 1st win with Triple Eight was at Eastern Creek Raceway (Now called Sydney Motorsport Park) & he won in Sandown during the Sandown 500 with Frenchman Yvan Muller) title took a tumble when he served a drive through penalty in the final race of the season therefore costing his big chance of winning his 4th championship (A year before he again narrowly missed out on the championship to Rick Kelly at the same venue after he got collided by Kelly during the race but there was a penalty being given for the collision by Kelly who overcame that penalty by winning the title) which was won by Russell Ingall) stepped down from his full time driving role (His father Frank worked as a mechanic for his idol & mentor, the late Peter Brock) in which drivers from New Zealand had dominated in 5 of the last 6 Supercars Championship seasons) before his surprise defection to Indycar where he joined Team Penske & has been with that team since (He won rookie of the year last year (He placed 2nd behind his fellow countryman & his idol, the 6 time Indycar Series champion Scott Dixon, in the 1st of 2 double-header races at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas) then won the opening Indycar race after starting on pole at St Petersburg in Florida this year, was leading the championship until he had a disappointing race both at Texas & Long Beach most recently, therefore handing victory to one of his Penske teammates, twice Indycar Series champion from America, Josef Newgarden (Who won in Texas) with 4 time winner Garth Tander) last year.
And there has been a name change to the Cleveland Major League Baseball team as they announced most recently starting from this year that they going to change it to the Guardians in order to avoid confusion & controversy surrounding racism related to the George Floyd murder incident in which an American cop named Derek Chauvin had been sent behind bars as a result for a racially related criminal act in a similar fashion to the Washington Football Team now being called as the Washington Commanders after dropping an old team name which was deemed to be racist much like the Washington Bullets NBA team becoming the Washington Wizards over their spate of gun violence in the city as well as both Major League Baseball sides such as the Houston Colt 45's suddenly became the Astros because of the old team name that it was derogatory regarding to a hand gun & the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in which the team name that they thought it was involuntary, & replaced it with Tampa Bay Rays (And unlike the Crusaders kept their team name for the cancelled 2020 Super Rugby season but their logo had to change therefore dropping the medieval theme as a result of the tragic events unfolded such as the Christchurch mosque massacre in March 2019 in which a serious crime that has shocked our country of New Zealand (And it was reminiscent/shades of the deadly shootings in Port Arthur, Tasmania in Australia way back in 1996 (And gun laws might have worked here in New Zealand since by following Australia's footsteps of introducing a ban on high powered weapons such as the semi-automatic rifle (And many of those banned weapons have been seized by police as part of a handover by Amnesty International but gun violence in New Zealand is rare in our country along with Australia since gun laws have been introduced in wake of the mosque shooting tragedy in Christchurch in 2019) like the AR-15 used in the mass killings in an effort to keep our nation safe after a serious gun incident like that in Christchurch which claimed 51 lives (Compared to 35 in Port Arthur).
And that there's only 3 players who played in 5 Rugby World Cups such as both Italians of Mauro Bergamasco (Who played in the 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 & 2015 tournaments) as well as Sergio Parisse (Who was involved in the 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 & 2019 tournaments & was with Mauro Bergamasco as part of the Italian squad from the 2003, 2007, 2011 & 2015 tournaments) & only one Samoan of Brian Lima (The big hitting player who was known as 'The Chiropractor' who appeared in the 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003 (Including the one who made a huge hit on South African Derick Hougaard (Who got knocked out after that perfectly legitimate tackle (And then all of a sudden, I was like when I was reacting to the huge hit: Oh mercy me! What a tackle! That could have put him in ward 4! Well, I hope not, that's a maternity ward (And that's a commentary line taken by one of the greatest rugby union video games of all time in history of Jonah Lomu Rugby as well as the Rugby Challenge series) during a pool game between Samoa & South Africa (Who crashed out in the quarterfinal after infamously losing to the AB's including that through the legs pass from Carlos Spencer to set up the try scored by Joe Rokocoko but the match will be remembered as the late Samoan born All Black Jerry Collins (Tana & Mike Umaga's cousin as well as the uncle of the Umaga-Jensen twin brothers of Hurricane Peter & Highlander Thomas & Mike's son Jacob the Englishman who along with Lima as one of the hardest hitters in world rugby) made a monstrous tackle during the match on Springbok player Thinus Delport that sent shivers down their spine & that highly controversial team building preparation known as camp steel wire (AKA Kamp Staaldrad in the Afrikaans language) which caused Springbok coach at the time of Rudolf Straeuli to lose his job) & 2007 tournaments).
And in Super Rugby Pacific news as we are now into the serious stuff in round 12 of the competition as the Blues (The top New Zealand side in this years Super Rugby Pacific competition) managed to stay on top of the table after a thrashing/hiding against the Rebels at Eden Park in Auckland (And they were 14 - 0 down just before the Auckland based franchise were on a points scoring spree in the 1st half) before the Highlanders had another win, this time against the Reds at Lang Park in Brisbane then a day later, the Waratahs have ended Moana Pasifika's hopes for their 2nd win of the competition as they beat them to win 2 in a row at Mount Smart Stadium in South Auckland before the Brumbies topple the Chiefs for their 1st win in 2 years at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton & remain, Australia's best Super Rugby Pacific side to stay in contention of hosting a home playoff then the Crusaders return to winning ways after losing to the Tahs as they decimated the Western Force at Perth Oval in Perth (Including hat-tricks from both Crusaders players such as young winger Leicester Fainga'anuku (Who could be in the mix of playing the All Blacks) & fullback as well as the try scoring machine of Will Jordan) before a day later as the Hurricanes have belted the tournament newcomers the Fijian Drua at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington.
And there has been an update in round 13 of Super Rugby as the Highlanders tore the Western Force apart with a win at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin in Sam Gilbert's 1st start in an unfamiliar position at first five-eighth (Gilbert usually plays on both the wing & fullback but how come? Because his first start at 10 was a success as he didn't miss a kick at goal for the entire match not only he was asked to do the goal kicking but had no problems with it as he had a flawless performance off the kicking tee) in a match marred by the sending off of 2011 Rugby World Cup winning player for the AB's of Richard Kahui for causing a dangerous tackle (And there was a sin binning to one of the Highlanders players of Josh Dickson (Who got sent off before against the Hurricanes) in the 1st half for a head high tackle) followed by the Crusaders who become the 1st New Zealand side this year to topple Australia's best which is the Brumbies at GIO Stadium in Canberra & managed to survive a late surge then the competition newcomers of the Fijian Drua get their 2nd win of the competition as they got the better of fellow newcomers Moana Pasifika at Commbank Stadium in Sydney before the Blues extend their lead on top of the Super Rugby Pacific standings as they demoralised the Reds at Eden Park in Auckland (With both Caleb Clarke & Bryce Heem (Who just came on for the injured Rieko Ioane during the game) picking up 2 tries respectively in the match) to win 11 consecutive matches in this years competition (And they haven't lost a match since Ardie Savea's heroics when the Hurricanes famously won in Dunedin against the Blues in round 2 of Super Rugby Pacific in Dunedin) followed by the Hurricanes who had pummeled the Waratahs by claiming a narrow victory & they overcame a rough start as well as a huge deficit inspired by our Hurricanes skipper Ardie Savea to a tremendous fightback after coming back from 15 - 0 down at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney which was also marred by the red card of reserve Waratahs tight head prop forward Paddy Ryan for a dangerous tackle violation on Hurricanes second-five & utility back Jordie Barrett a day before the unthinkable has happened, as the match winning try from reserve loose head prop forward Ollie Norris (Who was the unlikely hero when they stole a dramatic victory with a last-gasp stunner & scored in the last seconds) has helped the Chiefs snatch an unlikely win over the Melbourne Rebels (The Chiefs would've scored that try just before after half-time but it wasn't game over as the first five-eighth for the Rebels of Carter Gordon who scored a magnificent try off an intercept which was successfully converted to put them back into the contest on the stroke of half-time but it wasn't to be as Norris brings the Chiefs home in familiar fashion at the end (But there were 2 yellow cards in the match, one to Rebels player of Pone Fa'amausili for his antics off the ball after he made a thumping tackle which looked like a wrestling move (But he went into full Brian Lima (One of the hard hitters in world rugby along with the players who play for Pacific Island nations such as Fiji, Samoa or Tonga are known for their reputation as big hitters) or the late Jerry Collins (Another of the hard hitting rugby players along with Lima) mode when he made that monstrous hit) such as the spear (A move used in wrestling but I was like when Fa'amausili made a crunching, bone-jarring hit as "Roman Reigns, eat your heart out" in reference that I made when I watched it on TV to the WWE wrestler of Roman Reigns but he was a mile offside when the referee spotted it) which was a mind blowing moment) & the other to Chiefs player Luke Jacobson for a high tackle) from the jaws of defeat at AAMI Park in Melbourne (And what a disappointing end for the Rebels (And I mean what a way to finish for the Chiefs (And how appropriate that Norris, who had to break Melbourne Rebels hearts to seal a victory in the dying seconds in dramatic fashion despite being down to 14 players with Jacobson spending time in the bin), what a match for our viewers right around the world).
And in Super Rugby Pacific news where there has been an update as the Crusaders clatter the tournament newcomers the Fijian Drua at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch followed by the Reds who easily won in the end against fellow tournament newcomers Moana Pasifika at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane a day before the Chiefs (Who were without leading first choice players through COVID-19 due to a new wave throughout the country (And it looks like omicron is dying down but we have over 6,000 confirmed cases in the country) had a decent win over the Force at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton then the Hurricanes demolished the Rebels at Sky Stadium in Wellington followed by the Blues came out of nowhere as they seal a dramatic win against the Brumbies (Who thought that they almost had it until the end) at GIO Stadium in Canberra with Blues first-five Beauden Barrett (Who is New Zealand's modern day rugby union player since the good old days of Zinzan Brooke, Dan Carter, Sean Fitzpatrick, the late Jonah Lomu, Richie McCaw, Ma'a Nonu (With David Havili, Quinn Tupaea & Jordie Barrett all wanting to become a world class second-five eighth since the international retirement of Nonu (Who is a twice Rugby World Cup winning All Black in 2011 & 2015 along with 13 others such as McCaw, Carter, Kaino, Smith, Kieran Read, Sam Whitelock, Sonny Bill Williams, Owen Franks, Owen's elder brother Ben, Keven Mealamu, Colin Slade, Victor Vito & Tony Woodcock (Unlike 5 Wallabies that were part of the success of both the 1991 & 1999 tournaments of John Eales, Phil Kearns, Tim Horan, Jason Little & Dan Crowley & both Springboks of Os du Randt (Who was part of the success in 1995 & 2007) & Francois 'Frans' Steyn (Was involved in the winning campaigns in 2007 (Who were teammates with du Randt coincidentally) & the most recent one in 2019) but Tupou Vaa'i (And others like Shannon Frizell & Ethan Blackadder) could be an apparent heir of also a 2 time RWC winning player for New Zealand, Jerome Kaino since the AB's wanting to produce a world class blindside flanker after Kaino had since been retired from international rugby union) & Conrad Smith) providing the match winning drop goal during injury time that broke Brumbies hearts to win 12 matches in a row & are on track to host a home playoff (It was the happiest moment of my life throughout the rugby union side of it, not only I had to watch it all over again as many times as I can because of both the joy & relief that I had when Pops came over & spoke to me when Barrett had won it with a field goal at the death during my phone conversation with Aunty Tania but I heard a comment from Pops on the 22nd of May that Dad stayed up to watch the game when the Blues won & he was happy about the result (And also what a disappointing end for the Brumbies, what a match for our viewers right around the world (And I mean also, what a nice way for the Blues to end a Super Rugby Pacific match like this with Beaudy sealing the deal by winning the game via the drop goal (And most Brumbies fans are stunned, they're absolutely stunned, so they should be (And of course the entire Brumbies fan base have been devastated as well as their dreams of knocking over the Blues (Who have both key players missing such as Rieko Ioane & Caleb Clarke, ahead of their final round robin clash against the Waratahs (Who are looking to end the Blues 12 match winning streak since it began with the Blues beat the Chiefs in round 3 of the competition when the Chiefs had a chance to win the game which was virtually decided by a penalty goal from Bryn Gatland but it sailed wide as the Blues got out of jail to begin the 12 game winning run) in Sydney), has been shattered) to remain on top of the standings) then the Waratahs topple the Highlanders (Who had Highlanders first-five Sam Gilbert sent off as a result of a lifting tackle on Waratahs open side flanker & Wallabies captain Michael Hooper during the game (And I felt traumatized about the foul play incident, absolutely traumatized because I felt like I was suicidal to start with after Gilbert had received the red card but I had to stop watching meaning victory was in sight of the Tahs but the Highlanders were without several leading players such as Thomas Umaga-Jensen through both injury & serious illness) at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin to stay in touch of making the quarter-finals of Super Rugby Pacific.
And there has been an update in the final round of Super Rugby Pacific which is round 15 as the Crusaders defeated the Reds at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch to book a place in the quarterfinal then a day later the Chiefs come away with a win against the Fijian Drua by the barest of margins in front of a sell out crowd at Churchill Park in Lautoka to qualify for the quarterfinal before Moana Pasifika claim the biggest boil over in Super Rugby Pacific as they rolled the Brumbies at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland in what was Sekope Kepu's 150th game in Super Rugby marred by that red card for the Moana captain then for the 2nd week in a row, the Blues claim 13 wins in a row with Zarn Sullivan providing the match winning drop goal against the Waratahs just like Beauden Barrett did against the Brumbies also in front of a sell out crowd at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney before the Western Force (Who had a win against Moana Pasifika in a mid-week match in South Auckland) claim the unthinkable as they topple the Hurricanes at HBF Park in Perth thinking that they're good enough to secure qualification into the playoffs but they did not make it as the Highlanders secured a defensive bonus point when they lost to the Rebels by a single point at AAMI Park in Melbourne in the final regular season game of the 2022 season.
And finally, here is the list of the quarterfinal matches being played in Super Rugby Pacific of 2022:
Crusaders Vs Reds (The last time both of these sides had met in Super Rugby Pacific was during the last round of the competition in which the Crusaders had knocked the Reds over in Christchurch (With Argentinian Pablo Matera receiving a yellow card during the game for a lifting tackle on a Reds player similar to Sam Gilbert did on Michael Hooper in which was a red card due to Hooper's head being landed first but he had fronted to the judiciary before he was cleared to play in the quarters after he was lucky not to get banned for that).
Chiefs Vs Waratahs (Their most recent meeting in Super Rugby Pacific was during a Super Round last month in which Chiefs winger Jonah Lowe ran riot when he scored 4 tries in a hiding in Melbourne but the match had been marred with Tahs prop forward Angus Bell sent off for a tip tackle in the opening minutes of the game (And he was lucky not to get suspended for the next match after the judiciary had cleared him as I mentioned in my previous blog).
Blues Vs Highlanders (Their most recent clash in Super Rugby Pacific was in round 6 in which the Blues who had beaten the Highlanders in Dunedin in which they lost star Blues player Beauden Barrett as a result of concussion during the match).
And Brumbies Vs Hurricanes (And also their only meeting between the 2 sides in Super Rugby Pacific was last month in which the Brumbies continue their dominance over the Hurricanes in Canberra (There were 3 sin binnings during the match, one was Jahrome Brown for the Brumbies & the others were both Justin Sangster in the 1st half & Salesi Rayasi in the 2nd half for the Hurricanes).
So that is my 460th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 8th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And finally I wanted to give a shoutout to my second cousin of Benny (Best known as Kathryn's son as well as Gemma & Huia's brother & Sanne's partner since 2017/18) for his 34th birthday so best wishes out there today along with Jans (My dear half brother whose life is not being well in the aftermath of a dog biting incident from my old pet dog Buck (Who had to be put down following the incident in January last year (And Pops once told Jans about my late pet dog that I once had, but I've asked Pops not to tell Buck in front of Jans because it's time to move on from that but we got a wooden dog in honor & memory of the late pet beagle mastiff cross dog of Buck) who turned 19 yesterday but I would also like to give a shoutout to Jansi as he currently lives in the Hawke's Bay region.
