I'm Not The Only One/Magdalena: My 12th blog of the year 2022

Well, I have suggested a new nickname for one of Pops relatives, Paul Morgan (Who I last met in October 2020 when Pops took me to the Brickhouse restaurant in my hometown of Wanganui) as P-Morgs compared to Paul's sister Jennifer Morgan (Who I have not seen her since April last year) who I always call her as J-Morgs as well as Carole's friend CJ (The last time I saw her was Carole's 70th birthday in June) as Ceej & Leon's partner Michelle Johansson as Chelle or MJ (I last met her on Pops 75th birthday in July) but I now label Andy as AJ because of Carole telling me that James is Andy's middle name so his full name is Andrew James Webb.

And I literally remember that story that I've always heard from Pops (Who is listed as my most important members of our whanau along with Carole, Dad, Ben & Aunty Tania) that he was like "Holy hell!" when his cousin Ronnie Davis started embracing him when Pops was ready for both the handshake & hongi when he was with the late Nan in the South Island at Fleur's restaurant after someone asked him to met that other Maori fellow about Pops old late dog of Don saving his life whilst on the verge of drowning (I would not have been there if Pops had passed away earlier).

And here is my take of comparing different eras in rugby union about the 2015 All Blacks that I label by far, the greatest Rugby World Cup team of all time (Better than both in 1987 & 2011) by comparing the Springboks-England 2019 Rugby World Cup final with the 2015 era AB's, but I think that the 2015 All Blacks (Which featured famous players such as Kieran Read, Ben Smith, Conrad Smith & Victor Vito) would probably slay both the 2019 era Boks (Featuring great players such as Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe & Malcolm Marx) by just 2 points & the 2019 England rugby team (Which featured the likes of skipper Owen Farrell & Manu Tuilagi) by 22 in a match even if they are going to play these brands of rugby, compared to & inspired by NBA player Draymond Green's comment on Twitter that he re-watched the 1998 NBA finals on NBA TV between the Chicago Bulls (Which featured players such as MJ (Michael Jordan), Pip (Scottie Pippen) & the Worm (Dennis Rodman) & the Utah Jazz (Featuring the formidable duo of both Stock (John Stockton) & the Mailman (Karl Malone) in a game billed as 'The Last Dance' claiming that the 2017 era Golden State Warriors (Including players like KD (Kevin Durant) who used to play that team & 3 others including Steph (Stephen Curry), Klay Thompson & Green himself) that he played in, were better than the 1998 era Chicago Bulls in a match because the 2017 Warriors would've beaten the Jordan led Bulls by a dub & the Malone & Stockton led Jazz by 40 in terms of they're going to play these brands of basketball as well as in football that the 2018 era France football team (Which also featured famous players such as Antoine Griezmann, N'Golo Kante, captain Hugo Lloris, Kylian Mbappe, & Paul Pogba) would dominate the 2014 era Germany football team (Also featuring great players such as skipper at the time of Philipp Lahm, Mesut Ozil & Bastian Schweinsteiger) by 3 points in a football game & also in cricket such as the 2019 era England cricket team (Which also featured famous players such as Joe Root & Ben Stokes) would decimate the 2015 era Australia cricket team (Featuring great players such as Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith & David Warner) in a ODI match by 55 runs but I have suddenly became an NBA follower again after the Golden State Warriors triumphed in the NBA finals this year against the Boston Celtics as well as playing the NBA 2K22 game that I've got now on the PS4 (And I have played that game recently in preparation for NBA 2K23 on the PS4 that I pre-ordered at EB Games (One of my favourite shops in town compared to Caroline's which happens to be my favourite restaurant in town but it is my 1st NBA 2K game since NBA 2K10 (I played both the PS2 & PS3 versions of the game) & my 1st NBA 2K game on the PS4 but NBA Live 2000 was the game that I famously played on the old Playstation) & also that I'm an NFL follower again since the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI but I've got that Madden NFL 22 game on the PS4 (And I pre-ordered that Madden NFL 23 game on the PS4 which came out on the 19th of August so I can play between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers & the Green Bay Packers in a game billed as the battle of the top 2 quarterbacks in the NFL such as Tom Brady & Aaron Rodgers (And if Brady had retired, Rodgers would've taken over as the top quarterback in the NFL while I heard that Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, has been relegated to number 3 behind Rodgers according to the quarterback player ratings in the Madden NFL 23 game (And quarterback in American Football/Gridiron is like halfback in rugby union as Pops told me on the 20th of August) but this is my 4th Madden NFL game that I've played & the 1st since Madden NFL 09 when I played it in 2010 but I famously played Madden NFL 2003 on the PC way back then I think it was in 2005 & Madden NFL 2004 on the PS2 in 2008) & I'm also a ice hockey follower just like Rejean since I now got the 2 NHL games now such as NHL 22 & NHL 23 since the Colorado Avalanche triumphed in the Stanley Cup against the Tampa Bay Lightning so I can play a match between the St Louis Blues (One of my favourite NHL teams) & the Montreal Canadiens (And one of Rejean's favourite teams in the NHL (I famously played the ice hockey video games such as NHL 94, Actua Ice Hockey 2 & NHL 2005 (My last Ice Hockey game that I've played until now) in NHL 23) as well.

And I mentioned in my blog last year that I'm a gamer, a rock music listener, a TV watcher especially in the sports department (I used to be a movie watcher but only I watch my favourite movie franchises such as Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings & the Matrix) as well as a rugby union follower but I cover other sports like tennis, cricket, rugby league, motor racing, golf, football, extreme sports especially skateboarding, pro wrestling & last but not least, sailing especially the America's Cup as well as American football (Gridiron), basketball & ice hockey now, & I'm always an Italian, Indian & Japanese food lover.

And of course my plans of living in Wanganui with Dad, Dad's 2nd partner, Dad's 2nd partner's family & Jans began in 2007 in Raetihi after living there for 16 years from birth (My Mum prefers the rural area but my preference is the town/city area) before we moved here in order to stay close to both the late Nan & Pops hence the reason why (And I have been living with Pops since 2017 a year & a month after Nan had passed away so that's why my plans of moving with him due to the fact that Dad has a job here (He's only got 12 years left until his retirement (And Pops would be 87 if my Dad retires depending on how his health condition is).

And in COVID-19 related news such as there has been a setback in most parts in China (We have at least a travel ban with them along with most other countries with several countries opening their borders up except China in which the zero corona virus loophole is currently in effect) including most cities & regional areas including Tibet will have to go into a full shutdown as a result of the big COVID-19 surge (Although both major Chinese cities of Beijing & Shanghai currently under full, state of emergency shotdown mode) with the number of confirmed cases are expected to rise as many people living in the areas would have to get tested with massive queues forming up at testing centres throughout the rest of the country (Although the pandemic still going with China having the honour as being the worst affected country in the world due to a billion population (And mainly due to a lack of hygiene standards because their hygiene must've been poor) unlike here in New Zealand that people must wear masks indoors to prevent or stop the spread of the disease/virus & also that there are no crowd restrictions at sporting events like rugby union for example (And I recently heard from Pops that Raewyn has picked up the corona virus so she has to self quarantine at home after she had tested positive with Dad now being unavailable to drop my pills off until she recovers from it as a result of a confirmed case througout our family (And it must've been too much close contact stuff that caused it but I'm sick of the corona virus since the beginning of the global pandemic in March 2020 (And getting COVID-19 can be frustrating for normal people like them but things have gone wrong in the 2020s decade such as the pandemic which is currently ongoing before the George Floyd murder incident influenced by a racially motivated crime in the same year in a bid to stamp out racism (The perpetrator of the crime of American cop Derek Chauvin is currently spending time behind bars due to a sentence of a criminal charge that he had) then the Capitol Insurrection riots on the 6th of January last year in which the pro-Trump supporters were attempting to overturn the result of the 2020 election which resulted 800 protesters have been arrested as well as the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan with refugees fleeing the country & the Ottawa siege that they had earlier this year during the omicron outbreak with protests down in Wellington) but it has been a year since the Delta strain/variant's arrival in New Zealand which was August last year where they had to declare a state of emergency shutdown nationwide, especially in the Auckland, North Harbour & Counties-Manukau areas where they had them (And all of the 3 Blues based provinces had to withdraw from last year's Bunnings NPC competition due to COVID-19 delta throughout the areas).

And in Rugby World Cup news such as Namibia have booked their place to France 2023 after successfully dominating in the Africa Cup final against Kenya while Tonga are heading to next year's RWC with a win over Hong Kong in the Asia/Pacific play off in Australia but the main headlines is Chile (A relatively unknown rugby nation from South America whose football mad with football being the number 1 sport in the country when they completely outplayed the Canadians in the qualification playoff) who will make their Rugby World Cup debut next year after stunning USA (Who'll have a chance of securing qualification in the repechage tourament in Dubai in November this year with Hong Kong, Kenya & Portugal) in the Americas qualifiers (And they're the 26th different rugby playing nation to qualify for the World Cup next year in France (Their 1st debutant since Russia in 2011).

And here are some more Rugby World Cup facts such as 4 other sides have beaten the All Blacks before at a RWC such as Australia twice in both 1991 (Including David Campese's try that he scored & that lovely try assist provided by the man known as Campo (Who is a good friend of the late Jonah Lomu when Lomu first burst into the rugby scene) in which Tim Horan scored which proved to be the game changer) & 2003 (Also including Stirling Mortlock's intercept try that put them through to the final which was a turning point), both at a semifinal, England once in 2019 in the semi (Including our poor discipline in the latter stages of the game after Ardie Savea had scored a try to put them back into the contest that ruined a chance of reaching the final which proved to be the game changer as well as they were missing Damian McKenzie through a serious knee injury sustained in a Super Rugby game & a selection blunder gone wrong as Ben Smith should've & could've played instead of the most underrated rugby player in the world of George Bridge according to the story that Dad made a comment of that I literally remember in November last year & at Carole's 70th birthday dinner 2 months ago), France twice in the semifinal in 1999 (Also including the late Lomu scored it twice in the 1st half before the French had their turn of dominating the 2nd half by having a successful, come from behind moment to win that semi & seal a place in the final which was a turning point) & at the quarterfinal in 2007 (Including Yannick Jauzion's winning try which proved to be the game changer despite that Frederic 'Freddie' Michalak's pass adjudged to be forward that English referee Wayne Barnes missed it & cost the All Blacks (Who thought that they had a team good enough to win the tournament) a place in the semifinal) & South Africa twice in 1995 in the final (Also including Joel Stransky provided the match winning drop goal which was a turning point that sank New Zealand's hopes of Rugby World Cup glory) & 1999 in the 3rd & 4th place playoff (The last time the All Blacks would taste defeat against our old foe of the Springboks at a RWC but Pops told me that Ireland has beaten the AB's before like 5 times now, but not at a Rugby World Cup when I told him during the day after Ben's birthday) but there is something interesting as New Zealand has the honour as the only side to have never lost a pool game at a RWC (Our unbeaten run in the pool games at a Rugby World Cup is at stake against the host nation of France in the opening match of the tournament next year (Our preferred quarterfinal opponent would be Ireland if we beat France rather than South Africa being New Zealand's preferred opponent in the final as Pops told me 3 months ago) but the last time the AB's had defeated in a quarterfinal was in 2007 against the hosts at the time, France (And after that in which the AB's would not lose a game at a RWC (Our country went on to win both Rugby World Cups in 2011 (Our 1st since 1987) on home soil (Our plans of sucessfully defending the Rugby World Cup in 2015 began after our triumph in 2011 compared to South Africa's plans of winning the 2019 edition of the tournament started after a semifinal defeat against the AB's in 2015 when a country just needed to get in shape in order to get back on top of the rugby world) & our most recent one in which we successfully defended the title in 2015) until in our dreaded semifinal game of our lives against England (The country that South Africa beat them in the final for the South Africans successful bid of RWC glory for the 3rd time after previous triumphs in 1995 & 2007) who ended the AB's bid of a historic first ever Rugby World Cup threepeat in 2019 as I mentioned before in my previous blogs).

And the fire alarm must have gone off during a NPC rugby game between Southland & Auckland in Invercargill as there was a burnt cheese roll made famous in Southland had been a main concern meaning that play was held up for 20 minutes so people from the grandstand had been asked to evacuate (Never seen it before in a rugby game in my entire life but I saw the funny side of it when I cracked up by bursting out laughing when I watched it on TV) in a pre-recorded message (And I'll only do coverage of the NPC sponsored by Bunnings on my blog once we reach the playoff stages) but we once did that when Pops & I were at Trafalgar Square shopping centre when they had a fire drill there.

And I have revealed a story about Wayne Smith being a master coach back when the All Blacks was super good like 10 years ago as he used to be the assistant coach way back then but now he's with the Black Ferns as the coach to prepare the New Zealand women's rugby side of defending the delayed 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup this year on home soil.

And there has been wild weather recently in the Tasman region with heavy rain, floods & slips had happened with the Nelson to Blenheim route closed due to the blockage especially the slips around the area.

And in Rugby Championship news that normal service has resumed for the AB's (And I mean that's awesome news for our All Black fans out there after that dreadful test in Christchurch where Argentina had their groundbreaking success but I didn't feel like watching the Hamilton test (In which by far the best rugby game that I've ever seen for a long time outside of the Rugby World Cup in which the test turned a supposed contest into sheer humiliation) until Pops told me due to the fact that we won (And the AB's (Who have dropped to an all-time low of 5th in the recent World Rugby rankings behind England) are now 3 & 4 this year) as they return to winning ways against Argentina in a right old thumping at FMG Stadium in Waikato (And I mean, what a match that is in a revenge best dished served cold by turning that one around after the disaster in Christchurch that had happened & I mean how appropriate that there must've been 5 players like All Blacks hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho who are in fact the standout player candidate as well as another one of Richie Mo'unga for his perfect goal kicking then captain Sam Cane for his blockbuster performance including that thumping tackle on an Argentinian player (I recited that famous Ward 4 line from the Jonah Lomu Rugby video game when Cane made that huge tackle) & Rieko Ioane who carved them to shreds) during round 4 of the Southern Hemisphere tournament (And what went right for New Zealand to win a Rugby Championship test like this? We got it spot on meaning that consistency was our key to success (Despite a yellow card to reserve prop forward for New Zealand of Fletcher Newell as well as an Argentinian player of Tomas Lavanini (The dirtiest player in the game so far) compared to the Christchurch test in which we went horribly wrong on that occasion (And we managed to overcome the miserable conditions compared to the All Blacks (Who adapted by bringing back the kicking game that won them the test just like the South Africans did) test against the Wallabies at the old Athletic Park (That's the old stadium before it had been replaced by Sky Stadium (Well, Wellington had produced a world class stadium (Compared to Christchurch confirming that they are having a new indoor stadium just like Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin which is called Te Kaha) even though that Sky Stadium was better than the old Athletic Park which had the Millard stand) since 2000) in Wellington in 1996 but after the game, former Argentina captain Pablo Matera even refused to shake Dane Coles's hand by instead shoving him (And I re-enacted it in front of both Dad & Pops, in a gentle way on the 4th of September during Father's day lunch) dubbed as the Buenos Aires handshake after an incident involving Matera headbutting Coles (Who was once the best hooker in the world until Malcolm Marx had arrived onto the international rugby scene when he forged his successful international rugby union career) during the game (And well, that is even considered unsportsmanlike) but the current Rugby World Cup holders South Africa (Who had to bounce back after defeat in Adelaide while Mapimpi got yellow carded for a cheap shot on Marika Koroibete before there had been a altercation/scuffle between both sides (There was no love lost after the game which gradually turned into respect such as Eben Etzebeth having a beer with Allan Ala'latoa & the Springbok players reluctantly agreed to exchange jerseys & to come to terms to both Ala'alatoa & Folau Fainga'a & also there was a young up & coming 19 year old rugby player playing for South Africa named Canan Moodie who scored a magnificent try) which resulted Australia being awarded a penalty on halfway) win the other Rugby Championship game against the Wallabies to end a 9 year drought of beating the Australians in Australia at the brand spanking new Allianz Stadium in Sydney (And remember, 3 of the 4 sides trail by a whisker behind the AB's (Who are on 10 points due to us getting an attacking bonus point in the match against the Argentinians in Kirikiriroa while 3 others are on 9 points) in terms of the standings after 4 blockbuster rounds in the 2022 Rugby Championship season (And New Zealand's next test is against Australia (Who go into the 1st Bledisloe Cup test as favourites mainly because of the home field advantage as well as New Zealand will be missing their front line players such as Ardie Savea (He is now on baby watch at the moment after Savea & his wife are expecting their 3rd child) & Shannon Frizell (Who has a rib injury that he had against Argentina in the Hamilton test (He didn't get replaced during the game but the injury had been confirmed by the team doctor meaning that he won't get the chance to play Bledisloe I so Waikato loose forward Luke Jacobson has been called up to the squad as injury replacement for Frizell (And let's hope that we can win this Melbourne test to extend on top of the lead of the Rugby Championship standings in order to break the deadlock just like Scott Dixon can win his record tying 7th Indycar title going into the final Indycar race of the 2022 season on the weekend of September 9th to 11th at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California in the US (He's trailing behind the current points leader & one of Scott McLauglin's Australian teammates, Will Power (The 2014 Indycar champion & 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner who just needs to finish on the podium (3rd or higher) to secure his 2nd Indycar Series championship at Laguna Seca) of Team Penske (The team that Scott McLaughlin (Who won in the penultimate race of the Indycar season in Portland (Which is a Penske dominated track compared to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca which is a Chip Ganassi Racing dominating circuit) & is the favourite to win the Indycar Series championship next year & is looking for a miracle to pull off one for the ages in just his 2nd Indycar season but there's still hope for the man they call him Scotty Mac as they could maybe have an outside chance of winning the Indycar Series title for 2022, even if his Australian Penske teammate fails to finish on the podium) currently races for) who had done that before in 2014 (A year after & before Dixon (His last Indycar series triumph was in 2020 a year after Josef Newgarden had done it & the year before Dixon's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate of Alex Palou (Whose hopes of competing in Indycar next year as well as his aspirations of taking part in Formula 1 in the future are in strife due to Palou being in the middle of a contractual dispute between CGR & Arrow McLaren SP when he signed that contract but he is under contract with Chip Ganassi Racing for next year (He had a disappointing result in Portland which dropped the Spaniard out of contention of defending his Indycar crown meaning that a new Indycar champion will be crowned) who successfully did it last year) won the title) in which he successfully won his one & only Indycar series championship (2 years after missing out on the championship to American Ryan Hunter-Reay), on the same weekend as Pukekohe gears up to host the ITM Auckland Supersprint at Pukekohe Park Raceway (Which is due to close by next year), for the last time (And Shane van Gisbergen (Who is preparing his debut in the WRC at Rally New Zealand a week out until the great race) is the points leader going into the next round in his home event of New Zealand (The last Supercars Championship event before the annual Bathurst 1000 touring car endurance race next month) but let's hope that he maintains his championship lead ahead of his nearest rival of Will Davison (A twice Bathurst 1000 winner who dominated race 24 in Sandown & is one of the championship contenders along with Chaz Mostert (A twice Bathurst 1000 winner along with Davison) & Cam Waters) if he has a decent performance in front of the home crowd who are right behind him after dominating races 25 & 26 in Sandown) at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Thursday, the 15th of September in the 1st of both Bledisloe Cup tests (Our most recent meeting between the two sides was last year in the 3rd & last Bledisloe Cup test in Perth where we won 38 points to 21, in an epic game (Both Wallabies halfbacks of Nic White (A Brumbies player who is one of the big 3 of the Aussie halfbacks along with McDermott who plays for the Reds & Waratahs player Jake Gordon) & Tate McDermott performed well on that occasion, even though they were on the losing side of it but it's been 2 years since the Wallabies (Who have not won a Bledisloe since 2002, a year before the All Blacks famously won back the Bledisloe Cup & have been the current holders since) had last won a test against the All Blacks (Who haven't played in Australia since the defeat to South Africa on the Gold Coast in which we fell agonizingly short of ending last year's Rugby Championship campaign undefeated, but the last time the All Blacks won on Australian soil, it was against the same opponent in Townsville in the 100th test match between the 2 nations) & it was in Brisbane which was overshadowed by the red card by AB's prop forward Ofa Tu'ungafasi along with Wallaby player Lachlan Swinton (And yeah, I was gutted about the result due to New Zealand second rower Scott Barrett spending 10 minutes in the bin late in the match that cost us a chance of winning that test).

And onto the Bledisloe Cup report as the All Blacks (Who has never lost a test match since against Argentina in Christchurch late last month) win it, at the death against the Wallabies with Jordie Barrett providing the match winning try at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne to retain the Bledisloe (And I wonder the headlines would probably say: JORDIE BARRETT, JORDIE BARRETT, REMEMBER THE NAME & or more like WALLABIES GUTTED IN MELBOURNE, AB'S STORM FOR BLEDISLOE WIN), embroiled & overshadowed by controversy in which Australia had awarded the penalty & had a chance to put it in the corner, but they awarded the All Blacks a scrum by French referee Mathieu Raynal for time wasting (And it hurts for most Australians because they are now gutted & heartbroken that they've just cost the Bledisloe Cup & they'll be so disappointed, they'll be gutted that they were absolutely livid with themselves about that extraordinary decision (And I mean, that is an extraordinary decision that the referee made but it was a fair call according to the comment that I remember now from former Welsh referee Nigel Owens) allowing New Zealand to go in for the kill & seal a dramatic victory after Australia had thought they were out of it until they had a really tremendous fightback & were so competitive to keep them back in the contest after the 3 Wallaby players of Darcy Swain (Who illegally clobbered & floored Tupaea to the legs in which they had should've been a red card for the foul play incident but the referee instead given him a yellow for that as a result for foul play but he might be suspended in wake of Swain who illegally took Tupaea out to the lower limb area therefore injuring him), Jake Gordon & Tom Wright copped a yellow card along with 1 All Black of Dalton Papali'i but the final Bledisloe Cup test at Eden Park in Auckland will be without the injured trio of David Havili (Concussion), Sam Cane (Concussion) & Quinn Tupaea (ACL) as they nurse injuries during the game (And Australia go into the Bledisloe II as underdogs) but let's hope that it's not going to be a down in which we put our unbeaten streak since 1994 against France (In which the AB's had an incredible record that they stood for 28 years of winning all but one test series until Ireland (Now ranked the best rugby playing nation in the world) had broken the stranglehold this year but it's been 36 years since the Wallabies (Who come to town in the last Aotearoa test of 2022, to end the AB's bid of Rugby Championship glory (Just like in football that North Macedonia had ended the defending European champion Italy's hopes of making it to this years Football World Cup with a stunning upset win in the UEFA qualification playoff semifinal, earlier in the year), but the All Blacks need to secure a bonus point to guarantee our successful defence of the Rugby Championship) but the last time Australia had beaten their Trans-Tasman rivals the All Blacks in New Zealand, it was in 2001 at the old Carisbrook (Better known as the House of Pain) in Dunedin where the John Eales led Aussies spoil New Zealand's party as I mentioned in my blog last year when the late Jonah Lomu (My favourite all-time rugby union player now who represented his country between 1994 to 2002) celebrated his 50th test cap as an All Black) last tasted success at Eden Park in Auckland against New Zealand) in which they beat us the last time to seal a famous win in the 2 match test series at Eden Park in Auckland on the line because we had the up in Melbourne (And also in the Bunnings NPC news such as Wellington have won the Ranfurly Shield for the 1st time since 2008 as they toppled Hawke's Bay at McLean Park in Napier in one of the best Log O'Wood matches I have ever seen for a long time (And Wellington's next shield challenge is against the defending NPC champion Waikato side who are hungry & eager to snatch the shield off the Wellingtonians (And Waikato go into the shield challenge as favourites because they haven't held on to the Log O'Wood since winning it in 2018 against Taranaki before Otago won it then Canterbury a year later in 2019 then Taranaki in 2020 before Otago had won the shield then Hawke's Bay who held the shield which lasted 2 years until Wellington had their successful Ranfurly Shield glory against the Magpies on the 17th of September) while South Africa (Who have always been competitive since winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup & have never lost a test match since against the Wallabies in Adelaide also late last month) win the other Rugby Championship game against Argentina to keep their hopes of regaining the Rugby Championship alive (And I didn't watch that game because the Springboks (Who go into the next Argentina test in Durban as favourites due to the home field advantage as well as a chance of regaining the Rugby Championship even if the AB's fall to Australia) were always going to win & they did, but everything will be at stake on the 24th of September in a high octane, high stakes battle when the AB's go up against Australia in Bledisloe II at Eden Park in Auckland for 80 minutes which is like a heavyweight boxing, MMA or wrestling contest along with the Springboks-Argentina clash in Durban which is sorta like a Rugby World Cup final but there's an update that both Rugby Championship games have been sold out (And it must've been popular when all tickets have been sold by those die-hard passionate rugby fans who desperately want to see every minute of it, inside a stadium) meaning that you cannot get a single ticket because it's not available from now on (And my thoughts going into the last round of the Southern Hemisphere competition? Now let's get a move on, we've got a Rugby Championship title to win here! There is no tomorrow, today we crush the Wallabies once & for all).

So it's the final round of the Rugby Championship whether te Kapa o Pango o Aotearoa of the All Blacks (Who'll play the Wallabies of Australia (Ahitereiria) at Eden Park at the city of sails in Auckland (The largest city in our country of New Zealand & the largest Polynesian population in the world known as Tamaki Makaurau in te reo Maori) or the current Rugby World Cup holders of the Boks have a chance of winning the Rugby Championship for this year (And this is how the equation goes like if the AB's lose to Australia, the Rugby Championship will go to the defending world champions of South Africa (Awherika ki te Tonga) if they win against Argentina (Aketina) again just like in 2019 where the AB's famously lost to the Wallabies in Perth which was marred by the red card of Scott Barrett for a foul play incident on Wallaby captain at the time on Michael Hooper, which cost us a chance of successfully defending the Rugby Championship in which I was absolutely gutted, allowing the Springboks (Who went on to win the Rugby World Cup in the same year) to win the Rugby Championship by winning against Argentina), watch this space, & may the best team win (And by the way, go the All Blacks!).

And finally the All Blacks have done it as they completely outshone the Wallabies at the garden of Eden at Eden Park in Auckland with a bonus point win off the back of a brilliant performance (I was impressed about Jordie Barrett's role at the second-five position after injuries to both David Havili & Quinn Tupaea which was one of the best alterations being made by the All Blacks (And I mean, the popularity of our country's number 1 sport of rugby union is king) so far, wow) compared to the controversial Melbourne test in one of the best All Black games that Pops has ever seen while in the other Rugby Championship match that the Springboks had defeated Argentina once again in Durban but they missed out on the bonus point meaning that the Rugby Championship title, is still in New Zealand's hands (And our next test match is against Japan at the National Stadium in Tokyo on the 29th of October in the 1st of 4 matches (Our other games is against Wales (In which they have not beaten New Zealand since 1953), Scotland (One of 2 sides along with Italy to have never beaten the AB's before) & England (A chance to redeem ourselves after losing to them in a our dreaded semifinal game of our lives as I mentioned in my previous blogs at the most recent Rugby World Cup in 2019) of the Northern tour (The last before next years Rugby World Cup) & of course during the same weekend in the Bunnings NPC, Wellington have retained the Ranfurly Shield in which they'll keep it for this summer by beating Waikato in which I loved that match but it's good that the Wellingtonians won.

So that is my 464th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 12th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And there has been sad news as the Australian actress who played Sandy Olsson by appearing in the 1978 movie Grease along with famous American Hollywood actor John Travolta (From famous films/movies such as Saturday Night Fever, Get Shorty & Pulp Fiction) of Olivia Newton-John has passed away recently so rest easy/rest in power (RIP) but all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family of Olivia Newton-John who became the latest celebrity to pass away after a pair of Hollywood movie stars such as William Hurt & Sidney Poitier, a trio of Australian cricketers of Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne & Rodney Marsh, a pair of New Zealand rugby union legends of Inga Tuigamala (He was a former league player) as well as Joeli Vidiri (Who as I mentioned in my previous blog that he was a kidney disease sufferer along with his good friend, the late great All Black winger Jonah Lomu (Who was broke & ran out of money after earning endorsements that he had with big name sponsors in the 1990's when he passed away in 2015 & is one of my all time favourite rugby players) as well as Taylor Hawkins from the famous legendary American rock music band the Foo Fighters (It's been an emotional year since they had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 27 years after the band's formation in 1994 (A year before releasing their self-titled debut album simply called Foo Fighters) in the aftermath of the sudden passing of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain which resulted the band being dissolved so Nirvana's drummer Dave Grohl went on to form his own band which was called the Foo Fighters (AKA The Foos) & of course, the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe (Who was gunned down by an assassin during a speech in the Japanese town of Nara) but there has been also sad news as the last leader of the Soviet Union of Mikhail Gorbachev has also passed away after a lengthy illness aged 91 so rest in paradise/rest in pieces.

Stuck In Here/The Package: My 11th blog of the year 2022

Well, the crackdown on abortion in America has begun after the US supreme court overturned a Wade Vs Roe decision which led to widespread protests & celebrations across the country (Roe vs Wade is gone, it's history in which most US states are introducing a loophole on abortion in which ordinary Americans, were absolutely livid (Compared to the religious people in the United States who were happy about it) unlike Title IX was introduced in 1972 in which Title IX is about the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the US as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 (And the law states that there is a clamp down on sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that recieves funding from the federal government).

And in COVID-19 related news such as Beijing (Which previously hosted the winter Olympics in February this year while the next one is in Milan & Cortina D'Ampezzo in 2026 but the next sporting event is the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England late next month (First time since 2002 that England will play host to the Commonwealth Games in which Manchester was the host city way back 20 years ago) in China eased its restrictions compared to Shanghai currently under shutdown in most areas, but their bars & entertainment areas had to close with Beijing now in a worsening state of the corona virus (And there is a ruling that the internet has been taken out by the Chinese government as a result of a ban on using the hash tag for 5 years under a zero COVID-19 policy but there's news as Hong Kong marks the 25th anniversary of the Chinese takeover (Xi Jinpeng, the president of China, is attending the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover while there's a law enforcement prescence which has been stepped up on that occasion in time for the event under a zero corona virus loophole as well as the ban of some news outlets covering the event such as Reuters, as a result of a staunch but stern crackdown on foreign media providing coverage to the event due to both COVID-19 & security reasons (And one CNN reporter of Ivan Watson is not attending because of the reason that he has required to self isolate while awaiting PCR (Or polymerase chain reaction) test results under the zero corona virus framework that they already implemented) but recently that people who are vaccinated are only allowed to enter in public areas in Beijing & one of the Chinese cities of Xian are in semi shutdown as a result of the new omicron variant (And there's a mpox epidemic that has happened worldwide so they are taking extra careful (And the 1st case of mpox had been reported here in our country after a man in his 30s in Auckland had just returned home from overseas had picked up a strange case of mpox) & protective face masks have been mandated while going on a public transport in the French town of Nice due to the growing but escalating number of confirmed cases had been occurred along with Los Angeles reverting to the mask mandate requirement indoor laws due to the high amount of confirmed corona virus cases (There is a new omicron variant that has happened in China & starting to spread across Los Angeles) in which sick people who picked up a COVID-19 related illness are starting signs of getting hospitalized compared to over 100,000 confirmed cases of the corona virus has been reached here in New Zealand as of today.

And here's the story about Dwayne Johnson (An American of African, Canadian & Samoan origin) began his sporting life of being a college football player for the University of Miami as a defensive tackle, & after that, his dreams of playing in the NFL had ended meaning that he became a pro wrestler by following his late grandfather 'High Chief' Pita Maivia & his late father 'Soul Man' Rocky Johnson footsteps in which he had a career in the WWE (Mr McMahon was once the chairman until he resigned amid reports of hush-money payment, allowing his daughter Stephanie McMahon to take partial ownership as the interim CEO & chairwoman in which she acquired the role of, but recently that American youtube celebrity Logan Paul has officially signed with the WWE under a new contract) when he made his wrestling debut under the name Rocky Maivia before he became affectually known as The Rock, then successfully forging a career in the Hollywood movie industry by becoming a successful actor (He appeared in films such as Walking Tall, Doom, Welcome To The Jungle, The Scorpion King & other films that he appeared in, compared to the famous movie star of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Whom The Rock met during a televised wrestling show back in 1999) in which he began his successful career as a body builder before becoming an actor (In which he appeared movies such as The Terminator series, True Lies, End Of Days, The Sixth Day & other movies he appeared in) as well as he once became the governor of California from 2003 until 2011 in which he was known as the Governator) & now he is the owner of the XFL with his manager Dany Garcia as I mentioned in my previous blogs (And he attended the most recent Super Bowl in Los Angeles (Along with American rap music stars Snoop Dogg (He has a female cousin who is a professional wrestler, named Sasha Banks), a caucasian rapper of Eminem (Who appeared in the famous rap movie came out 20 years ago in 2002, called 8 Mile in which the rap single that also came out in the same year, Lose Yourself, was featured in) & a female American singer of Mary J Blige who performed in the Super Bowl half time show) in which he dished out an epic introduction moments before the Los Angeles Rams (Featuring the likes of great players such as quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp & defensive tackle Aaron Donald) took to the field & went on to capture the Vince Lombardi Trophy & become NFL's world champions after a resounding win against the Cincinnati Bengals which featured star quarterback Joe Burrow).

And of course, there are New Zealand cities that have often compared to Australian & American cities like Auckland (Tamaki Makaurau/The City of Sails) is a bit like both Sydney & New York City (NYC/The Big Apple), New York for example & Christchurch (Otautahi/The Garden City) in the Canterbury region being like both Melbourne & Los Angeles (LA/The City of Angels), California due to the comparisons of what cities in both New Zealand, Australia & the United States of America look like.

And some shocking news in the world of F1 as the 3 time Formula 1 World Champion from Brazil of Nelson Piquet, who made racist remarks on the 7 time Formula 1 world champion from Britain of Lewis Hamilton while conducting an interview on a podcast in Portuguese which shocked the F1 world (And Piquet is demanding an apology since he uttered that racial slur on Hamilton who says he calls for action to be taken due to his reaction about it) but there are calls for Piquet to be suspended for life from attending at the F1 paddock for the British Grand Prix (And if you utter that racial slur about Lewis Hamilton, chances are that you will be handing a lifetime suspension as a result for that) & other grand prix races to be held in wake of racism directed at Hamilton in which he was outraged due to the fact that he was of being African or Caribbean origin (The British F1 star's family hails from Grenada which is part of the West Indies) because of the colour of his skin (And there are issues/problems surrounding racism in sports, especially in football where black players are getting racially abused by fans who are grumpy, which is not a very good sign with football's governing bodies of both FIFA & UEFA urging them in a bid to clamp down racism) & the F1 community especially the 2 time F1 world champion of Fernando Alonso, are rallying behind Hamilton (And one of Nelson Piquet's daughters is ironically, currently dating the Dutch F1 World Champion of Max Verstappen).

And news that just come in Britain as Boris Johnson resigns as the Prime Minister of UK in wake of several leading politicians who quit over recent scandals that they had.

And there is sad news when the entire/whole world is in mourning as former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, has been assassinated in the Japanese town of Nara during a speech when the shooting happened so that's sad, even though there are calls for better security to provide improved protection to the current & former Prime Ministers & their families of Japan in light of the assassination & also, the suspected assassin is expected to face criminal charges for murdering the former Japanese Prime Minister so rest in peace to the great Japanese leader ever served but all prayers, thoughts & condolences go to the family of Shinzo Abe that have happened (And world leaders are in sympathy & are in shock that has been happened immediately but things have gone worse in the 2020s decade such as the global corona virus pandemic that had happened since March 2020).

And some tennis news straight out of Wimbeldon as Russian born Kazakhstani tennis player of Elena Rybakina, becomes the last woman standing after her win over Tunisia's Ons Jabeur to claim her 1st ever career grand slam in the ladies singles final (I think Martin's wife Leyla was happy about the result) while from the men's perspective such as Novak Djokovic (His chances of playing at the US tennis open seemed to be unlikely due to not being properly vaccinated since the vaccine mandate requirement in the United States is in effect) continuing his dominance by securing the gentlemen's singles title over the highly controversial but colourful Australian Nick Kyrgios (Who got fined for the incident for spitting a fan during a 1st or 2nd round match but chances are that he might get suspended if he transgresses again & didn't play in the semifinal after Rafael Nadal withdrew as a result of an injury meaning that he booked a place in the final against Djokovic (The man who calls him Djoker in contrast of Rafael Nadal's nickname which is Rafa) who had beaten British tennis star, Cameron 'Cam' Norrie in the other semi).

And news just come in from America as Joe Biden becomes the 2nd US president to test positive for COVID-19 after Donald Trump who was the 1st when he had the Delta variant back in 2020 but Biden's condition had been improving according to the updates from the White House staff.

And in the motor racing perspective that we used to have the late Possum Bourne (Married to his wife Peggy & a father of 3 children (Both sons of Taylor & Spencer & a daughter of Jazlin) who passed away in 2003 (Same year that the Swiss syndicate of Alinghi (Who had former Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts onboard their yacht along with several other Kiwis like Brad Butterworth, Murray Jones, Simon Daubney & others) won the America's Cup against Team New Zealand (Who failed to defend it but we had to wait for 14 years for our next America's Cup win) at the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland by bringing the Auld Mug to Europe for the 1st time, the Ricky Ponting led Australia winning the Cricket World Cup for their 3rd of 5 titles against India in the final at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Blues winning their most recent Super Rugby title as they won the Super 12 competition against the Crusaders in the final in front of a packed Eden Park in Auckland while Helen Clark was in charge as our Prime Minister of New Zealand as well as the Terminator star of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Who starred in the 3rd Terminator movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which came out in the same year in which was his last starring role in a Hollywood film before he became the California governor) became governor of the American state of California in which he was dubbed as 'The Governator' & the Martin Johnson led England had triumphed to win their one & only Rugby World Cup title (The 1st time that a northern hemisphere side had won the tournament) against the Wallabies of Australia in the final at Stadium Australia in Sydney, but this was the year that Bourne competed in the Rally of Sweden in a PWRC Subaru rally car in the Production World Rally Championship class therefore he just re-entered on the world stage at the time of his tragic passing & 10 years after his co-driver & good friend, Doctor Rodger 'Roj' Freeth got killed in a serious rallying related crash which almost ended Bourne's career during the Rally of Australia event way back in 1993 but after encouragement from the Freeth family, Bourne even returned to the drivers seat) in a serious car accident that killed him that I literally remember according to the news report, prior to the events of the Race to the Sky rally hillclimb in Cardrona near Queenstown, & was one of my favourite top New Zealand rally drivers (The late Colin McRae was my favourite rally driver growing up as a young kid then the late Richard Burns took over followed by Petter Solberg then both top French rally drivers of Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier & now Kalle Rovanpera) but his favourite sporting idols growing up according to his website are both the late great New Zealand America's Cup sailor, Sir Peter 'Blakey' Blake (Although Grant Dalton (The man known as Dalts who was once the CEO (Chief executive officer) of 4 time America's Cup champions, Emirates Team New Zealand) is in fact the modern day iteration of Blake) & one of New Zealand's successful cricketing greats (Long before the Black Caps successful World Test Championship glory/triumph last year against India (One of 2 countries along with China to have a population of a billion people & is the only nation in the world with a billion population not to have the one child policy (Only China has it) led by its main talisman, Virat Kohli (1st they had Kapil Dev, then Sachin Tendulkar before Kohli took over as India's premier cricketer after Tendulkar had retired in 2013) in that memorable final in front of 4,000 die-hard cricket fanatics at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton in which was one of my standout cricket moments that I saw on TV), Sir Richard 'Paddles' Hadlee (Who is a bowler (But we have the likes of our successful current day New Zealand test bowlers such as Tim Southee & Trent Boult) compared to New Zealand's most successful batters ever produced such as Glenn Turner (Who scored 171 not out against the now defunct East Africa team during a men's Cricket World Cup match in 1975 (It has since been surpassed by a fellow New Zealander of Martin Guptill in 2015 against the West Indies with an unbeaten 237 as both the highest individual score by a New Zealander (The only Black Cap ever to score a double ton) & by anyone at a men's 50 over CWC (He passed Chris Gayle's record of 215 when he scored against Zimbabwe during a Cricket World Cup match in the same year), the late Martin Crowe (Cousin of New Zealand born Australian Hollywood film actor Russell who set the world alight in the 1992 Cricket World Cup when he scored an unbeaten ton against trans-tasman rivals Australia in the opening match in the tournament at Eden Park in Auckland & during the tournament in which he got injured in our team's semifinal defeat against eventual champions Pakistan, also in Auckland), Brendon McCullum (The current England cricket team head coach in the test format before Williamson took over as the New Zealand captain after Baz had retired from all forms of cricket), current Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson (An inspirational leader who was the New Zealand sportsman of the year award winner at this years scaled down Halberg awards along with the Black Caps side achieving team of the year honours at the Halbergs) & the recently retired Ross Taylor (Who has a new book coming out, reflecting on his cricket career (Including failures in both Cricket World Cup finals in 2015 & 2019 & only one success which is the World Test Championship from last year that the Black Caps eventually triumphed) which is Ross Taylor: Black & White) as one of our country's premier rally drivers & household names of New Zealand motor racing (His honours during his illustrious rallying career include the 1991 New Zealand rally champion, a 7 time Australian Rally champion ranging from 1996 until 2002 as well as a 3 time Asia-Pacific Rally champion in 1993-94 & 2000 & won the Race to the Sky event back in 2001 (Compared to the late Colin's brother, one of Jimmy's sons & father of up & coming rally driver Max, Alister McRae winning the last ever Race to the Sky in 2015 in Cardrona which is located near Queenstown in the Otago province, ironically in Possum's old, unrestricted Subaru Impreza WRC rally car after one of the main competitors & the 8 time champion of the Race to the Sky event of Japan's Monster Tajima, in his Toyota Super 86, crashed out during the event) until Hayden Paddon (Who was the apparent heir of the late Possum Bourne (His birth name was Peter who acquired that nickname of Possum after he crashed his mother's car while trying to avoid a possum) but I like him since I prefer Bourne as by far, my favourite NZ rally hero) took over but with moderate success when he competed in the world stage such as the WRC (World Rally Championship) in which the man from Geraldine in the South Island became the PWRC champion in 2011 & now we have a twice Supercars Championship title winner & once the Bathurst 1000 winning driver of our very own Kiwi who is of Dutch origin, Shane van Gisbergen, is trying his hand at rallying once again in a new Skoda Fabia R5 rally car in preparation of Rally New Zealand (Which takes place a week before his quest of winning back the Brocky Memorial Trophy that he took victory with 2007 V8 Supercars champion & 4 time Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander of Australia in a COVID-19 affected year in 2020 at this years annual touring car endurance race at Mount Panorama which is the Bathurst 1000 sponsored by Repco), upstaged by his defence of this year's Supercars Championship season in which he competes full time (And is the current points leader going into the next race of this years Supercars Championship season at The Bend) just like in 2020 where he won the Battle of Jack's Ridge in a Mitsubishi Mirage AP4 rally car.

And the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this year, is under way with the opening ceremony in full swing (One of the best in any form of either the Commonwealth Games or Olympics that I have seen in many years but my favourite part of the opening ceremony was 80's music band Duran Duran (They have been performing since 1978) performing at the business end of the opening ceremony & Sir Lenny Henry (I did not know that he got knighted for his services to his charitable arm) from the 90's British sitcom series Chef! doing the hosting duties) but we have now won 16 golds (Lewis Clareburt in swimming in both the men's 200m butterfly & men's 400m individual medley, Andrew Jeffcoat also in swimming in the men's 50m backstroke, Dame Sophie Pascoe also in swimming in the women's 100m freestyle S9 class, Joshua Willmer also in swimming in the men's 100m breaststroke SB8 class, Hamish Kerr in Athletics/Track & field in the men's high jump, Sam Gaze in Cycling in the men's cross-country, Ellesse Andrews 3 times in cycling in the women's Keirin, women's sprint & women's team sprint, Bryony Botha also in cycling in the women's 3000m individual pursuit, Aaron Gate 3 times in cycling in the men's 4000m individual pursuit, men's 40km points race & men's 4000m team pursuit along with Jordan Kerby, Tom Sexton & Campbell Stewart, both Olivia King & Rebecca Petch in cycling in the women's team sprint, Corbin Strong in cycling in the men's 15km scratch race & Paul Coll in Squash in the men's singles), 10 silvers & 10 bronze medals in history (Our most successful for New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games on foreign soil, only 1 shy of the all time record set in Auckland in 1990 (The year before I was born but the 1st time I remembered watching the Commonwealth Games was in 1998 & I have covered it since 2002) with 17 golds, 14 silvers & 27 bronze medals) but there has been an update as heavy favourite in the men's shot put of Tom Walsh secures his 2nd gold at the Commonwealth games where he finished ahead of fellow countryman Jacko Gill (Just like both Tom Sexton (Who finished behind Aaron Gate along with Campbell Stewart who finished behind Gate in the men's points race) & Ben Oliver (Who claimed the silver while his fellow countryman Sam Gaze got the gold (And Anton Cooper had to pull out of the event due to a positive corona virus test in which he missed the race) did) in Athletics in the men's Shot Put but recently that Aaron Gate in the cycling, men's time trial (He becomes the most successful Commonwealth games individual in a single Games for our country of New Zealand with 4, surpassing track cyclist Ellesse Andrews with 3) & the mixed squash pair of Kieran Coll (Who won gold earlier in the men's singles squash) & Joelle King (The most successful Commonwealth Games athlete with 5 golds along with the late Val Young who got another gold with Amanda Landers-Murphy (Who originally retired in 2020 before she made a successful comeback to the sport) in the women's doubles squash, pushing New Zealand to a record extending 20th gold medal as well as our 49th medal (The most number of medals won at an away games) at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games before that ultra-successful campaign had ended with the closing ceremony (My favourite part of the closing ceremony was Birmingham local Ozzy Osbourne (The lead singer of the famous British heavy metal band Black Sabbath (Dubbed as the heavy metal equivalent of the famous UK pop rock band The Beatles) performing their iconic rock hit Paranoid (Remember that they played a teaser of Iron Man) with his band to close out in style (And the organisers of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games suggest that they wanted Ozzy Osbourne & his band to perform at the closing ceremony in order for some real rock & roll to close it out in style but watching Ozzy Osbourne & his band performing live was one of the best rock acts I have ever seen on TV for a long time) with the next Commonwealth Games is expected to be held in the state of Victoria in Australia so see you in 2026 (The last time the Commonwealth Games was held down under was in the Gold Coast in Australia in 2018), but the next major sporting event this year is the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar (Where the current Football World Cup holders of France will have a chance to defend the title that they won in 2018 (And the 1st in 60 years that a defending champion has retained their Football World Cup crown) while the 5 time world champions as well as the tournament favourites & world number 1 ranked Brazil (Who as my mentioned in my previous blogs as the only football playing nation to appear in every Football World Cup since 1930 (Except that the 1942 & 1946 tournaments were cancelled as a result of World War II breaking out), will also have a chance of ending a 20 year hoodoo by claiming their record extending 6th Football World Cup title) in 3 months time) have struck gold in Birmingham, pushing New Zealand's gold medal count to 19 (And we have broken/smashed the all-time record number of gold medals won by New Zealand in the history of the Commonwealth Games set in Auckland 1990 with 17 gold medals in total & the most during modern times, or should I say in the modern era).

And in Rugby Championship news such as the All Blacks (The All Black of New Zealand) opening game of the tournament against the current Rugby World Cup holders, the dark green, gold & white of the Springboks (Who go into the rematch in international rugby union's most storied rivalry (And the AB's - Springboks rivalry is similar to a heavyweight contest where a boxer would land punches against an opponent who would later do a counter punch) against the All Blacks (Our next home test is against Argentina at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch in which the city has never hosted a test match since 2016 against the Springboks) at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg again as favourites mainly because of the home field advantage), was an utter disappointment as we lost 3 tests in a row (1st time it has been happening since 1998 during the Harty (John Hart) era as well as the 1st time the Springboks (Who became the 2nd side to defeat the AB's this year after Ireland did it twice) have won a test against the AB's on home soil since 2014 & the 1st time that the All Blacks had lost an opening match in the Rugby Championship (They hadn't done that since 2005 during the Tri Nations era) were New Zealand got it all wrong at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit but the kicking game (Compared to Ireland's different style of play that secured them a test series win over the AB's in July (And the Irish became the 1st side to defeat the All Blacks in a test series in New Zealand since France in 1994) from the South Africans that they adapted from when they won the most recent Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019, must've won them the test (And full credit to the greatest South African team ever (I think that the 2019 era Springboks were better than both 1995 & 2007, compared to the 2015 All Blacks team were better than both the 1987 & 2011 eras), that they deserved to win that test but what went wrong for the AB's to lose our 3rd consecutive rugby test? Our discipline wasn't even spot on but we've got to get it right for the next test to win (Our last win was against Ireland in the 1st of the 3 match test series at Eden Park in Auckland in July) but I didn't watch the test due to the emotions that were running high but I label the All Blacks dismal performance on the field as lame due to their woes which affected our game but there are still calls from the All Blacks bandwagon that they want Ian Foster out (That is our rallying cry towards our rugby loving fans & followers here in New Zealand) while Australia won the other Rugby Championship match in which they edged the Argentinians out of nowhere in Argentina.

And there has been an update in round 2 of the Rugby Championship such as the All Blacks snap a 3 game losing run as they topple South Africa (Who are known for their reputation of being cheese eaters (Compared to the French who are both chocolate & croissant eaters) descended from the Dutch, especially for their bulk size due to their huge forward pack which was by far, to play against but one of the Springbok players of Lukhanyo Am is in fact one of the best centres in world rugby since he took over from Conrad Smith no doubt about it!) at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in front of a cauldron of fans attending the game (And what a turn around for New Zealand to finally win a test match since against Ireland in the 1st of 3 tests at Eden Park in Auckland) but I'm sick of the penalties that New Zealand always conceded due to our poor discipline (Or more like the penalties given away by New Zealand is absolutely frustrating) especially Beauden Barrett who just come onto the field from the bench, got that yellow card on that occasion (Along with one of the Springbok players of Damian Willemse early but Jesse Kriel had to be pulled early due to concussion so Willie le Roux came on the field for him for the remainder of the match) for deliberately tackling a player off the ball on young Springbok halfback filling in for Faf de Klerk, Jayden Hendrikse but the new front row of the All Blacks of Ethan de Groot, Samisoni Taukei'aho & Tyrel Lomax made the difference in our contribution to our victory (And Jordie Barrett was the standout of the game at Ellis Park compared to Handre Pollard (Who was the pick of the South African players in the Rugby Championship opener) did in Nelspruit but the player of the game honours went to All Blacks midfielder Rieko Ioane (Brother of loose forward Akira & son of ex-Black Fern Sandra Wihongi as well as former Western Samoa player Eddie & the one that Pops famously met in 2019 when he & Carole went to Hawaii) for his outstanding game so far) that may have saved Ian Foster's job as All Black coach (If New Zealand had lost, Foster would've been fired) but in the other Rugby Championship game such as the Michael Chieka coached Argentina gave the Wallabies a hiding in a revenge best dished served cold in San Juan & have now taken over the lead in the standings on points difference with all teams gave a victory & a defeat each in the 1st 2 rounds of the competition.

And there also has been an update in round 3 of the 2022 Rugby Championship season such as the Wallabies (Who looked a bit bleak in the last 10 minutes of the game) win 3 in a row against the Springboks at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide with one of the Wallaby players of Marika Koroibete made a game deifining try saving tackle on 2019 Rugby World Cup winning player for South Africa, Makazole Mapimpi, which proved to be the game changer in what was beleived to be the tackle of the century but sad news for our die hard New Zealand rugby fans as the All Blacks fell short against Argentina (Whose resilient defence that they won them the test on that occasion (Especially a Super Rugby Pacific winning player for the Crusaders of Pablo Matera (Who is rugby union's equivalent of the great Lionel Messi (A Copa America winning player for Argentina last year when they beat Brazil in the final at the Maracana as well as the Olympic gold medalist in Beijing 2008) but the Argentinian rugby team used to have Hugo Porta who is the Diego Maradona (Who passed away in 2020) of rugby union) being the standout players of the game as well as he was the pick of the Argentinian players after his excellent contribution throughout the game & like I said before in 2020 that the art or power of the forward pack by the Argentinians, made all the difference), was the turning point in which they made history again) for the 2nd time at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch in which the Argentinians have caused the upset of this year's Rugby Championship (Man, this is like 2020 all over again when the Argentinians 1st beat us but now they are getting competitive after their 2nd win over New Zealand (And that is the 1st time that they lost in Christchurch since 1998 against the Wallabies & the 1st time the AB's had been defeated at Orangetheory Stadium but the Argentinians become the 3rd side to defeat New Zealand (Who had lost 4 games this year) after Ireland twice & South Africa once & Argentina could be the dark horses of the Rugby Championship this year (And also the Rugby World Cup next year in France) as they maintain their lead in the standings), muchas gracias (Thanks very much) to all of you Argentinians out there but what a performance from them (And I have to give credit to them but let's hope all of that can change for New Zealand in the next test in Hamilton in which we need to cut down the penalties (And man this has been frustrating from our All Black point of view, not only that I'm always sick of it now but I remember a comment from Carole 3 months ago about other sides like Ireland & Argentina are trying to catch up mainly due to their competitiveness on the rugby field).

So that is my 463rd blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 11th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.

Making A Fire/Love Dies Young: My 10th blog of the year 2022

Well, I have decided to do a weekly blog now since the COVID restrictions have been eased in our country (And they have got to wear masks when entering in both a medical & aged care facility & if someone tests positive, they must self quarantine for 7 days while others in the house whilst a person who tests positive & has to self quarantine, will no longer need to) especially the confirmed number of cases is dropping significantly (And it seems that omicron is dying down now), but it's 3 months have passed since the tragic shootings have happened at a elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (There was a native who is a Hollywood film star, in the name of Matthew McConaughey (He famously appears in movies, such as Tropic Thunder, Fools Gold, The Wedding Planner, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days & Ring Of Fire) in America when I saw a news report on CNN (The program Aunty Tania always watches while Pops used to watch that television news channel a lot) where they claimed 21 lives including 19 9 to 11 year old young students & both teachers by the hands of a gunman who shot his grandmother at his home prior to the shooting (And it's reminiscent to both Columbine in 1999 (And there's security at high schools nationwide with metal detectors being introduced in a bid to stamp out firearms being brought into the grounds at a high school following the incident) & Sandy Hook in 2012 (There were 26 of them have been shot & killed (There were 20 students & 6 teachers) including the perpetrator/suspect who committed suicide as a result (He especially killed his mother before the massacre had happened) where they had (And when Barack Obama was president of the United States, the Sandy Hook tragedy is one of his darkest days during his presidency) but lawmakers in the US are trying to crack down on gun violence (Similar to the trend of high tackles in rugby union & league but the gun violence epidemic in the United States of America is a whole lot worse) such as introducing gun control measures to keep the country safe by implementing a ban on high powered rifles as well as universal background checks, red flag laws & raising the legal age (Just like raising the drinking age in America which helped reduce accidents) of purchasing a semi-automatic rifle (And action needs to be taken in light of the tragic shootings in Uvalde where there police were called in for a serious gun incident but they had a late response to that where the cops took a long time to get to a crime scene (And many of the victims families wanted answers but the police refused to even make a comment about it) but there are calls for better security at elementary schools in wake of the mass murder (And that's sad, shocking & dreadful about it, especially in the community but all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family of the children & teachers whose lives have been taken away by a suspected gunman but it should not happen after that in both the US & anywhere around the world (And yeah that's pretty terrible or should I say dreadful, but it is time to move on from that but me & Pops are lucky that we're not in the USA (Especially Diana Kent (Who I have not seen her since 2017 in I just moved in with Pops) lives there in Palatine, Illnois, but she once told me before that she always locks the doors at her home at night if there's an would be incident) from 18 to 21 which is good since the Americans recently passed a bill on gun law reforms but there is a tragic weekend in the US between the 4th & 5th of June as 9 mass shootings had occurred nationwide (Including a gunman murdering a court judge since Pops has told me 4 months ago that judges are getting scared & afraid by their suspected enemies due to the fact that they have a fear of getting shot by a gun) in spate of gun violence in the aftermath of the events of Uvalde, Texas (And what are the thoughts of US President Joe Biden on the epidemic of violence involving firearms? "Enough's enough!" But the coach of the Golden State Warriors NBA side as well as a former NBA player who once played the Chicago Bulls of Steve Kerr, has given his thoughts on gun violence, post Uvalde tragedy during a press conference mainly because of his late father, professor Malcolm H. Kerr (Who was the president of the American University of Beirut), getting assassinated by armed terrorists in Beirut in Lebanon in 1984 (Compared to the JFK assassination which was worse in 1963 in which John F Kennedy was the last US president to be assassinated) when Steve was an 18-year old freshman at the University of Arizona) but there has been an update as there has been an introduction of a bipartisan gun law known as the partner loophole in which the law prevents their domestic partners of receiving a firearm to commit would be crimes even if they are especially mentally ill according to the report on news channel CNN.

And in tennis news such as the world No.1 ranked Iga Swiatek has done it again as she becomes the 2 time champion of the French Open after her win against young 18 year old American Coco Gauff in the final of the women's singles at Roland Garros, extending her winning run to 35 games (The most since 2000) but in the men's department as the Mallorca native of Spain's Rafael Nadal becomes the most successful male tennis player with 22 for most victories at a grand slam (He is 2 ahead of both of his rivals Novak Djokovic (Whom Rafa beat in the quarterfinals before Nadal faced the German of eastern European origin, Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev in the semi, in which Rafa was declared the winner after Zverev got injured in the process & had to be withdrawn from the match & was the one who got suspended for 3 years from competing in the Australian Open after being deported to his home in Serbia after he tried to enter Australia due to the fact that he wasn't clearly vaccinated) & Roger Federer (Who thought about retiring from tennis after his injuries that he had most recently) & is now a 14-time French Open men's singles champion as well as the oldest to win at Roland Garros at 36 after a comprehensive victory over Norwegian Casper Ruud (Who attended the Nadal Tennis Academy in Spain after Nadal was Ruud's idol back in his youth days) in the men's singles final but I don't know whether Nadal will play at Wimbeldon given the foot injuries that he had most recently because he might not take the risk of getting injured again while the next grand slam tennis tournament takes place in Wimbeldon where Germany's Alexander Zverev (Who had been given a 8 week suspended ban & a 1 year probation due to volatile behaviour that he had when he was involved in an incident with the chair umpire by smashing his racquet to an chair umpires tower during a tennis tournament in Acapulco, Mexico which resulted in a $40,000 fine in which Zverev was thrown out of the tournament) is set to miss Wimbeldon through a serious ankle injury sustained in the semifinal against Rafael Nadal of the men's singles tournament at the French Open.

And onto the Football World Cup qualifiers report as the emotional Ukraine (Who had beaten Scotland in the semifinals of the UEFA qualification playoff but they had to be based in Slovenia in April to prove that the players that they are match fit ahead of both the Scotland & Wales clashes) 3 - 1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow in an attempt to make it into the tournament after 16 years (It was in 2006 that Ukraine made it's one & only Football World Cup appearance as they made the round of 16 after wins against both Saudi Arabia & Tunisia but lost to Spain in the group games before they defeated Switzerland on penalties to make the quarterfinal until the eventual champions Italy beat them & haven't appeared in the World Cup ever since after that) had just fallen short of securing qualification into the Football World Cup (The 2022 edition is the 2nd consecutive tournament not to involve the defending European champions & the biggest nation not to qualify for this year's tournament, Italy (After losses against Sweden in 2017 & North Macedonia (Who netted a late winner to knock the Italians out by providing the biggest shock in an unbelievable match when Italy's football team crashed back to earth, a year after winning the European Championship & being feted as national heroes) this year) after losing to Wales at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff meaning that the Ukrainians had been dealt with heartbreak when the Ukranian skipper Andrey Yarmolenko had scored an own goal after Welsh captain Gareth Bale kicked it from a free kick which was the turning point or should I say, a game changer & it was game over when it was Wales's time & Wales's moment to saviour as they end a 64 year wait of reaching the Football World Cup (The only time Wales appeared at football's biggest global showpiece tournament was in 1958 (I think Pops was about 10 or 11 here in our country while Carole was about 5 or 6 when it occurred in the UK) when they reached the knockout stages after 3 draws but 1st they had to beat Hungary in the round of 16 before being fallen to the eventual champions of Brazil in the quarters & they haven't appeared at a World Cup since until now (They came so close of reaching the 1978 Football World Cup for Wales as they got beaten by Scotland thanks to a controversial penalty by the Scots to qualify for the tournament) & have made both European Football Championship appearances (One in Euro 2016 where they reached the semifinals (They couldn't rattle the eventual champions Portugal in which the Portuguese famously outsmarted them during the semi (And they were without one of their Welsh players, Aaron Ramsey through suspension after committing a 2nd yellow card during the tournament in the quarterfinal against Belgium) & the other in Euro 2020 last year in which they beat Turkey in the group game after a draw against Switzerland & before they lost to eventual European Football champions Italy to qualify for the round of 16 in which they went down to Denmark) & now join England, Islamic Republic of Iran & the USA in Group B of this year's tournament in Qatar (And most Ukranian fans are shattered that they could not make it to Qatar after an unfortunate defeat like that for the country (And I watched the replay of the game on TV on the 6th of June with Pops that Wales (Who were ranked higher than Ukraine going into the match for a place in the World Cup in Qatar (And Pops told me on the 9th of June that Scotland did not make it, but it's good that Wales are in the tournament (Especially Andy's wife Kelsey being of Welsh origin along with her parents John (Kelsey's father) & Rhonda (Kelsey's mother) despite being Kiwi (I was telling Carole at Momiji about if Andy was playing cricket, he would play either England (His country of birth & ancestral homeland) or New Zealand (His main nationality & residence) but Andy once told me last year that he was too small to play rugby union) were too good during the game against the Ukranians who have been famously being outplayed (And I mean, what a disappointing end for Ukraine, what a match for our viewers right around the world (And I wonder the headlines would say: WALES END 64 YEAR WAIT OF FOOTBALL WORLD CUP APPEARANCES or more like: UKRAINE FALLS SHORT AGAINST THE WELSH IN WC QUALIFIERS) but I once told Pops or Leon that I love football, but I prefer rugby union as my favourite sport to follow but I'm looking forward to watching this year's Football World Cup in Qatar on TV when it's on) but Real Madrid has won their 14th UEFA Champions League title (The most by a European club & is still, Spain's most successful by far (And unlike that the Premier League, remains, Manchester City's cup after Man City successfully defended the Premier League title (Their 4th in 5 years in which they won all but one since the 2017-18 season) as they defeated the FA Cup champions Liverpool (England's most successful football club in the UEFA Champions League with 6 titles (Their last one was in 2018-19 in which they defeated Spurs in Madrid during the Champions League final (And they successfully won the Premier League title a year later in 2019-20 before Manchester City have been invincible since 2020-21 in which they regained the EPL title before winning another one (And the Belgian footballer who plays for Man City, Kevin de Bruyne (One of Belgium's current golden generation players along with Eden Hazard), is still easily one of the Premier League's best football players) but Leon (Who was happy & proud about Liverpool's triumph in the FA Cup against Chelsea in the final but I forgot to tell him about that) was disappointed about the result even as a die-hard Liverpool fan) 1 - 0 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (But the match was overshadowed with controversy as most Liverpool fans were unable to get a single ticket to watch their club play in the final due to mainly fake tickets were used so they were unable to get in the stadium to watch) in a rematch of the 2018 final in which Real Madrid dominated (Including Liverpool's Mohamed Salah sustaining a broken arm after being tackled by Real Madrid player at the time, Sergio Ramos & Gareth Bale's heroics when he scored both goals during the final (Including the goal of the final which was his bicycle kick when he scored that first goal (Compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's bicycle kick stunner against Italian club Juventus in the 1st leg of the quarterfinal during the 2017-18 season & Zinedine Zidane's wonderful but tremendous strike off a volley for Real Madrid against German club Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final in Glasgow, Scotland) after being used as a sub) but Leon told me that Denmark had beaten the current Football World Cup holders France (Well, I think the French (Who are having a rough start in the UEFA Nations League after losses against Denmark then a draw against Austria & back to back defeats against Croatia, a month going into their defence of the Football World Cup in Qatar this year) are going to win the Football World Cup but my heart says it's Brazil, mainly for 3 reasons, because first of all, they're the top ranked football playing nation in the world then secondly, they're the tournament favourites (And they'll be looking for their record extending 6th Football World Cup title) & lastly, they haven't triumphed since 2002 (It was 20 years ago) quite frankly) in a UEFA Nations League game (Who both nations will meet at a Football World Cup this year in Group D) while I told Leon that Hungary had their 1st win against England for the first time in international football in 60 years in front of 35,000 children under 14 & their chaperones (It was originally played behind closed doors due to erratic behavior towards their male fans over the age of 15 during the delayed Euro 2020 last year but the children jeered the English football team when their English players took a knee in a effort to curb racism (They're allowed to do that (Unlike a ban on booing the kicker every time they take either a conversion or penalty goal during a rugby union match in rugby grounds in Europe such as England, France, Ireland, Scotland & Spain) but those kids under 14 attending the match, along with their chaperones aren't into politics nowadays).

And onto the rock music related stuff as I compare both bands that I'm a huge fan of which is the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Their recently released album, Digital Love, was not one of the greatest albums but it was a flop, a disaster, total shambles (And it was one of the worst in history because their form going into the release of the album had been dwindling as well as being the album underprivileged & underdone, but lucky I have got the Getaway album that I've got now (And too bad that Josh Klinghoffer left, as he was being replaced by John Fruiscante in 2019 who had rejoined the band for the 3rd time (He replaced the late Hilel Slovak in 1989 before he departed after Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik before rejoining the band again, replacing Dave Navarro in 1998 until he left yet again in 2009, with Klinghoffer taking Fruiscante's place) according to Ben that he told me during my 31st birthday on the 7th of June this year but it was lucky that I have not got that Digital Love album) & the Foo Fighters (Who cannot cope after the tragic loss of their drummer Taylor Hawkins when he took his own life 7 months ago, during their South American tour (Their last song that the band performed live with Hawkins was Everlong (One of my favourite Foo Fighters songs) but I now got Medicine At Midnight which is the most recent Foo Fighters album to be released last year but it was the last to feature the now late Taylor Hawkins on drums (He joined the band in 1997 after the 2nd album, The Colour & the Shape came out) & after the passing of Hawkins, the Foo Fighters haven't heard themselves since (And are now down to 5 survivors consisting of Dave Grohl (Lead singer & guitarist), Nate Mendel (Bass), Pat Smear (Rhythm guitarist), Chris Shifflett (Lead guitarist) & Rami Jaffee (Keyboards) just like Linkin Park (Also down to 5 members which is Mike Shinoda (Rap vocalist), Brad Delson (Lead guitarist), Rob Bourdon (Drummer), Joe Hahn (Turntables) & Dave Farrell (Bass) after the tragic passing of Chester Bennington, their lead singer in 2017 (Same year that Chris Cornell of both Audioslave (I now got that album which is Revelations (And Audioslave is not my favourite band since I prefer active rock bands, but I like a bit of inner Cornell as one of my favourite singers in the rock music industry along with Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl as well as the late Bennington, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Maynard James Keenan of both Tool & A Perfect Circle & last but not least, Jon Toogood of our very own Kiwi/New Zealand rock band Shihad) & Soundgarden had passed away by taking his own life just like his good friend Bennington) in which the band is currently on hiatus since) but I have revealed the fact that I love both bands & I have just found out that the Chilis is better than the Foos in terms of the popularity of their music meaning that the Red Hot Chili Peppers is my number 1 rock music band while the Foo Fighters is in fact my number 2, behind the Chilis & ahead of Linkin Park (And 4 others including Incubus, A Perfect Circle, my favourite Kiwi rock band by far of Shihad (Compared to Temuera Morrison (AKA Dr Hone Ropata from Shorty Street, Jake 'The Muss' Heke from the greatest New Zealand movie ever, Once Were Warriors & both Jango Fett & the Galactic Republic Clone Troopers from Attack Of The Clones (Who Jango only appeared) & Revenge Of The Sith) & Karl Urban (Who played Eomer in both The Two Towers & Return Of The King films) being my favourite New Zealand movie stars (Arnold Schwarzenegger is by far, still my favourite film star ahead of Tom Cruise, Samuel L Jackson (AKA that Mace Windu guy from the Star Wars (One of my favourite film franchises along with both The Lord Of The Rings (I've seen the Hobbit film trilogy before but was never interested since I prefer The LOTR trilogy (The reason I started watching The Lord Of The Rings film trilogy was it was filmed here in New Zealand (And it was directed by a Kiwi, Sir Peter Jackson) & The Matrix (I have seen the 1st 3 movies such as the 1st Matrix movie, The Matrix Reloaded & The Matrix Revolutions but never seen the 4th which is The Matrix Resurrections) prequel trilogy) & Keanu Reeves (Best known as Thomas A 'Neo' Anderson from The Matrix series) & Filter (One of the most underrated rock bands in the world according to most people).

And onto the motor racing stuff that New Zealander Scott Dixon's hopes of his 2nd Indianapolis 500 victory (He started on pole remember after dominating qualifying but there was another Kiwi of the 3 time Supercars Championship title winner of Scott McLaughlin (He won in Mid-Ohio to claim his 2nd win of the 2022 Indycar season before the former 6 time Indycar series champion of Dixon, won in the most recent Indycar race (The 2nd race in a row that has been won by a Scott & the 2nd consecutive Indycar race that a New Zealander has taken the victory) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (In which they haven't not hosted an Indycar race since 2019 after 2 years out as a result of the corona virus pandemic in the country), having him tied 2nd on the all time winners list in American open wheel racing along with the great Italian born American racer & winner of the Indy 500 way back in 1969, Mario Andretti (The 7 time American open wheel champion AJ Foyt tops the all time list with 67) in which he has the utmost respect for Dixon (Who won in Nashville ahead of McLauglin just like race 1 in Texas last year to move up to 2nd in the all time list of most American open wheel racing championship wins when he got past Mario Andretti but AJ Foyt remains on top of the all time list with 68) in which he labels him as a friend in a tweet that he dished out in honor of Dixon's victory in the streets of Toronto) who crashed out during the race), ended in failure as a costly pit stop blunder, robbed him a chance of winning the Indy 500 (The race went to his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate of ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson, who becomes the 2nd Swedish driver in history after Kenny Brack in 1999 to win at the famous Indianapolis 500 mile race which is Indycar's flagship event (And the Monaco Grand Prix went to Mexico's Sergio Perez (Who emerged as a championship title contender) in the Red Bull after the race had been aborted, mainly due to the treacherous wet weather conditions).

And in rugby news such as Canada has failed to qualify in next year's Rugby World Cup (But their football/soccer team are in the Football World Cup this year in Qatar) after being beaten by Chile (Who made history as the 1st side since Russia in 2011, to make their Rugby World Cup debut next year after they stunned the United States in a RWC qualifiers match but Rugby isn't the number 1 sport in Chile not only because it is a football mad country (Or should I say a nation known for their football there) on an aggregate score in Rugby World Cup qualifying (And the 2023 tournament is the 1st Rugby World Cup without Canada involved meaning that 10 countries have appeared in every Rugby World Cup such as Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland & last but not least, Wales) last year while Spain had originally secured their victory of Romania to secure qualification, but they have been stripped of their place in the 2023 RWC for fielding an ineligible player who got caught by using a forged passport which was kinda sad (And Romania (Who haven't appeared at a Rugby World Cup arena since 2015 but failed to qualify in the last one in 2019 for fielding multiple ineligible players) had taken Spain's place in the tournament since) but there's an interesting fact that every time the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup (We did it on 3 occasions, in 1987, 2011 & our most recent one in 2015), we had to beat Argentina during the tournament, whether it's a pool game (It was both in 1987 & 2015) or a quarterfinal (It was in 2011) & of course, New Zealand has never won a RWC without beating the Argentinians during the tournament (Unlike the AB's came so close of winning rugby's grandest prize in 1995 (Well, to start with, we should've won that game if the AB's players didn't get poisoned deliberately at their team hotel (It must've been either the water or milk that had when they had lunch when most players had felt a bit sick (Although our captain in 1995, Sean Fitzpatrick as well as the Brooke brothers of Robin & Zinzan were not the ones involved when the New Zealand players like the late Jonah Lomu & Jeff Wilson, fell ill after the effects of food poisoning 2 days before the final (I remember in a sports news report on One that Peter Williams said that the New Zealand players thought that they are 100% fit ahead of the big final), most likely by a shady underworld betting syndicate (And unlike the reason why the AB's lost to France & Australia in the semis of both 1999 & 2003 was in 1999 that the French had an easier path to the final when they beat the Fijians (Who missed out in an upset win & would've played them in the semi instead of the French) in pool play, courtesy of that dreadful but diabolical refereeing performance from New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien & a few weeks later during the tournament, the French rattled us in the semi after trailing from behind & in 2003, the AB's should've been to Sydney after winning against South Africa in the quarterfinal, but they chose to stay at the team base during the tournament in Melbourne, to prepare for the semi against hosts at the time, Australia, which went unsuccessful (Including Stirling Mortlock's try off an intercept was the turning point/game changer, & I clearly but fondly remember that it was game over as we know it that the Aussies for the last time at a Rugby World Cup, had beaten the All Blacks (We beat them twice in 2011 in the semifinal & 2015 in the final) but that's not the case) after losing to the great Springbok side (Who had to win the 1st of 3 Rugby World Cups) that has graced the rugby field led by it's inspirational leader of Francois Pienaar (1st Springbok captain to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy followed by John Smit in 2007 & Siya Kolisi (AKA the self-proclaimed rugby god when I always call him & 1st skipper of African origin to hold the trophy aloft) at the most recent tournament in 2019 (Compared to both All Black captains that have hoisted the trophy such as David Kirk (Who was the third choice New Zealand skipper going into the inaugural tournament after injuries to both the late Jock Hobbs (Whose rugby career is cut short with a head injury) & Andy Dalton (Who missed the whole tournament with a torn hammy) as I mentioned before in my previous blogs) in 1987 & Richie McCaw twice in 2011 & 2015 as well as both RWC winning captains who lifted the Webb Ellis trophy for the Wallabies of Nick-Farr Jones in 1991 & John Eales in 1999 & finally, Martin Johnson is England's only Rugby World Cup winning skipper to raise the trophy aloft way back in 2003) in the final).

And I forgot to mention the violent protests where 800 arrests have being made in the Capitol buildings in January last year, dubbed as the Capitol insurrection riots (Unlike the late US president Richard Nixon had to resign in 1974 in light of the Watergate scandal that they had in 1972 where a break-in by 5 burglars who had been arrested by cops (They went on trial a year later in 1973 (And 10 people had been sent behind bars as a result of criminal charges had been laid), one year before the resignation by president Nixon handed out), at the Democratic National Committee HQ had occurred, which was worse) that they had when Trump supporters attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 US election (But it's official that Biden was declared that he won it that he defeated Trump (And that's the 1st time that a US president like Trump had lost the election since 1992 in which the late George H W Bush got defeated by Bill Clinton with Clinton becoming the new president that he served from 1993 until 2001 when George W Bush (Son of George H W & former Texas governor) took over & there was a prime time public hearing that had taken place recently about the insurrection) before the US government had declared a martial law in time for inauguration day but there was protests in Wellington in February this year about the Ottawa siege involving anti-vax protesters as well as National's attempt of overturning the result of the general election in 2020 during the omicron outbreak that they had.

And that there is a journalist working for Al Jazeera named Mahmoud Hussein who had been sent behind bars in Egypt without being charged or going through trial until he was released in February last year & of course, American Hollywood movie star Johnny Depp winning a court case against his ex-wife Amber Heard about the defamation trial in which a case that involved domestic violence (Similar to Mel Gibson did on Oksana Grigorieva back in 2009).

And we've got a rugby game on the 29th of June as the Maori All Blacks (Which features the likes of players of Maori origin such as Cullen Grace, TJ Perenara & Brad Weber) lock horns with Ireland (Who are the All Blacks formidable rivals in recent times (It used to be next year's Rugby World Cup hosts France who they beat us in our most recent test) since they became competitive after their 1st win in Chicago in 2016 (And remember they came so close in both 2012 in Christchurch & 2013 in Dublin when Ireland almost made history, but it wasn't to be as I mentioned in my previous blogs but the Irish have never beaten us at a RWC) followed by 2 more victories in 2018 & last year, both in Dublin, but we could face them in the quarters in next year's Rugby World Cup just like in 2019, even if we beat the French in the opening match of the tournament (And if not, it's the defending world champions & our old foe of South Africa, where they haven't beaten us at a RWC since 1999 as I also mentioned in my previous blogs) in a mid week fixture with the Maori All Blacks ended up winning against the Irish at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton in a mid-week game but the most important test match is on the 2nd of July as the All Blacks take on Ireland in our highly anticipated 1st test match of the year at Eden Park in Auckland in which New Zealand have never lost at that venue since France beat them in 1994 including that magnificent try from the end of the world by the French that won them the test series (And Ireland has never beaten the AB's on New Zealand soil (They have never done that before & they're out here to make history, but the last time the All Blacks won against the Irish, it was in 2019 in the quarterfinal at the most recent Rugby World Cup) then the Wallabies play England in the 1st of 3 tests at Perth Stadium in Perth then the current World Cup holders the Springboks battle it out against Wales at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, also in a test series then Argentina face Scotland in another one of those test series at Estadio 23 de Agosto in San Salvador de Jujuy.

And in international rugby news such as the All Blacks (Who had both Leicester Fainga'anuku & Pita Gus Sowakula making their test debuts for the AB's) return to winning ways by snapping a 2 match losing streak to demolish one of the dark horses of next year's Rugby World Cup, Ireland (Who had their captain Johnny Sexton pulled from the 1st half for what looks like to be an HIA (Head injury assessment) then he took no further part in the match after failing a concussion test which proved to be the game changer after being copped by a high tackle by New Zealand captain Sam Cane which went unnoticed so Cane is likely to be cited by the citing officer for illegally taking out Sexton meaning that he will front up to the judiciary of how long will Cane be suspended for, & if Cane is suspended, it is either Ardie Savea or Sam Whitelock to assume the captaincy for the remainder of the series & the opening Rugby Championship match against South Africa (And Cane has since been cleared by the judiciary meaning that he was free to play in the 2nd test against the Irish) because that to me, was worthy of either a yellow or red card (And the English referee of Karl Dickson would've disallowed the try scored by Sevu Reece for the foul play incident that they had (There were both tries that should've been rubbed out by the TMO, one was Quinn Tupaea for an offside in front of the kicker & the other for Ardie Savea after Aaron Smith adjudged to have knocked the ball on in the lead up to the try but there was a yellow card to Karl Tu'inukuafe for continuing to mount penalties & there was a try on test debut to the newcomer of Fijian born All Black Pita Gus Sowakula (Once known as a chef & a basketball player) who he was on fire & was the pick of the test debutants compared to Fainga'anuku who didn't make an impression whilst on All Black test debut) at Eden Park in Auckland then the Wallabies for the 1st time since the 2015 Rugby World Cup, have conquered England at Perth Stadium in Perth as Australia defied both cards & injuries during the match before the Springboks (Who have apppeared at every Rugby World Cup since 1995 (That was 3 years after they were readmitted to international sport following the end of the apartheid ruling that they had from 1948 until the late future South African president Nelson Mandela's release in 1990) remain, the best rugby playing nation of the planet in terms of the World Rugby world rankings as they put the discipline ridden Wales (Who had blown a big chance to win the test) to the sword with a match winning penalty goal by South African fullback Damian Willemse just like last year against New Zealand at the Gold Coast during the last round of the most recent Rugby Championship after Wales conceded a penalty in the dying seconds, resulting in a heartbreak that caused them to lose the match for a deliberate knock down which proved to be the turning point (And I fear that South Africa (Yeah, stuff that country although I was lashing out due to some heavy criticism that I'm personally intolerant to other people's cultures, especially the South Africans due to them of disrespecting each other not only they were so good in rugby union since their most recent Rugby World Cup glory in 2019 but I hope not that the Rugby World Cup, is still, South Africa's cup (And after 2019 when South Africa returned to power when they mastered/perfected the art of the sport of rugby union for the record-tying 3rd time by growing the game so much nowadays according to my previous blogs, a single & singular goal came into the sharpest focus for the Springboks. The Rugby World Cup had become South Africa's cup. The mission would be to ensure it stayed that way (Just like New Zealand did in 2015 against Australia at Twickenham in London, England where they had gone back to back (The 1st to win 3 titles followed by the South Africans & the only time as I mentioned in my previous blogs that the AB's had actually won the tournament, on foreign soil) after winning it on home soil in 2011 (Their 1st for a long time, in 24 years) against France at Eden Park in Auckland just like 1987, in the quest for rugby union's ultimate prize) but let's hope not that the Boks remain in power next year) next year in France (Fingers crossed hopefully for an All Black triumph at the 2023 RWC) is going to win the Rugby World Cup next year if they keep doing that in terms of how they perform well but they could play either next year's hosts France or England in a rematch of both the 2007 & 2019 finals in the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis but stuff them since I hated that match because it was my least favourite of the weekend that the South Africans were always going to win but I was getting sick & tired of it not only I vented frustration about it) then Argentina has taken the victory over Scotland in Jujuy in Australian Michael Chieka's first game in charge for the Argentinians who took over from the former Argentinian rugby player of Mario Ledesma.

And there has been an update that the Jonny Sexton (Who was one of the standouts of the 2nd test) led Ireland (Who played like the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Pacific final against the Blues) have created rugby history as they topple the All Blacks for the very 1st time on New Zealand soil (It was also the 1st time the AB's have tasted defeat at Forsyth Barr Stadium & the 1st time since 2009 that New Zealand has lost in Dunedin) for their 4th win (Their 1st was in 2016 then 2018 followed by last year & now this year meaning that the Irish are the real deal going into the test decider in Wellington & they mean business as they could be real contenders going into next year's Rugby World Cup along with hosts France, current World Cup holders South Africa, England, & Australia as well but they still looking for their 1st win in the quarterfinal of the RWC (We could be taking on Ireland (Who have been ultra competitive since their 1st victory against New Zealand in Chicago, Illnois in the United States of America in 2016 as I mentioned in my previous blogs) again in the quarters just like in 2019, even if we beat the French in pool play) against us in international rugby after the All Blacks were unable to overcome 2 yellow cards to both Leicester Fainga'anuku & Ofa Tu'ungafasi & a red to Angus Ta'avao who became the 7th different All Black to be sent off in a test match after Brownlie, Meads, Williams, Scott Barrett, Tu'ungafasi & Scott's brother Jordie Barrett for a crude headbutt had turned into an apparent illegal head clash on Irish player Garry Ringrose which resulted in a high tackle infringement (And the foul play incident was sorta like an assassination attempt so Ta'avao's red card was the turning point when Ireland began to dominate in the match, especially in the 2nd half before they successfully made history (And there has been an update as Ta'avao has been suspended for a minimum 3 weeks as a result of a straight red for a high tackle violation on an Irish player during the 2nd test at a disciplinary hearing that he attended) which let our discipline down (And there are calls for Ian Foster to be fired even if the All Blacks lose the test decider in Wellington, with Scott Robertson (Who has a contract with the Crusaders head coaching role until 2024 as I also mentioned in my previous blogs) might likely to take over the All Blacks head coaching role) even when we crashed back to earth after the entire AB's fanbase have been devastated about the defeat (And Ardie Savea should've stayed on the field & won ourselves the test match but he went off & had been replaced which cost the game dearly) or should I say, lost against the Irish (Who had a mid week game in hand against the Maori All Blacks & won meaning that the test series between Ireland & the Maori All Blacks (Who fell short for another victory) ended in a draw) in the 2nd test (And the Irish curse has struck for the 4th time against New Zealand but will it be the AB's time to win the test decider or will there be the luck of the Irish if they win the 3rd & final test in Wellington?) but there's also an update where Ireland have made history again as they win the test series by overpowering New Zealand who fell short yet again, just like in the 2nd test at Sky Stadium in Wellington, signalling 'Fozzy' Foster's downfall as All Blacks coach (Give this job to 'Razor' Robertson since Ian Foster's dismal coaching perfomance in which we let him off the hook that let ourselves down, especially the entire AB's fanbase who have been devastated once again after losing to Ireland (Who have now taken over from next years Rugby World Cup hosts France (Who took over from the reigning world champions South Africa (Who held that number 1 position in the World Rugby rankings after their narrow victory over the All Blacks in the very last round of the Rugby Championship last year on the Gold Coast in Australia) after France's test series victory over Japan & the Springboks losing to Wales in the 2nd test), as the top ranked rugby playing nation in the world according to the comment that I remember from Pops in July after their historic test series triumph against New Zealand & the 1st time that Ireland have won a test series against the All Blacks, in New Zealand since the beginning of the professional era in 1996) for the 5th time in international test rugby...& that's why that Foster has been ousted as the head coach of New Zealand after failing to win the test series against the ever improving Ireland (Who the All Blacks are now our formidable rivals & main challengers going into next years Rugby World Cup in France but the All Blacks (Who'll have their new interim head coach with either John Plumtree or Joe Schmidt taking over to replace Ian Foster who is moving on after a dismal test series against the now world number 1 of the Irish but an update had just come in that Ian Foster is staying on as the All Black coach (His contract runs out until after next years 2023 Rugby World Cup), but they had to sack the assistant coaches of both Plumtree & Brad Moar & bring in Jason Ryan as the forwards coach) next game is the opening round of this years Rugby Championship against our traditional rivals & the current Rugby World Cup holders, the Springboks (And the New Zealand - South Africa rivalry is the most storied rivalry in all of international rugby union (Compared to the Boston Red Sox - New York Yankees rivalry in America's Major League Baseball then the Celtics - Lakers rivalry in the NBA, the Bruins - Canadiens rivalry in the NHL, then the Colts - Patriots rivalry in the NFL followed by Argentina Vs Brazil, England Vs Germany & France Vs Italy in international football as well as FC Barcelona - Real Madrid in the El Clasico in Spain, AC Milan - Inter Milan in the Derby della Madonnina in Italy & Celtic - Rangers in the Old Firm Derby in Scotland, in club football & both rivalries in international cricket such as Australia - England as well as Australia Vs New Zealand & last but not least, India - Pakistan + the El Clasico of cricket in the IPL between the Chennai Super Kings & the Mumbai Indians) with the Boks having to win last time out between the two but the last time both of these sides met on South African soil, it was 4 years ago in 2018 that the AB's ran out winners (And it's been 8 years since the South Africans last won on home soil against New Zealand in 2014 where a high tackle by All Black flank forward Liam Messam cost the All Blacks the test, allowing one of the Springbok goal kickers to capitalize & take the lead of the match before they held on until the end at Ellis Park in Johannesburg) at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria with the world champion South Africans (Who are ranked above the All Blacks) going into this match, as favourites off the back of their test series win against Wales 2 - 1, while the AB's (Who are now dropped to an all time low of 4th in the World Rugby rankings) have never lost an opening Rugby Championship match (The last time they did that, it was in 2005 during the Tri Nations era fresh off our 3 - 0 test series blackwash against the British & Irish Lions) like that (And my thoughts after last night's test match: Absolutely damn angry, no words to describe it, move on (And damn unbelievable, that did not just happen, but it's time to move on).

So that is my 462nd blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 10th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.