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.
No comments:
Post a Comment