Well, there was Kathryn who was here in Whanganui from September the 17th until the 18th in which we had a family get together at Behind the Door on 4 (And I was with both Pops & Carole along with Ben, Sanne (Who thought I was her best friend along with Leon's adopted daughter & Andy's wife but we're just friends now), Dad, Raewyn, Raewyn's daughter & Kathryn of course) in which we had a great time there before me & Pops went back home (Although Pops dropped Carole off first) to have a lengthy korero with Kathryn then we had to drop her of to Benny & Sann's place because of her flight being scheduled to Auckland for quarter to 5 & that's the 2nd time I've been to that place & the 1st time I have been to their house & then all of a sudden, Keith Springer (Who is the late Nan's cousin) & his partner for 6 years of Angela was here to have afternoon tea & a chat with us & we had a incredible day it was but the most interesting part was on Thursday in which we went into Michelle's 60th party at Leon's friends house (Ben & Sanne (The guys that I know) were there, so too is Leon (Who I forgot to tell him that the England women's football team had triumphed in the women's Euro 2022 on home soil against Germany in the final at Wembley (And boys move over, football is coming home after 56 years when England triumphed in their one & only Football World Cup title on home soil against West Germany in the final at the old Wembley in London, but I can't wait for the Football World Cup which is getting ready to begin in November where hosts Qatar take to the field against Ecuador), Michelle (Who I wanted to give a shoutout to Chelle or MJ for her best of luck in order to depart for her to the United Kingdom which happened last month on the 27th of September) & others that Leon knows like Pascal Guigou the Frenchman in which I forgot to tell him that I'm always a croissant eater now), on the same night as the 1st of 2 Bledisloe Cup tests between the 2 traditional Trans-Tasman rivals of the Wallabies & the All Blacks in Melbourne where I also had a great time there (And I'd liked the food of course).
And so many things looking forward to 2023 for me such as the Cricket & Rugby World Cups (Well, let's hope that both the Black Caps (Who are looking to end 48 years of hurt by following up to our success in the World Test Championship last year against India in that memorable final of our lives after falling short twice in both Cricket World Cup finals in 2015 & 2019 against Australia & England respectively as I mentioned in my previous blogs as well as we came agonizingly close in the T20 World Cup in 2021 against the Australians) & the All Blacks (Who are hoping to return to glory for the 1st time since 2015 after experiencing failure in 2019 against the English in the semi, even if the AB's coach of Ian Foster would be a national hero if we successfully win the tournament next year) can win both of these tournaments), & of course the potential end to the global COVID-19 pandemic which is a good sign & there are no more shutdowns or restrictions except in China which is still going.
And finally here are the potential match ups that are going to look like in next year's Rugby World Cup knockout stages going forward (And unlike in 2011 that the All Blacks thought that we're going to play against Australia in the final (And that didn't happen until 2015 in which the Trans-Tasman final had happened in that memorable final of our lives), but due to ramifications after Ireland's win over the Wallabies in pool play, we instead faced them in the semifinal & we successfully won to go through to the final to play France in which we triumphed to win our 1st Rugby World Cup in 24 years by the barest of margins):
Quarterfinals
Winner Pool C (Australia) Vs Runner-up Pool D (Argentina): Stade Velodrome, Marseille
Well, the last time the Wallabies fought against Argentina at a Rugby World Cup, it was in 2015 that the Aussies dominated in the semi against the Argentinians to book a place in the final against New Zealand with a hat-trick of tries provided by winger Drew Mitchell.
Winner Pool B (South Africa) Vs Runner-up Pool A (France): Stade de France, Saint-Denis
The only meeting between two sides was in 1995 that the Springboks defeated the French (Who almost had it after the match winning try, scored by the French, had been denied but would've won should today's modern video technology be available) advanced to go through to the final against the AB's.
Winner Pool D (England) Vs Runner-up Pool C (Wales): Stade Velodrome, Marseille
The most recent meeting at a Rugby World Cup between two sides was in 2015 at a pool game that Wales would finally beat England (Who nearly had it but they should've gone for the penalty goal to seal a draw (They went for the lineout instead which resulted in failure in which the Welsh won in a close encounter) at a RWC since 1987 in the quarterfinal dubbed as the worst game of the tournament played in appalling conditions.
Winner Pool A (New Zealand) Vs Runner-up Pool B (Ireland): Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Our most recent clash with Ireland at a Rugby World Cup was in 2019 in the quarterfinal in which we won to go through to the semi against England.
Semifinals
Winner QF 1 (Australia) Vs Winner QF 2 (South Africa): Stade de France, Saint-Denis
The last time Australia fought against the Boks at a Rugby World Cup, it was in 2011 in the quarterfinal that the Aussies won despite the South Africans (Who had their worst result at a RWC along with 2003) dominating possession & territory in which the match was marred by a dreadful refereeing performance from New Zealander Bryce Lawrence.
Winner QF 3 (England) Vs Winner QF 4 (New Zealand): Stade de France, Saint-Denis
The most recent meeting between both sides was in 2019 that England dominated when they made all the correct maneuvers as I mentioned in my blogs, no errors that time to sink New Zealand's hopes of a historic 1st ever Rugby World Cup threepeat to advance through to the final against South Africa.
3rd/4th Place Playoff
Runner-up SF 1 (Australia) Vs Runner-up SF 2 (England): Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Their most recent clash at a Rugby World Cup was in the quarterfinal in 2019 that the English had overpowered the Wallabies just like in 1995 & 2007 to go through to the semis against the All Blacks.
Final
Winner SF 1 (South Africa) Vs Winner SF 2 (New Zealand): Stade de France, Saint-Denis
And the last time the Springboks fought against New Zealand was in 2019 during the pool games in which the AB's would become the last side to defeat the Boks (Who had to win all 6 games (Against neighbours Namibia, Italy & Canada in the pools, hosts at the time Japan in the quarters, Wales in the semi & of course, last but not least, England in the final) as I mentioned in my previous blogs en route to their successful Rugby World Cup glory) at a RWC.
And in UEFA Nations League news such as the 4 semifinalists have been found in the final four such as Croatia (Who booked a place after beating Austria), Italy (Who hammered Hungary to advance through to the UEFA Nations League finals), the Netherlands (Who defeated Belgium to advance through to the semis) & Spain (They beat Portugal to become the last side to go through to the final four) but 3 of the 4 sides competing in the UEFA Nations League finals of Croatia (Who came agonizingly close of winning the Football World Cup in Russia in 2018 after losing to France in the final), the Netherlands (Who are back in the Football World Cup fold after missing out in 2018, but they reached the finals twice in 1978 & 2010 but never won one of them & one of the best football playing nations to have never won a Football World Cup before) & Spain (Who haven't won a Football World Cup title since 2010 after missing out on going through to the knockout stages in 2014 & losing to previous hosts Russia on penalties in the round of 16 at the previous tournament in 2018) that are in the Football World Cup this year in Qatar while only one is the defending European champions of Italy looking to make amends after failing to qualify for the tournament twice (First it was Sweden (Who did not qualify for this years tournament after falling short to Poland in the UEFA qualification playoff) in 2017 then North Macedonia (Who got easily beaten by the proud footballing nation of Portugal (The Euro 2016 champions whose best result at a Football World Cup was in 1966 (The same year that England would went on to win the Football World Cup for the 1st & only time after beating West Germany in that memorable final in which Geoff Hurst had scored a hat-trick of goals (The only one to date in the Football World Cup final) at the old Wembley Stadium in London) also in the UEFA qualification playoff) earlier this year as I mentioned in my previous blogs).
And finally that Hurricane Ian is fast approaching the American state of Florida as millions have been asked to evacuate immediately due to a dangerous storm with life-threatening storm surge as well as flooding & fierce winds (And there has been a delay of the hearing on the Capitol assault by the January 6th committee as a result of Hurricane Ian as well as the crucial NL East series of MLB games between the Atlanta Braves & the New York Mets may be considering contingency plans mainly due to Hurricane Ian likely to reach the state of Georgia & the NFL clash between Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Who had to relocate to Miami to resume training) & Patrick Mahomes's Chiefs would have to be moved to Minneapolis in Minnesota) as some communities would have to retreat to the safer parts of the country.
So that is my 466th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 14th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.
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