Well, the AB's team has been named to play against the Wallabies of Australia for our highly anticipated Rugby Championship decider which is sorta like a simulated Rugby World Cup final game as well as the opening Bledisloe Cup test between the two rugby heavyweights of the world (The green & gold of Australia, against the All Black of New Zealand, but there is 3 tests remaining for the AB's (Who have never lost a test match since against Argentina in Christchurch last year during round 3 of the Rugby Championship) before the Rugby World Cup takes place in France this year, such as this one in Melbourne followed by the next one against the Aussies in Dunedin & the world champions South Africa in part 2 of international rugby's most storied rivalry in a pre-Rugby World Cup friendly at Twickenham in London, England) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (Which will host their 1st Bledisloe Cup rugby test in 16 years) in Melbourne so here is the starting lineup according to coach Fozzy (Ian Foster):
PLAYING XV
FORWARD PACK
FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)
2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)
3 (Tight head prop): Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes/Tasman)
SECOND ROW
4 (No.4 lock): Brodie Retallick (Chiefs/Hawke's Bay)
5 (No.5 lock): Scott Barrett (Crusaders/Taranaki)
LOOSE FORWARDS
6 (Blind side flanker): Shannon Frizell (Highlanders/Tasman)
7 (Open side flanker): Dalton Papali'i (Blues/Counties Manukau)
8 (Number 8): Ardie Savea (Captain, Hurricanes/Wellington)
BACK LINE
HALVES
9 (Half-back): Aaron Smith (Highlanders/Manawatu)
10 (First five-eighth): Richie Mo'unga (Crusaders/Canterbury)
MIDFIELD
12 (Second five-eighth): Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes/Taranaki)
13 (Centre): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)
OUTSIDE BACKS
11 (Left wing): Mark Telea (Blues/North Harbour)
14 (Right wing): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)
& 15 (Fullback): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)
& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS
16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho
17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Who returns to take Tamaiti Williams place as the reserve loose head prop)
18 (Reserve tight head prop): Nepo Laulala
19 (Reserve lock): Sam Whitelock (Who makes way for Tupou Vaa'i to be on the bench as the reserve lock forward position)
20 (Reserve loose forward): Luke Jacobson (Who takes Dalton Papali'i's place with Papali'i elevated to the starting lineup to replace the injured captain Sam Cane)
21 (Reserve half-back): Cam Roigard (Who is in line to make his test debut off the bench as he replaces Finlay Christie)
22 (Reserve midfielder): Anton Lienert-Brown (Who returns to the fold after serving a 2 week suspension (And also attended tackle academy in order to fine tune his tackle technique to avoid getting a ban again) from the Super Rugby Pacific final for the Chiefs to replace Braydon Ennor as the reserve midfielder)
& 23 (Reserve winger): Caleb Clarke.
And the Football Women's World Cup held in Australia & New Zealand is under way as New Zealand claim the unlikely upset win over Norway at Eden Park in Auckland with a delicate screamer by star striker Hannah Wilkinson, but we were narrowly fell short against the Philippines who scored their 1st win in just their 2nd Football Women's World Cup match whilst on tournament debut at Sky Stadium in Wellington 5 days later (And the match tying goal scored by Wilkinson didn't count as she was adjudged to be in an offside position which proved ourselves costly) so here are the other results from the tournament so far:
Australia 1 - 0 Canada
Nigeria 0 - 0 Canada
Philippines 0 - 2 Switzerland
Spain 3 - 0 Costa Rica
United States 3 - 0 Vietnam
Zambia 0 - 5 Japan
England 1 - 0 Haiti
Denmark 1 - 0 People's Republic of China
Sweden 2 - 1 South Africa
Netherlands 1 - 0 Portugal
France 0 - 0 Jamaica
Italy 1 - 0 Argentina
Germany 6 - 0 Morocco
Brazil 4 - 0 Panama
Colombia 2 - 0 Korea Republic
Switzerland 0 - 0 Norway
Japan 2 - 0 Costa Rica
Spain 5 - 0 Zambia
Canada 2 - 1 Republic of Ireland
& United States 1 - 1 Netherlands
And finally in motor racing related news such as Max Verstappen in the Red Bull has taken victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, in Daniel 'Danny Ricc' Riccardo's return to Formula One since last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which the last time that Riccardo competed, in a McLaren before Australian Oscar Piastri replaced him & took his place, then he had to sit out for the 1st 10 races of the season even though he was a test & reserve driver for Red Bull before he replaced Dutchman Nyck de Vries in the Alphatauri for the 1st time since 2013 whose form has been dwindling, to cement his quest of retaining his world championship title as he won 7 races in a row (His winning streak began in Miami at the Miami Grand Prix which is located at the Miami Autodrome, right up until that point) despite not starting on pole because it went to the multiple world champion of Sir Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, his 9th of the season at the Hungaroring which is located in Budapest, Hungary when the championship moves to Stavelot in Belgium for the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit prior to the summer break (McLaren's Lando Norris was 2nd (His 2nd podium finish in a row) while Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez rounds out the podium in 3rd place).
So that is my 511th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 35th of this year, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And there is sad but sombre news as Leon told me in July that the famous Irish singer of Sinead O'Connor has passed away a few weeks ago, but all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family, friends & colleagues of her in this sad but difficult time.
Sinead O'Connor
1966 - 2023
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