Well, the latest on F1 as championship leader Max Verstappen in the Red Bull has won his 1st British Grand Prix, his 2nd at Silverstone to add to his win at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020 after a commanding victory at the Grand Prix where he got eclipsed by McLaren's Lando Norris at the start then Verstappen recovered well to overtake Norris (Who had his best result of 2nd after he nearly took pole until Verstappen had nailed him by beating Norris for the pole for Sunday's race) a few laps later & held on right through to the end to lead the drivers championship by 89 points ahead of his nearest rival & teammate of Mexican Sergio Perez.
And the latest on the Rugby Championship competition as the results of the 1st round of the competition are in:
South Africa 43 - 12 Australia (It was the defending world champions the Springboks night who begin their road to the Rugby World Cup with a comprehensive hammering over the disclipline ridden Wallabies (Who conceded both penalty tries & yellow cards for collapsing the maul therefore preventing a try scoring opportunity that proved costly) at home which is Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria)
& New Zealand 41 - 12 Argentina (And it was the All Blacks day as they thrash Argentina at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, but it's the South Africans who are leading on points difference going into the next test against New Zealand (Led by Sam Cane who is in doubt for the South African test as he faces a possible suspension as a result of a direct incident for a foot trip on a pitch invader, but he could join his Chiefs & All Blacks teammate of Anton Lienert-Brown as part of the suspended players list) at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland in the first part of international rugby's most storied rivalry where the AB's haven't beaten the South Africans on New Zealand soil since 2017)
And here are the confirmed matches being played in round 2 of this years Rugby Championship tournament:
New Zealand Vs South Africa (Their most recent meeting in international rugby between both sides was last year where the All Blacks (Who had prop forward Fletcher Newell made his test debut) would gone on to win the test against the Springboks (Who had Frans Malherbe earn his 50th test cap while Joseph Dweba was called up to the starting line up after Bongi Mbonambi had to withdraw through injury) at Ellis Park in Johannesburg to retain the coveted Freedom Cup after they were down & out in Nelspruit in last year's opening Rugby Championship test)
& Australia Vs Argentina (The last time both of these sides met in international rugby was in round 2 of the Rugby Championship where Argentina came away with a win against the Wallabies (Who had both Pone Fa'amausili & Billy Pollard (Who wasn't originally in the matchday 23, but was in after Lachlan Lonergan was elevated to the starting lineup following the injury to Folau Fainga'a) made their international debuts) at Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario in San Juan to claim their biggest win over Australia; surpassing their 18 - 3 win in 1983)
And in tennis news such as the results of semifinals at Wimbeldon are in, but first in the ladies singles as unseeded Czech player Marketa Vondrousova is the 1st player through to the final after her win against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina then Tunisian Ons Jabeur is in the Wimbeldon ladies singles final yet again after outlasting her opponent & champion of the Australian open this year of Aryna Sabalenka but in the gentlemen's singles section as Serbia's Novak Djokovic has reached another final after a dominant performance against Italian Jannik Sinner before young Spanish sensation & world number 1 Carlos Alcaraz who prevailed over Danill Medvedev in the other semi in which the match was exhilirating but the ladies & gentlemen's singles finals are set as Vondrousova will play Jabbeur on the 15th of July followed by Djokovic against Alcaraz a day later (And I told Carole before that the women's singles final at a grand slam is usually played on a Saturday while the men's singles final at a grand slam is always played on a Sunday).
And finally further rugby news such as the All Blacks XV enjoy their win over Japan XV at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo but the world champion Black Ferns side play against Canada (And both sides were expected to meet in the Women's Rugby World Cup final, but it wasn't to be as England denied the Canadians a chance of advancing through to the final) in the 2nd match of the Pacific Four series after their overwhemingly dominant victory against the Wallaroos in Redcliffe in New Zealand's first test since becoming world champions.
So that is my 509th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 33rd of this year, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And the AB's team has been named to play against the reigning world champs of South Africa (Who have their danger man which is Faf de Klerk who is a box kick specialist as part of their team's aerial bombardment when they unleashed, & they were successful by employing the kicking game that won themselves the Rugby World Cup at the most recent one in 2019 against the English in the final (And it was supposed to be a New Zealand - Japan final that they thought they're going to be, but it turned out to be an England - South Africa final instead, just like as it was in 2007 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France) in Japan, despite defeat in the opening pool game against us (Just like Spain did at the Football World Cup in 2010 after beginning their campaign with defeat against Switzerland then they had to win all the remaining games to win the tournament, including the final against the Netherlands in the final with that winning goal scored by none other than Andres Iniesta during extra time, followed by Argentina late last year who did the same as the Spanish, lose the opening game to none other than Saudi Arabia who shocked the world, then win all of their next matches en route to the World Cup including that memorable, action packed but dramatic World Cup final which was decided on penalties against the defending champions at the time of France with Gonzalo Montiel who did a Fabio Grosso moment when he did that as he booted the ball that gone past French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris & had managed to find the back of the net when the Argentinians pulled off & captured their 3rd World Cup championship in Lionel Messi's fairytale farewell as huge celebrations had erupted right across Argentina for their success in football's global showpiece event) right behind them for our highly anticipated test match in part 1 of international rugby's most storied rivalry at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland 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): Sam Cane (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)
8 (Number 8): Ardie Savea (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 (Who takes Codie Taylor's place as the reserve hooker role with Taylor being elevated to the starting lineup to replace Dane Coles)
17 (Reserve loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams (Who is in line for his test debut off the bench at reserve loose head prop as he replaces Ofa Tu'ungafasi)
18 (Reserve tight head prop): Nepo Laulala
19 (Reserve lock): Tupou Vaa'i
20 (Reserve loose forward): Dalton Papali'i
21 (Reserve half-back): Finlay Christie
22 (Reserve midfielder): Braydon Ennor (Who is expected to wear the number 22 jersey as he makes way for Richie Mo'unga who assumes the starting first five position by taking Damian McKenzie's place)
& 23 (Reserve winger): Caleb Clarke (Who is dropped to the bench to give Mark Telea a run for his 3rd test cap as well as playing his first test match of the year).
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