Well, the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France is almost upon us so let's have a look at the pools, the rugby playing nations & the players to watch (Well this is the third in the series to the 2 highly successful blogs that I did in 2015 called Breaking Dawn: The 2015 Rugby World Cup preview & in 2019 which is Breaking Dawn II: The 2019 Rugby World Cup preview (And yes, the eyes of the rugby world will be in France as the country plays host to the Rugby World Cup):
Pool A:
New Zealand (Jordie Barrett (Midfield)
France (Antoine Dupont (Halfback)
Italy (Paolo Garbisi (First-five eighth)
Uruguay (Tomas Inciarte (Halfback/centre)
Namibia (Cliven Loubser (First-five eighth/fullback)
Pool B:
Ireland (Josh van der Flier (Loose forward)
South Africa (Pieter Steph-du Toit (Loose forward)
Scotland (Duhan van der Merwe (Wing)
Tonga (Malakai Fekitoa (Midfielder)
Romania (Paul Popoaia (Wing/fullback)
Pool C:
Wales (Adam Beard (Lock)
Australia (Mark Nawaqanitawase (Wing)
Fiji (Semi Radradra (Utility)
Georgia (Goram Gogichashvili (Loosehead prop)
Portugal (Mike Tadjer (Hooker)
Pool D:
England (Maro Itoje (Lock)
Japan (Lee Seung Sin (First-five eighth)
Argentina (Pablo Matera (Loose forward)
Chile (Martin Sigren (Flanker)
Samoa (Miracle Fai'ilagi (Loose forward/lock)
And it's been 200 years since the game of rugby was invented in 1823 by none other than the late William Webb Ellis who picked up the ball & ran with it, but the inaugural tournament started in 1987 where New Zealand dominated against France in that epic but memorable final in Auckland (Including the heroics of the 3 stars of the tournament such as Michael Jones, David Kirk & John Kirwan who scored tries during the final that won them the contest & gave the All Blacks the Webb Ellis cup), then Australia took over in 1991 as they ended the All Blacks reign as the world champions after their victory against England in the final in London followed by South Africa in 1995 against the AB's in the final via a drop goal by South African first five Joel Stransky during extra time where they won the tournament on debut at home which united the nation under the leadership of the late South African preisdent of Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg before the Wallabies regained the crown in 1999 after a comprehensive win over France in the final in Cardiff, Wales, then the English took over in 2003 where they had to beat Australia in the final in a rematch of the 1991 final with a match winning drop goal none other than Johnny Wilkinson in Sydney with his right hoof, also during extra time followed by the Springboks 4 years later where the English missed out on defending the title against them in Paris, France in 2007 before New Zealand went on to win the RWC after 24 long years against France in a hard fought final which was a replay of the final in 1987 in Auckland in 2011 including Stephen Donald (The man known as 'Beaver' who was called into the squad to replace Colin Slade who injured his groin similar to Dan Carter (A good mate of captain at the time of Richie McCaw who nursed a foot injury sustained during preseason training with the Crusaders) during the tournament then he replaced the injured Aaron Cruden (Who joined midway through the tournament as injury replacement to one of our best players of Carter who hurt his groin during training in preparation of our last pool game against Canada & was due to captain the side) during the final) who provided the heroics with a match winning penalty goal, then the All Blacks appeared in another final in which we were successful against the Wallabies in London, England of defending the RWC in 2015 (In which was by far, arguably the best final of them all including Beauden Barrett's clinching try that sealed the deal to complete our successful defence of the William Webb Ellis trophy) followed by the Boks who won the RWC in 2019 after 12 years as they hammered England in the final in Yokohama, Japan which was a rematch of 2007.
And my thoughts on who is going to win the tournament? It's a tough one, but it is going to be difficult not only this years tournament is the most competitive in all of the Rugby World Cups being held (Well mine would be New Zealand at this stage because we haven't won since 2015).
And here are my top 10 favourite iconic but legendary Rugby World Cup memories since I was born in 1991 (I once did a top 5 back in 2019, but since has been updated to my top 10 standout moments of the RWC now):
10: Carlos Spencer's through the legs pass to the try scorer of All Black Joe Rokocoko that knocked the Springboks out during the quarters way back in 2003
9: Tonga's extraordinary boil over victory against France in 2011 (In which was a lesser degree than the Japan-South Africa encounter 4 years later)
8: The All Blacks comprehensive hammering over France in the quarterfinal in 2015 which was payback of our ill-fated QF game way back in 2007 (AKA the revenge match, including Julian Savea's heroics in which he scored a hat-trick during the quarters)
7: The late Jerry Collins's massive hit on Thinus Delport during the quarterfinal between New Zealand & South Africa in 2003
6: Brian Lima's thumping tackle on Derick Hougaard during the pool game between Samoa & South Africa in 2003
5: Sam Warburton's red card against France during the semifinal in 2011
4: The late Jonah Lomu running over the top of Mike Catt also during the semifinal in 1995
3: Japan's glorious upset win against the Springboks in 2015
2: The All Blacks winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup against France in the final (Including Stephen 'Beaver' Donald's match winning penalty to win our 2nd Rugby World Cup title & our 1st in 24 years) on home soil
& 1: The AB's winning the 2015 Rugby World Cup against the Wallabies in the final (Including Beauden 'Beaudy' Barrett's try that sealed the deal to clinch our 2nd Rugby World Cup title in a row & our 1st to win 3 Rugby World Cups) on foreign soil
And the latest on F1 as Max Verstappen becomes the first man to win 10 straight races in Formula One as he achieved by breaking the all time record set by Sebastian Vettel with 9 in 2013 after winning an epic Italian Grand Prix at Scuderia Ferrari's home race in which Carlos Sainz finished on the podium in 3rd behind Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez who bounced back from disappointment in Holland to finish in 2nd while New Zealander Liam Lawson in the Alphatauri finished in 11th in just his second race in Formula One & he was one place shy of the points scoring position, his best result of his relatively short F1 career, but the fastest lap of the race went to Australian Oscar Piastri in the McLaren who came into the pits to change both the tyres & the front wing after being collided by the former multiple world champion of Sir Lewis Hamilton who got penalized 5 seconds for an avoidable contact while the race was delayed for 20 minutes as Lawson's Alphatauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda who had a DNF after his car's power unit had let go just before the cars had lined up onto the grid in which the start was aborted, but there has been an update in Indycar such as Spain's Alex Palou is champion, again, just like in 2021 (The year after Palou's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate of Kiwi Scott Dixon (Who'll be inducted into the American motorsports hall of fame next year despite not retiring from motor racing altogether & is the longest tenure driver in motor racing driving for Chip Ganassi Racing for 21 years (He joined that team since 2002 from the now defunct PWR Championship Racing in which he joined in 2001 in his rookie American open wheel racing season after coming over from a successful Indy Lights campaign in 2000 until a year later which closed down due to lack of sponsorship) & the year before Scott McLaughlin's Team Penske teammate of Aussie Will Power while McLaughlin is an avid fan of the All Blacks (Along with British quiz master Shaun Wallace from The Chase & famous American Hollywood movie star from the state of Hawaii of Jason Momoa (Who appeared as the main antagonist/villain in the most recent Fast & Furious series movie released this year which is Fast X), but I once heard a story from Kathryn that the French love the All Blacks (And they're both nice & friendly but I have a French mate now which is Clement who is a vegetarian & is an avid rave music follower (I'm mainly into rock & metal (Just like both Zaki & Andy) but I sometimes like rave music as well, just like Clement) who is the son of a Hongkonger Wai-Lam & Wai-Lam's wife Maree Jose, but I haven't seen the French trio since 9 months ago when they stayed there at our place which is 15A Kells Avenue (My home since 2017) since she went to a French restaurant with her partner Ken that she once said she loves the French people which was considered the best despite telling a French person about the All Blacks were robbed on that occasion during the quarterfinal stage against the 2007 hosts France) but he calls the United States as his second home & his main home would be his country of birth of New Zealand) where he first won the championship (And now he has another this year as Palou (Who made his Indycar debut in 2020 a year after crossing over from the Super Formula series in Japan & the year before he etched history when he became the first Spanish driver to win the Indycar Series crown) becomes a 2 time Indycar Series champ (Along with Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Gil de Ferran, Alex Zanardi, Al Unser Jr & 10 others who are twice American open wheel racing champions) as well as becoming Spain's most successful racing car driver since the glory days of his childhood idol of Fernando Alonso where he dominated Formula One 2 years in a row in 2005-06) after clinching the title in style at Portland International Raceway with one race to spare (And it was the first time since 2007 in the Champ Car World Series that the championship had been decided with one race remaining which had gone in the way of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais (The CART (Which stands for Championship Auto Racing Teams which started off from 1979 until 1991 before rebranding it to Indycar in 1992 until 1996 where the CART name was reused due to a tumultous rift between them & the IRL (Which used to be the Indy Racing League before rebranding it to Indycar from 2003 onwards) as a result from 'The American open-wheel racing Split' which lasted for 12 years before reunifying them in 2008 from 1997 until 2003) rookie of the year from 2003) who is a Le Mans native, but currently resides in Saint Pete, Florida) therefore Dixon who narrowly misses out on keeping his title hopes alive just like last year & the year before with the all-time record for most American Open Wheel Racing championships set by the great AJ Foyt, stays intact.
And onto the wrestling stuff such as during WWE Wrestlemania 38 on the same night as Brock Vs Roman: Decider in the Lone Star State (That was the year before Los Angeles played host to Wrestlemania 39 at SoFi Stadium (Venue for last year's Superbowl between the Los Angeles Rams, & the Cincinnati Bengals) in which Roman 'The Big Dog' Reigns had remained the Undisputed WWE Universal champion against 'The American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes (Who was the winner of this years men's Royal Rumble match in late January) in a title match billed as Cody Vs Roman: Decider in Hollywood, that Ric's daughter of Charlotte 'The Queen' Flair had beaten former MMA fighter 'Rowdy' Rhonda Rousey to successfully defend the WWE Smackdown Women's title (That was the year before she was defeated by Australian Rhea Ripley (Who became the new champion at that moment, & has held on to that title since) at WM 39, in easily one of the best women's wrestling matches to be staged at the Grandest Stage of Them All) as well as Bianca Belair (Who beat Asuka to retain the title at Summerslam this year in a rematch of WM 39 which was won by Belair, before being beaten by Japan's Iyo Sky of the villainous tag team stable of Dmage Ctrl (Who is WWE's equivalent of The Outcasts in AEW) who initiated her successful Money In The Bank cash in) defeated Seth Rollins's wife of 'The Man' Becky Lynch to also successfully become the new WWE Raw Women's title & also the star of the Attitude era of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin came away with an unlikely win over Kevin Owens (Who was the main star attraction during the Reality era) in the Texas Rattlesnake's rare, one off appearance as he came out of retirement to wrestle one last time in the WWE in a no holds barred match (Which is in fact no disqualification (DQ), no count-outs...Anything goes), even though at the tender age of 57, 19 years after his last wrestling match in 2003 against the Rock at Wrestlemania XIX which ended in defeat (Although Austin decided to hang up his wrestling boots as a result of a recurring neck injury (From a botched piledriver (In which the manuver has been cracked down since 2000 (Which was during the Attitude era) in the WWE (Back then when it was known as the WWF) as a result of safety issues regarding to the head & neck area) of the late Owen Hart in 1997) that ended his wrestling career, 6 years before going on to be inducted into the WWE hall of fame by his chief rival, Mr McMahon (Who was once the chairman of WWE until last year that he resigned amid reports of hush-money payment according to the previous blogs that I did last year, allowing his daughter & Triple H's wife Stephanie to take over as chairperson) which was during the Ruthless Aggression era.
And the latest on the football that the Football Women's World Cup winning player for Spain of Jennifer 'Jenny' Hermoso is suing anyone like the Spanish Football Federation for kissing someone like the head of the Spanish football federation of Luis Rubiales illegally on the lips without her consent so she's gonna be in big trouble for that (But my thoughts about the outrage towards Hermoso "You know, I, oh god, I hope they get sued...Well, it's such a rip off, it's a shameless rip off, & I mean literally, that is terrible, it is a nice win by Spain when they became the world champions in women's football, but I was like when Hermoso did something to the president of the Spanish Football Federation, oh shameless...Maybe that's a slap on the wrist for that") as well as the Football Women's World Cup winning coach for the Spanish of Jorge Vilda who got fired as a result of Hermoso filing a complaint being handed out for sexual assault towards Rubiales (But she'll ruin her relationship with her partner like that now) & I was like "Ugh! Hate it" when that happened (And you simply cannot do that because not only it's harming to their society), but they hired a female coach in an effort to step up by clearing things up & focus on qualifying for the next tournament in 2027 (And players who play in the La Liga F are lodging a protest on the scandal that shocked Spanish women's football).
And of course it is time to move on from the global pandemic that we had since March 2020 in which every country of the world has lifted their COVID-19 restrictions (Including us Kiwis in which we led the way in terms of response during the global pandemic back in 2020 according to the blog that I did 3 months ago, except in aged & health care facilities that masks are required to wear most of the time) not only we might have managed to survive it in which the number of confirmed cases has been dropped down signifcantly since as well as easing the corona virus shut downs & restrictions because it's no more, but we have to be aware that if someone sneezes, a person would catch it so we have not moved on as of today.
And lastly, back to the rugby that there was once a story about the Rugby World Cup winning captain in 1987 of David Kirk who revealed that he chose not to go to South Africa (Which was under an apartheid regime until in 1990 where the late great Nelson Mandela was released in prison, 2 years before the South Africans had been readmitted to international sport in 1992 (And it was 2 years in the leadup to Mandela being elected as the 1st South African president of African origin in 1994, a year before the rainbow nation would gone on to host the RWC which was eventually won by the hosts over New Zealand at extra time in the final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg which hurts us Kiwis) after being years away from isolation) in 1986 to not be part of the rebel Cavaliers tour in order to avoid getting suspended for both games according to the comment that I remember on TV from veteran New Zealand rugby broadcaster Grant Nisbett, not only because this was a year out until the inaugural Rugby World Cup in which the AB's piled on, of when they raced out first of becoming world beaters on that level (That was Kirk's influence of winning that tournament a year after his beliefs prevented him of going to South Africa & if he did, he would serve a 2 game ban for that as a result (And unlike the late American boxer of Muhammad Ali who back in 1967 that he chose not to be enlisted to the US Army to go to Vietnam due to a war being broken out in the country because of his religious beliefs preventing him from going to that war torn country, & he got a 3 year suspension for that until he returned to boxing once his ban had been expired in 1970, according to the blog that I did last year) after that comprehensive win against France (Who had a memorable win against New Zealand in the semifinal in 1999 in one of the greatest comebacks in international rugby history, compared to South Africa's epic win over England at the last Rugby World Cup in 2019 which was reminiscent/shades of 1995 where Francois Pienaar became the 1st of 3 Springbok skippers to lift the famous William Webb Ellis trophy in front of the late South African president Nelson Mandela who united the nation & the Ellis Park faithful) in that epic final (Which was a replay of the Battle of Nantes a year earlier in 1986 in which New Zealand copped a fearful battering against the French according to the previous blogs that I did) at a packed out Eden Park in Auckland (The try scorers for the All Blacks in that final were Kirk, Michael Jones & John Kirwan), & also the late Jonah Lomu being the GOAT of rugby union (In which he became one of the all time greats of the sport by being rugby's first true global superstar sensation (His place of making the All Blacks Rugby World Cup squad in 1995 was nowhere to be found after a disappointing form against France in Christchurch in 1994 where he made his test debut with his rumours of going to play rugby league in Australia for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, until he had a good performance in the North Vs South game in Dunedin proved him worthy enough to impress the selectors of making the squad to South Africa) where he was rocketing to stardom after his performances in the 1995 RWC, especially in the semi against England in which he bagged in 4 tries including the one who trampled the English player of Mike Catt, in one of the Rugby World Cup's most iconic moments also according to the blog that I did this year, but his life was tragically ruined as he suffered nephrotic syndrome which is a rare & serious kidney disorder that he had in 1997 until he passed away in November 8 years ago due to a heart attack that he had which resulted in his death) compared to the late Pele in Football, Michael Jordan in basketball & Tiger Woods in golf.
So that is my 517th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 41st of this year, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And the AB's team (Who are hoping to bounce back after a terrible but horrific test match against the defending world champions South Africa by 28 points in which was the All Blacks worst loss since 1999, & one of New Zealand rugby's grim but darkest days at Twickenham in London, England in which the ever popular national rugby team of New Zealand had been given a reality check ahead of the World Cup) has been named to play against the host nation of France (Who are the slight favourites mainly due to the home field advantage that could favour them so I'm rooting for the AB's side to win by less than 12 points because I expect the French to be competitive, unlike the South Africans who were ultra competitive when we suffered an unfortunate defeat against them that haunted us at Twickers, in which the French were feeling generous about it just like the England cricket team were walloped by the incredible Australians (Who are currently the reigning world test champs, but the Ashes test series in England once again ended in a draw just like in 2019 while the Aussies still remain the holders of the Ashes cricket series, but the next one is in 2025-26 down under in Australia) in the 1st Ashes test this year at Edgbaston in Birmingham) in the highly anticipated 2023 Rugby World Cup opener at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Their most recent meeting between the 2 countries in international rugby was in 2021 where France absolutely smoked them for their 1st win since 2009 in Dunedin as well as their 1st win on home soil since 2000 in Marseille, but the last time both sides met at a Rugby World Cup was in 2015 that New Zealand had a comprehensive win against the French in the quarterfinals at Cardiff dubbed as the revenge game after losing to them in 2007 under controversial circumstances also at the Millennium Stadium, including Ardie's brother Julian Savea who had his heroics after crossing over for a hat-trick of tries, in the biggest hammering at a RWC knockout game in 28 years when New Zealand thrashed 14 man Wales in the semifinal at Ballymore in Brisbane, Australia), so here is the starting lineup according to coach Fozzy (Ian Foster):
STARTING XV
FORWARD PACK
FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)
2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)
3 (Tight head prop): Nepo Laulala (Blues/Counties Manukau)
SECOND ROW
4 (No.4 lock): Scott Barrett (Crusaders/Taranaki)
5 (No.5 lock): Sam Whitelock (Crusaders/Canterbury)
LOOSE FORWARDS
6 (Blind side flanker): Dalton Papali'i (Blues/Counties Manukau)
7 (Open side flanker): Sam Cane (Captain, 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): Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs/Waikato)
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 takes Tamaiti Williams's place as the reserve loosehead prop)
18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell
19 (Reserve lock): Tupou Vaa'i
20 (Reserve loose forward): Luke Jacobson (Who takes Josh Lord's place to cover at the loose forward position with Lord heading back home to join the Taranaki NPC squad for the remainder of the season)
21 (Reserve half-back): Finlay Christie (Who takes Dalton Papali'i's place to cover the reserve halfback position with Papali'i elevated to the starting lineup to confront the mammoth French pack, replacing Luke Jacobson who is dropped to the bench)
22 (Reserve midfielder): David Havili (Who is making way to replace Cam Roigard to cover at the midfield for his first All Blacks game of the year on the bench)
& 23 (Reserve outside back): Leicester Fainga'anuku (Who has replaced Anton Lienert-Brown to cover the reserve outside back position with Lienert-Brown elevated to the starting lineup to replace the unfortunate Jordie Barrett who is ruled out for this game after injuring his knee)
And the Rugby World Cup hosts France led by Antoine Dupont (AKA the Kylian Mbappe of French rugby) have named their team who fielded their strongest possible lineup when they take to the field in the tournament opener against the former 3 time world champions as well as the current holders of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks, so here is the starting lineup according to coach Fabien Galthie (A former player who'll will be appearing in his 5th RWC, his first as coach after previously appearing at the World Cup for France 4 times as a player from 1991 until 2003, but it's been 4 years since the last time I did it when I reveal the starting lineup for the AB's opposition which was during the last World Cup in 2019):
STARTING XV
FORWARD PACK
FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Reda Wardi (La Rochelle)
2 (Hooker): Julien Marchand (Toulouse)
3 (Tight head prop): Uini Atonio (La Rochelle)
SECOND ROW
4 (No.4 lock): Cameron Woki (Racing 92)
5 (No.5 lock): Thibaud Flament (Toulouse)
LOOSE FORWARDS
6 (Blind side flanker): Francois Cros (Toulouse)
7 (Open side flanker): Charles Ollivon (Toulon)
8 (Number 8): Gregory Alldritt (La Rochelle)
BACK LINE
HALVES
9 (Half-back/Scrum-half): Antoine Dupont (Captain, Toulouse)
10 (First five-eighth/Fly-half): Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Begles)
MIDFIELD
12 (Second five-eighth/Inside centre): Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux-Begles)
13 (Centre/Outside centre): Gael Fickou (Racing 92)
OUTSIDE BACKS
11 (Left wing): Gabin Villiere (Toulon)
14 (Right wing): Damian Penaud (Bordeaux-Begles)
& 15 (Fullback): Thomas Ramos (Toulouse)
& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS
16 (Reserve hooker): Peato Mauvaka
17 (Reserve loose head prop): Jean-Baptiste Gros
18 (Reserve tight head prop): Dorian Aldegheri
19 (Reserve lock): Romain Taofifenua
20 (Reserve loose forward): Paul Boudehent
21 (Reserve half-back/scrum-half): Maxime Lucu
22 (Reserve midfielder): Arthur Vincent
& 23 (Reserve outside back): Melvyn Jaminet.
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