Oblivion/Little Monster: My 4th blog of the year 2024

Well, I manage to purchase the 4 music albums that I got from the Vinyl Room here in Whanganui such as Fatboy Slim, Matchbox Twenty, Oasis & Alanis Morissette (Who I label her as the pride of Canada or the pride of the Great White North where Aunty Tan (Who I have not seen her since 2019) currently is with her French Canadian partner Rejean (Who I also haven't seen him since in the same year the last time I saw her) in Mont-Saint-Hilaire which is near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but somehow she is a naturalized American citizen as of today) that Pops got it for me so I completed my music album collection which is exactly 28 ranging 13 different music icons & legends from 4 different countries of the United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom & Canada such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Incubus, A Perfect Circle, Shihad, Filter, Audioslave, Lenny Kravitz & the 4 I mentioned them in this blog now.

And the Christmas holiday to Northland is on as me, Pops & Carole are heading over there starting on Christmas Eve right until the 29th of December (That's 3 days before New Year's Day 2024) to stay in Kerikeri but visiting at Kathy & Kenny's place in Hihi in what will be my first holiday since the South Island trip that I went with Pops, Aunty Tan & Rejean in 2019 (That was the year right before the COVID-19 pandemic that we had in 2020), & I cannot wait (And it doesn't get any better than this), but Pops & Carole are heading back to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands this year following that success that they had in November 2022 where I was at home to look after the house (And I'll be doing the same as both of them are going away on holiday).

And the reason why the AB's lost in last years Rugby World Cup final (And I mean, what went wrong? Because not only that they proved costly for the All Blacks of securing our record 4th Rugby World Cup title, but can we bounce back in 2027 in Australia under new coach Scott Robertson? You absolutely bet I would) was New Zealand captain Sam Cane's red card which was upgraded from yellow by English referee Wayne Barnes (Who had recieved vile abuse on social media after the final by those disgruntled All Blacks fans, but like I said before on my previous blog in August that they're going to introduce a clamp down on of online hate being spread on social media such as fines or suspensions being handed out, but the treatment of Barnes by some New Zealand fans following the Rugby World Cup final is unacceptable, & Barnes condemns that these death threats & online abuse are in the strongest terms possible - & he wants it to be clear: That hate has no place on social media, & they must all stand united against it) for a cheap shot on Jesse Kriel which was a high degree of danger with no mitigation, in one of the most cowardly & horrific acts of the year (And the high tackles in rugby is similar to antisemitism & islamopohbia being on the rise worldwide as both Jewish & Muslim people are worried that they're getting threatened, especially being attacked by antisemitic & islamophobic people then also police officers in America getting shot by an armed suspect all the time while shots being fired in public throught the US as well as random people are getting shot by guns throughout the States & unlike that random people who threw a coward punch/dog shot/king hit/sucker punch on those victims in a would be incident such as an unprovoked attack) & I mean, that is disgraceful, disgraceful behaviour! And it was the turning point of the final as South Africa's quest of a record breaking 4th RWC championship was successful after a win in the final by a single point & it was game over (And I'm still gutted about the red card that Cane (Who is now with Tokyo Sungoliath in the Japan Rugby League One competition) had meaning that he was hit with a 3 week ban (6 if he's suspended before, but this is like National trying to crack down by tackling gangs here in New Zealand inside 100 days after their political party had just won the election) or 2 if he completes the intervention progamme for suspended players set up by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, to avoid getting suspended again, while I'm always disappointed about the result in the RWC final, but this is similar to Anton Lienert-Brown who missed the first 2 games of last years Rugby Championship for the All Blacks due to suspension for a dangerous tackle on Crusader Dallas McLeod in the Super Rugby Pacific final in Hamilton this year in June & Ethan de Groot who had been handed a 2 week ban when he missed the last 2 pool matches against both Italy & Uruguay of the 2023 Rugby World Cup), but we have just heard reports that New Zealand number 8 forward Ardie Savea has been awarded World Rugby men's Player of the Year a night after the World Cup final (And that is the first time since Thierry Dusautoir of France in 2011 that a player from a losing finalist of the RWC had been awarded World Rugby men's player of the year) as Pops told me in October, & also there are revelations that World Rugby clarified that the try scored by the All Blacks in the RWC final before being disallowed by the TMO for a knock-on in the scrum, would've counted meaning that we could've won ourselves the Rugby World Cup.

And the confirmed number of COVID-19 cases here in New Zealand & in the US is up with reports of a new subvariant soup emerge meaning that our country of NZ & in the States is declaring war on COVID-19 again (And we are now seeing 2 wars (Including Israel & the one that I simply can't mention on my blog because it's cracked down & not only it's objectionable to the people of that country who started it since February 2022) & a pandemic inside both New Zealand & in America but it's like that were in a war as Whanganui has now become a battlefield) but when are we going to bring back the alert level as well as the shutdowns & restrictions? If confirmed cases continue to rise.

And I remember a story from Ben in October last year after we watched Wanganui play in the Heartland Championship rugby game against Horowhenua-Kapiti that when after Shihad had just changed their name to Pacifier way back in 2002 following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 before 2 years later in 2004 that they declared & intended they would change their name back to Shihad, a year before their loyal fans repaid the band's faith & respect when they won their hearts by hosting their free concert at Aotea Square in Auckland in 2005.

And I can recall that the United Kingdom is in peril after the Queen had passed away last year & now in all of a sudden, the royal family is imploding due to the feud between Meghan Markle (Who is still with His Royal Highness Prince Harry who released his best-selling autobiography called Spare last year after her disastrous time with the royal family that they did not approve their marriage as 64% of the British disapprove of Prince Harry while Netflix are getting sick & tired of the royals) & the royal family as tensions linger following Her Majesty's passing about it as they are in their flop era (And will New Zealand ever become a republic, I do not think it will following the royals implosion from our point of view).

And finally in the NBA that the Golden State Warriors player of Draymond Green has been given a 5 game ban for an illegal WWE style chokehold on Minnesota Timberwolves player Rudy Gobert (Who later got fined for the scuffle along with McDaniels) which resulted in an ejection for the technical foul while Green got a flagrant 2 foul meaning that he'll have to forfeit $769,704 for causing the incident which deemed to be an hostile act (And luckily there wasn't any striking involved) along with Jaden McDaniels & one of Green's Golden State Warriors teammates Klay Thompson during the in-season tournament game.

So that is my 528th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 4th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Ten Tonne Skeleton/Trouble's Coming: My 3rd blog of the year 2024

Well, there is another one of those Rugby World Cup related stories about there has been 5 occasions that a side had beaten the host nation before going on to win the RWC such as the Wallabies in 1991 where they beat one of the co-hosts Wales during the pool stages, then also one of the co-hosts Ireland in the quarterfinal which resulted in a hard fought win & then another one of the co-hosts of England in the final to claim their 1st of 2 Rugby World Cup championships, followed by Australia again in 1999 where they defeated Wales in the quarterfinal before going on to win the tournament against the All Blacks chief tormentors France in the final to win their most recent crown, then the English did it in 2003 where they beat also one of New Zealand's chief tormentors & defending champions at the time of the Wallabies in the final at a packed Stadium Australia with Jonny Wilkinson providing the heroics with a match winning drop goal with his weaker right foot to bring home the William Webb Ellis cup to England after Martin Johnson famously hoisted the trophy aloft & of course South Africa twice in both 2019 against Japan in the quarterfinal before going on to win the World Cup against another one of the AB's chief tormentors of England in the final where they ended a 12 year wait of winning Rugby World Cups & last year against France, also in the quarterfinal (Including the charge down by one of the Springbok wingers of Cheslin Kolbe on Thomas Ramos who attempted to convert the try which resulted heartbreak for the French at their home tournament) before they were on their way of becoming the 2nd side to retain the RWC against the 14 man AB's in the final at a packed Stade de France where Siya Kolisi (One of 3 winning South African captains at a Rugby World Cup because it used to be Francois Pienaar in 1995 then John Smit in 2007, but he got a yellow card along with Cheslin Kolbe & New Zealand's Shannon Frizell in which last years final had the most cards in it (And also not only that the Springboks became the first side to win the Rugby World Cup by overcoming 2 yellow cards in the final as well as they won all of their knockout matches including the final in last year's tournament, by 1 point or less) at that moment, only became the 2nd captain to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy twice after our own Richie McCaw in 2015 & the 1st South African skipper to win back to back Rugby World Cups in which South Africa's success in France last year, evoked memories of 2007 in which rugby's most treasured prize, the William Webb Ellis cup, stays in South Africa, in a final marred but ruined by cards & foul play incidents as Sam Cane (Who just joined Tokyo Sungoliath in Japan in which I label him as a terrorist & a liar for what he did on Jesse Kriel with an illegal head contact which was sorta like an unprovoked attack (Like a random Springbok fan assaulted a Irish rugby referee Dave McHugh during the test match between South Africa & New Zealand way back in 2002 before being subdued & escorted by security, but the war on dangerous high tackles in rugby continues, 6 years after World Rugby already introduced a crack down on contact regarding to the head & neck area (In a effort to make the game safe), & it just keeps going (Unlike there is a war between Israel & Hamas but someone like Cane high tackling on Kriel is similar to a Hamas fighter taking out an Israeli soldier even though they haven't got guns if their bullets are empty but it's like war without the guns as clubs would instead be used according to a comment that I remember from Pops, but Cane's sending off is shades of Sonny Bill Williams's red card that cost the All Blacks to go 2 nil up in the series against the British & Irish Lions in 2017), but he now has a 3 week suspension (Or 2 if he tidies up his act of undergoing counselling regarding to the tackle area of having to turn up to go to tackle academy which is run by the sports governing body, World Rugby in an effort to re-educate & re-learn his tackling technique (But tackle academy is like diversion in which a first time criminal is ordered to alter the behaviour in an effort to clear a criminal charge in order to avoid becoming a repeat offender), but if he doesn't, it's your head! And anymore of these, & he's gone (The minimum penalty is 1 week while the maximum is 1 year (Which is exactly 52 weeks) for his World Cup final red card which resulted in calamity, devastation & heartbreak for the All Blacks, therefore costing our chance of regaining the RWC in which the AB's fans were stunned, completely stunned about the one point defeat, so I now got over it about that bitterly disappointing result last year in which the South Africans dominated from start to finish in which they adapted to the wet weather conditions which favoured them of winning the tournament, & at least we were in the final last year in which we missed out by falling short just like in 1995, but I'd rather prefer 2015 as still my favourite Rugby World Cup standout memory moment (And I'm not sure about the All Blacks would next win a Rugby World Cup, probably 16 years I think, but I dunno, we'll have to work or sort that one out that's for sure, but we will see) in which the only time New Zealand has won the tournament on foreign soil against the Wallabies in the final which was by far, the greatest rugby match I have ever watched on TV, but winning the RWC outside of our home country seemed to be always difficult nowadays) became the first man in history to be sent off in a Rugby World Cup final (And now Wayne Barnes (My message to him is: You're damn incompetent that you just cost our chance of regaining the Rugby World Cup, even though it results in a sending off if anyone wants to troll someone like Barnes on social media, not only there is accusations that they just killed the game (And I think it was the right decision to show Cane the red card by the bunker after originally being given a yellow card offence & an on-field review in which the TMO has 8 minutes to remain as a yellow or upgrade it to a red, but I'm gutted & a bit upset about the red card that All Black captain Sam Cane had in the final against South Africa, I'm absolutely bewildered) is retiring from refereeing because he not only received death threats from unhappy New Zealand rugby fans about the red card by Cane (As I heard a comment from Carole at Behind the Door on 4 in Upokongaro on the 10th of November last year), just like Ben O'Keefe received a barrage of abuse on social media by those angry Chiefs fans ruining a great final whether one of the Crusaders players had passed the ball forward out of the hands or not during the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific final, in a similar incident to Anthony Taylor where he got assaulted by those disgruntled AS Roma fans after the UEFA Europa League final this year & also, Bryce Lawrence on why he quit refereeing after receiving abuse & especially death threats from not so happy South African fans on social media after the Springboks had coughed up their title defence in the 2011 Rugby World Cup due to a poor refereeing decision which allowed the Wallabies to win the quarterfinal to set up a semi final showdown with New Zealand, but Barnes (The man who ruined New Zealand rugby before in 2007 where he missed an obvious forward pass by the French in the leadup to the try which knocked the All Blacks out of the World Cup) following his retirement, is out there to stamp out online hate in which further action had been taken by sending a report to the authorities about it, but they will not tolerate silly behaviour like that (Especially on social media), someone will go) & there is hope of New Zealand hosting the 2035 tournament 24 years after hosting the last one then South Africa would have their turn for their possibility & intentions of hosting the 2039 tournament after they last held it in 1995, given that their success that they had this year in France (The South Africans thought they could host this year's tournament in their home country, & they would've won so easily because of the crowd were right behind them, but they instead that they had to do it in France while player of the game honours went to the blindside flanker of the Springboks as well as the 2019 World Rugby player of the year of Pieter-Steph du Toit who had a solid game (Compared to Duane Vermeulen (The elder statesman of South African rugby who is now retired from all forms of rugby after securing back to back Rugby World Cups for South Africa) did in 2019 against England in the final) as he made 29 tackles where he was the top tackler in that match during that highly controversial final in which the New Zealand fans are having less charitable memories).

And the latest on F1 such as the 3 time defending world champion Max Verstappen has taken victory in Mexico, therefore breaking his record for most wins in a single season with 16 (Sir Lewis Hamilton (Who secured bonus points for setting the fastest lap of the race to stay in contention & is in a two horse race against Perez of finishing in the runner up position although with both the drivers & constructors championships had already been decided & wrapped up) finished in 2nd after making amends of his disqualification at the US GP while Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari has rounded out the podium, but I somehow label Verstappen as an incredible driver, just to prove that he had shown his remarkable driving skills & raw talent on display, not only because the speed of the man is unbelieveable (And has he got skills or what?), & he managed to reinvent his driving style which once belonged to the great humble man back in the day of Schumi who is the legendary all-time great but highly controversial figure of the sport, Michael Schumacher (Max's father Jos's old teammate back in the Benetton days in 1994 & one of my favourite Formula One idols that I used to follow before Sir LH & now Super Max (But I like Senna but unfortunately he tragically passed away due to a serious crash back way back in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in Italy, in one of F1's most tragic weekends) in the aftermath of his teammate Sergio Perez (Whose future with Red Bull hangs in the balance) retiring after the very 1st lap after a collision on Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in his home Grand Prix & also during the race that Kevin Magnussen had crashed into the wall during an incident which triggered a red flag, but there has been an update as Verstappen has produced another victory in Sao Paulo therefore continuing his dominance of having his record extended 17th win of the season (2nd place went to Lando Norris who claimed the fastest lap of the race while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso has rounded out the podium in which he managed to beat Perez in the Red Bull on the final lap of the race during a hard fought battle for the podium, but also Charles Leclerc before the race that he crashed into the wall as the field were down to 19 drivers following Leclerc's pre-race accident just right before the start), but the next race takes place at the historic first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Nevada in America (The 3rd American race in Formula One after Miami, Florida which hosted the Miami Grand Prix at the Miami Autodrome & COTA in Austin which hosted the United States Grand Prix, with both American races had gone in the way of Red Bull's Max Verstappen) as it gears up to host the penultimate race of a really astonishing F1 season in 2023, then the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi that plays host to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Which had its memorable moment in 2021 (The year in which was considered by far, the greatest Formula One season ever) as Verstappen snatched the jaws from defeat as he beat Sir Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the title deciding race in the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix dubbed as Lewis Vs Max: Decider In The Desert in which the world championship had gone in the way of Verstappen before something controversial had happened as Hamilton lodged a protest to Australian race director Michael Masi whether Verstappen had came in illegally when the pit window was closed to pit for fresh tyres before the safety car period had been expired with 1 lap to go, but the protest waved off meaning that the pit window was in fact open (In which Indycar can't do that (F1 used to do that when drivers cannot be pitted for fresh rubber, but it had been abolished in light of Crashgate in 2008 that Nelson Piquet Jr was instructed by his race engineer to crash out of the race by allowing his teammate Fernando Alonso to capitalize for the win in controversial fashion, & in the most of controversial circumstances) as Formula One can) as Max Verstappen was allowed to keep his title, resulting in Masi getting sacked as the F1 driving standards observer (And unlike in 2007 that Lewis Hamilton waited to determine the outcome of the result of the world championship whether Kimi Raikkonen should be stripped of his race win & the title as Hamilton actually thinks that he might have an outside chance of claiming his maiden Formula One crown in his rookie year, but the decision made by the FIA was upheld as Raikkonen is declared champion of the world for the first & only time of the Iceman's career) gets set to host the season finale a week later.

And finally, here are the other results from the 2023 Cricket World Cup that have just come in:

Afghanistan 291/5 (50)

Australia 293/7 (46.5)

AUS won by 3 wickets (19 balls left)

England 339/9 (50)

Netherlands 179 (37.2)

ENG won by 160 runs

Sri Lanka 171 (46.4)

New Zealand 172/5 (23.2)

NZ won by 5 wickets

Afghanistan 244 (50)

South Africa 247/5 (47.2)

SA won by 5 wickets (15 balls left)

Bangladesh 306/8 (50)

Australia 307/2 (44.4)

AUS won by 8 wickets (32 balls left)

England 337/9 (50)

Pakistan 244 (43.3)

ENG won by 93 runs

India 410/4 (50)

Netherlands 250 (47.5)

IND won by 160 runs

So here is the confirmed list for the semifinal matches being played in the 2023 Cricket World Cup:

India (Hosts) Vs New Zealand: Wandhede Stadium, Mumbai (Their most recent meeting between the two was on the 22nd of October where India had just handed the Black Caps their first loss of this year's tournament with a 4 wicket win with 2 overs remaining in a rematch of the 2019 semifinal which had gone in the way of the Black Caps thanks to Martin Guptill's run out on the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning captain for India of MS Dhoni in which had should've & could've been a no ball for a fielding violation, as well as the first time New Zealand would lose a men's CWC match since against England (Who throughly deserve to win according to them scoring the most boundaries in the final) in the final which was one of the best in history which was decided by a dramatic super over 2019)

& South Africa Vs Australia: Eden Gardens, Kolkata (The last time both of these sides met was on the 12th of October where South Africa had won 2 in a row against Australia including in 2019 where the South Africans had beaten them by 10 runs then fast forward to this year that SA would gone on to win by 134 runs where both sides will meet again for a place in the final in a replay of the 1999 semifinal in which South Africa were stunned & heartbroken after their player Allan Donald got run out with 2 deliveries to go in which Australia went through, despite the match had been tied as a result of the Aussies of which by far, of having a superior net run rate)

So that is my 527th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 3rd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

The American Dream Is Killing Me/You're a God: My 2nd blog of the year 2024 (AKA My first post-2023 Rugby World Cup blog)

Well, this is my first blog following the 2023 Rugby World Cup which had gone in the way of the Racing 92 bound Siya Kolisi led Springboks of South Africa (Who maintained their unblemished record at a Rugby World Cup final because they are now 4 & 0 (And the streak lives! Meaning that South Africa's perfect record in the final of the RWC, remains unconquered despite conceding their first try in the final of the tournament) after previously winning it in 1995 then 2007 & 2019) after they won their unprecedented but record breaking 4th William Webb Ellis Cup (And at least our very own All Blacks (Which had Sam Cane (Who originally being given a yellow card by English referee Wayne Barnes before being upgraded by the bunker) sent off for a illegal high but dangerous tackle on Jesse Kriel in which Cane was the first man to be red carded in a Rugby World Cup final which was in fact the turning point/game changer, similar to England Red Roses rugby player Lydia Thompson did on Black Fern Portia Woodman (Before she was known as Portia Woodman-Wickliffe due to her same sex marriage with Renee) last year at the Women's Rugby World Cup final in which the Black Ferns prevailed to retain the Women's Rugby World Cup in the final against England at the garden of Eden at Eden Park in Auckland) did not win the RWC but it's good that we reached the final at the Stade de France in Paris somehow) in France & in counter point, have become the most successful rugby playing nation at the RWC after a 1 point win over the AB's in Saint-Denis which hurts us Kiwis, but news coming straight out of the league such as the New Zealand Kiwis (Who had experienced players (AKA the old heads) such as Kieran Foran, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, James Fisher-Harris & Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad as well as the newcomers/newbies/emerging talent such as Leo Thompson & Ronaldo Mulitalo) winning our 1st Pacific Rugby League Championship Cup crown (Our first major rugby league international competition in 9 years in which we won the Rugby League Four Nations championship in 2014) after a comprehensive blowout victory which was a clean sheet against the defending world champs the Kangaroos of Australia by 30 points (This was New Zealand's biggest winning margin against Australia in 18 years when we won the Tri-Nations crown (Our 1st in a major Rugby League international competition followed by the Rugby League World Cup in 2008 then the Four Nations in both 2010 & 2014 as I mentioned in this blog & now the Pacific Rugby League Championship Cup this year) which was the final in which the final score was in fact 24 - 0 at Headingley in Leeds, England) in the final in front of our adoring home crowd at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton so here is the last 10 minutes according to the live updates from Newshub (And that's the first time I'll be doing coverage of the last 10, but this time in a different sport of Rugby League):

THE LAST 10 - AUS VS NZL

70TH MINUTE, PENALTY KIWIS (OFFSIDE IN FRONT OF KICKER): Staggs takes it up to his 20m on the fourth before Haas powers up to the 30m. The Kangaroos swing it wide left on the last where an obvious forward pass by Cotter to Edwards is let go by the referee. Edwards chips ahead where Munster is penalised for being in front of the kicker as he regathers 30m out. New Zealand find touch on halfway.

71ST MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY KIWIS (0 - 28, G. NEAME): NEAME STRETCHES OUT TO PILE ON ANOTHER TRY! Fisher-Harris takes it inside 40m before Brown goes searching for a gap but is contained 20m out. Papali'i works it up to the 10m on the fourth before Brown throws a short ball to Neame who bursts into a hole and stretches out to score in the tackle of Tedesco under the sticks.

73RD MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION KIWIS (0 - 30, J. ISAAKO): Isaako converts from in front.

74TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Leota takes it over halfway before Fisher-Harris is cut down 32m out on the fourth. Nicoll-Klokstad is rounded up on a sweep to the right before Hughes unloads to Nikora who surrenders 18m out on the last. Australia will work it out from the handover.

75TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY AUSTRALIA (HIGH TACKLE): The Kangaroos earn a relieving penalty after a high tackle by Foran. Cotter and Haas take carries over halfway before quick hands to the right sees Holmes rounded yp 35m out on the third.

76TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Fa'asuamaleaui takes it inside 30m before Cotter is tackled 21m out on the last. Munster bombs to the right where Martin knocks on attempting to tap it back as Mulitalo comes away with the ball for the Kiwis.

77TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY AUSTRALIA (RUCK INTERFERENCE): Nicoll-Klokstad takes it up to halfway before Neame rumbles 32m out where he is stripped one on one by Fa'asuamaleaui. The Kangaroos are awarded a penalty for ruck interference and Cherry-Evans finds touch on halfway.

78TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Tedesco takes it inside 40m before Fa'asuamaleaui is cut down 30m out on the third. Staggs bumps off Timoko on a shift to the right but spills possession whilst attempting to offload in the tackle of Brown. New Zealand with the scrum on their 20m.

79TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY KIWIS (STRIP IN A TACKLE), CAPTAIN'S CHALLENGE REFERRAL & CAPTAIN'S CHALLENGE REFERRAL UNSUCCESSFUL: New Zealand get a relieving penalty after Munster is pinged for a strip in a tackle on Asofa-Solomona that also involves Cotter. The Kangaroos futilely opt to use their CAPTAIN'S CHALLENGE but were unsuccessful.

80TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Leota and Asofa-Solomona take runs inside 40m before Neame is contained 22m out on the fourth. Brown pops in an early grubber for himself that is batted dead by Holmes. There won't be time for a dropout as the Kiwis produce a record 30-point shutout to seal the Pacific Championships title.

FULL-TIME: 0 - 30

WHAT A PERFORMANCE BY THE KIWIS! New Zealand has shutout Australia by a record 0-30 scoreline to seal the inaugural Pacific Championships Cup title in Hamilton. In shades of the 2005 Tri Nations final, Australia went in as overwhelming favourites after a blemish free group phase but barely fired a shot in the final as the Kiwis piled on five unanswered tries. Leading 0-12 at halftime, the Kiwis extended the lead through another acrobatic finish in the corner by Jamayne Isaako in the 48th minute. Matthew 'Matt' Timoko exploded through on the hour mark to put the game beyond doubt before Griffin Neame crossed for his first test try with nine minutes remaining. (And it's going Kiwi! In 2023. New Zealand, for the 1st time ever! Is champion! Of the Pacific Rugby League Championship Cup!)

The Kiwis' back three were outstanding as Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Ronaldo Mulitalo and Jamayne Isaako combined for 601m, four line breaks and 18 tackle breaks. Nicoll-Klokstad was a clear standout with 277m and a try assist from 30 runs with his polished hands contributing to tries to Isaako and Matt Timoko. Halves Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown kicked well and both threatened whenever they opted to run. Joseph Tapine (Or Joe) produced a powerful showing in the pack with 210m from 20m runs. (Pacific Rugby League Championship Cup for New Zealand! A comprehensive win, by 30 points)

If anything could go wrong for the Kangaroos it invariably did as they coughed up the ball on countless occasions which prevented them from applying any pressure on the Kiwis' defence. 50 missed tackles didn't help their cause but the 7-0 line break count told the story of a sluggish display in all departments. James (Teddy) Tedesco toiled hard at fullback with 164m and six tackle breaks while on the wing Valentine Holmes (The man better known as Val) defused a couple of threatening kicks and looked dangerous on a few occasions as he netted 165m from 18 runs (New Zealand win the Pacific Rugby League Championship Cup, it's a comprehensive win, they win by 30 points)

That's all we have for this one. (Absolute ecstasy for New Zealand! Agony, agony for Australia!)

And here are the other results from the 2023 Cricket World Cup that have just come in:

South Africa 357/4 (50)

New Zealand 167 (35.3)

SA won by 190 runs

India 357/8

Sri Lanka 55 (19.4)

IND won by 302 runs

Netherlands 179 (46.3)

Afghanistan 181/3 (31.3)

AFG won by 7 wickets

New Zealand 401/6 (50)

Pakistan 200/1 (25.3)

Target 180

PAK won by 21 runs (DLS method)

Australia 286 (49.3)

England 253 (48.1)

AUS won by 33 runs

India 326/5 (50)

South Africa 83 (27.1)

IND won by 243 runs

& Sri Lanka 279 (49.3)

Bangladesh 282/7 (41.1)

BAN won by 3 wickets (53 balls left)

And finally, my favourite part of my blogs is I really love to motivate about sport (Such as rugby, cricket, football & motor racing), music (Such as both Blink-182 & Green Day releasing their new songs this year (Well, both bands were at the peak of their powers 20 years ago when they released albums such as the self titled album by Blink-182 way back in 2003, a year before Green Day would gone on to release their most successful album to date which is American Idiot also way back in 2004) such as One More Time (From the album already released this year One More Time...(Along with the Foo Fighters releasing But Here We Are featuring both singles that I always love such as Rescued, Under You, Nothing At All & now The Glass) & The American Dream Is Killing Me (From the album due to release this year (This is going to be a huge year such as the US General Elections & not only with the sporting front with so many sports events to look forward in 2024 such as Euro 2024 in Germany as well as the contest of yachting's biggest prize, the America's Cup in Barcelona, Spain, & the big one which is the summer Olympics in Paris, France (The nation that hosted a successful Rugby World Cup this year because they had an excellent job of hosting that global rugby showpiece event, they would be really pleased to see about that) called Saviors) respectively as 2nd cuzzie of Benny (Who is best known as Kathy's son) told me on the 5th of November at my favourite restaurant in town of Caroline's Boatshed here in Whanganui when our whanau had dinner there) & everything like our family stuff (And I saw both Kathryn & Ken on both the 5th & 6th of November last year so good luck there to both of you, not only I will be seeing them on Christmas day when me, Pops & Carole are up in Northland) & gaming like I was playing the new EA Sports WRC game on the PS5 & I really loved it but my favourite part of the game would have to be the current gen WRC cars (I love the Toyota GR Yaris one which is certainly one of my favourites) as well as cars from the past such as the previous generation World Rally Car from 2017 until 2021 (My favourites are the Ford Fiesta WRC & the Volkswagen Polo WRC) then the 1st gen World Rally Car from 1997 until 2011 (I especially love both Citroen World Rally Cars such as the C4 & Xsara) followed by the Group A machinery (Both the Lancia Delta HF Integrale & Subaru Impreza 1995 would have to be my favourites) & last but not least, the Rally 2 class (The rally cars that I love in that class such as both Skoda's of the 2018 Fabia Rally2 Evo & the Fabia RS Rally2 from 2022) & also the new Gran Turismo 7 Spec II update that I really love (And I've got 172 cars in the game now (Originally 180, then 183 now as my favourites & 204 as of today) such as the 2010 Lexus LFA (The best sports car with the worst gearbox, but I used to own that car when I sold it in-game), the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon from 2018 & the newer Porsche 911 GT3 RS 992 model which came out last year) but I always play that GT7 game which is still by far, one of my favourites on the PS5.

So that is my 526th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 2nd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Moon Over The Castle/Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle): My 1st blog of the year 2024 (AKA Keeping South African rugby great)

And it's going Springbok again! In 2023. (FLAWLESS! Pressure? What pressure! And the World Cup goes the way of South Africa again! WHAT. A. FINAL. For the 4th time in the tournament's 36 year history, South Africa have won the World Cup! By the barest of margins! By the barest of all margins!) South Africa, for the 4th time ever! Is still champion! Of the world! World Cup for South Africa! A hard fought win, by 1 point. South Africa win the World Cup again, it's a hard fought win, they win by 1 point. Absolute ecstasy for South Africa! Agony, agony for New Zealand! Rugby's most treasured prize, the William Webb Ellis cup, stays in South Africa! South Africa, champions of the world! Again...at last...& a nation will party all night long. And South Africa win the World Cup again! For the 4th time...& in front of 80,000 people, they upstaged the All Blacks team. It's over! Triumph for the rainbow nation...again, heartache, for the men in black. But it's over! It's over! It's a 4th Rugby World Cup, for South Africa!

Well, the All Blacks (Who had Shannon Frizell yellow carded for an illegal contact to the limb area on Bongi Mbonambi then All Blacks captain Sam Cane was on the recieving end by getting also yellow carded which was changed it into a red according to the bunker for an illegal high tackle on Springbok centre Jesse Kriel in which he becomes the first man in history to be sent off in a Rugby World Cup final, & it must've been our discipline which must've been lacking, cost us of winning the World Cup (And what a disappointing end for the All Blacks, what a match for our viewers right around the world) have suffered a World Cup heartbreak as we had blown the opportunity to win a 4th Rugby World Cup after a 1 point defeat in the final in the pinnacle of international rugby against the resilient but dominant Springboks side (Who won all of their Rugby World Cup knockout games last year by less than a single point) led by their inspirational leader of Siya Kolisi (Who becomes the 2nd man to lift the Webb Ellis cup twice after Richie McCaw in 2015, but I wonder the headlines would say: AB'S HEARTBROKEN IN WORLD CUP FINAL AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA or probably more like: DOMINANT SPRINGBOKS CRUSH NEW ZEALAND TO RETAIN RWC, or more appropriately: KOLISI LED BOKS REMAIN BEST IN THE RUGBY WORLD, & especially: ALL BLACKS FALTER IN RWC FINAL, COACH SAY & then another headline that probably says: KOLISI'S BOYS BRING THE WEBB ELLIS CUP HOME, AGAIN, & there's another one, this time in French: AFRIQUE DU SUD, CHAMPION DU MONDE EN RUGBY, or more likely: THE CHAMPIONS, STILL REMAIN CHAMPS) who win their record breaking but unprecedented 4th RWC championship & become the 2nd side to retain the William Webb Ellis cup (And they had to overcome 2 yellow cards to win the final, first by captain Kolisi (Who is now a 2 time Rugby World Cup winning captain just like our own Richie McCaw who did it in 2011 & 2015, but can any team like the All Blacks chase down & end the Springboks (First it was Francois Pienaar in 1995 as the winning skipper for the Boks, followed by John Smit in 2007 & Kolisi not once but twice now in 2019 & last year) quest for a historic first ever threepeat in Australia in 2027 & dominate the team of the 2020's decade just like England did that against the AB's in 2019 in the semifinal? We will see), then Cheslin Kolbe), so hard luck fellas out there today (And it hurts most Kiwis but they'll be gutted that we missed out on that occasion) because maybe 2027 will be our year of lifting the World Cup (And bring on the Razor era by the way but it was supposed to be our year last year, but that didn't happen when most people predicted that South Africa is going to retain the Rugby World Cup, & they did), so let's hope things will change by turning it around (And I mean what went wrong for the All Blacks to lose a final like this? Maybe it's the officiating as well as our discipline that hurts therefore costing our chance of winning our 4th World Cup crown after Cane went off & we were down to 14 players for the remainder of the game so I gave up watching meaning that I decided to move on from my life but hey, that was disappointing about our final heartbreak against the best South African side ever coached by Jacques Nienaber (4th different South African coach to win a World Cup after the late Kitch Christie in 1995, then Jake White in 2007 & former player Rassie Erasmus in 2019 (And after the 2019 success that many people say that Nienaber would be the next successful South African rugby coach, & they did by pulling it off, not only it was Kolisi again as he is still Head of the Table in the rugby world this year when he provided the Lionel Messi moment when Messi captained Argentina to become champion of the world for the first time since 1986 as they prevailed over France on penalties in the final at the 2022 Football World Cup & finally become a World Cup winning player as well as being the most recent Football World Cup winning skipper, then the Roman Reigns moment at Wrestlemania 39 when Reigns (Who was accompanied by his manager Paul Heyman & his Bloodline tag team stablemate Solo Sikoa) won against 'The American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes to retain the Unidsputed WWE Universal Championship, then the Alex Palou moment when Palou beat our own New Zealander Scott Dixon to regain the Indycar title in Portland by clinching it with one race to spare & also, the Max Verstappen moment when Verstappen successfully defended the Formula 1 World Championship crown by clinching it at the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race which was won by an Australian driving for McLaren, Oscar Piastri, as well as his status as the self-proclaimed rugby god, remains intact when the Boks had triumphed at the RWC once more) because it was their day, but I will still keep following the rugby & I always back the All Blacks because I vow loyalty to them).

And here are the other results from the 2023 Cricket World Cup that have just come in (And that is the first time I'll be doing other results of the World Cup, this time in the cricket):

New Zealand 288/6 (50)

Afghanistan 139 (34.4)

NZ won by 149 runs

Bangladesh 256/8 (50)

India 261/3 (41.3)

IND won by 7 wickets (51 balls left)

Australia 367/9 (50)

Pakistan 305 (45.3)

AUS won by 62 runs

Netherlands 262 (49.4)

Sri Lanka 263/5 (48.2)

SL won by 5 wickets (10 balls left)

New Zealand 273 (50)

India 274/6 (48)

IND won by 4 wickets (12 balls left)

Pakistan 282/7 (50)

Afghanistan 286/2 (49)

AFG won by 8 wickets (6 balls left)

South Africa 382/5 (50)

Bangladesh 233 (46.4)

SA won by 149 runs

Australia 399/8 (50)

Netherlands 90 (21)

AUS won by 309 runs

England 156 (33.2)

Sri Lanka 160/2 (25.4)

SL won by 8 wickets

Pakistan 270 (46.4)

South Africa 271/9 (47.2)

SA won by 1 wicket (16 balls left)

Australia 388 (49.2)

New Zealand 383/9 (50)

AUS won by 5 runs

Netherlands 229 (50)

Bangladesh 142 (42.2)

NED won by 87 runs

India 229/9 (50)

England 129 (34.5)

IND won by 100 runs

Sri Lanka 241 (49.3)

Afghanistan 242/3 (45.2)

AFG won by 7 wickets (28 balls left)

& Bangladesh 204 (45.1)

Pakistan 205/3 (32.3)

PAK won by 7 wickets

So that is my 525th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 1st of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.