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.
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