Rusty Cage/Crazy Little Thing Called Love/The Boys Light Up: My 36th blog of the year 2024

Well, what's up guys & girls (Hey), it's me, Whetu Ngapo here tuning in my Kiwiavenger blog but first, the AB's have done it as we won the test series against England after another emphatic test (Compared to the Whanganui club rugby final between Border & Kaierau that me & Pops saw which went down to the wire where Border won 5 club championships in a row (And it was played during extra time when Kaierau leveled the scores at the death) in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland therefore extending our unbeaten run at both the venue & the city since 1995, so let's relive the last 10 minutes of the test:

70TH MINUTE, SUBSTITUTION ENGLAND: New Zealand 21-17 England, 70 minutes, Ollie Sleightholme, Bevan Rodd, Fin Smith and Alex Coles are on for England; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Fin Baxter, Marcus Smith and Chandler Cunningham-South off.

In fact, the Harlequins first five-eighth is returning as the Smiths unite - Freddie Steward is off to get checked for a head knock so Marcus Smith will go to fullback.

71ST MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SCRUM FEED ENGLAND: New Zealand 21-17 England, 71 minutes, Ben Earl punches the air as Bevan Rodd makes a mess of an All Blacks ruck. England’s scrum just inside the New Zealand half after an 11th handling error of the night for the hosts. Scott Robertson takes a nervous gulp of water in the coaches’ box.

73RD MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): New Zealand 21-17 England, 73 minutes, time ticks away as Nic Berry is forced to reset the scrum not once but twice. Jamie George, who will see out the remainder with Theo Dan failing to get checked for a head injury, has a calm word with the Aussie ref.

74TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY ALL BLACKS (ILLEGAL SCRUMMAGING) & PENALTY ALL BLACKS (INTERFERENCE IN THE AIR): New Zealand 21-17 England, 74 minutes, a mighty All Blacks scrum! Fletcher Newell’s ear is covered in claret but the replacement tighthead won’t care, Bevan Rodd folded in by Newell’s shove and penalised. And that will help New Zealand out, too. Maro Itoje tries to get after Scott Barrett at the lineout, but his reach across as the All Blacks captain comes down is deemed illegal. Alex Coles had infringed, too - three points here from Damian McKenzie’s boot would surely take the prospect of an England win off the table...

75TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY GOAL: PENALTY! NEW ZEALAND 24-17 England (Damian McKenzie, 75 minutes), a kiss off the left-hand upright but it’s safely through. The All Blacks lead by 7 as we enter the final 5 minutes at Eden Park.

76TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): New Zealand 24-17 England, 76 minutes, off England go in search of a try to square it, but Henry Slade’s kick isn’t quite right, Damian McKenzie scuttling across to cover and booting for touch. Anywhere will do, but that’s a good’un from the first five, out beyond halfway, from where the visitors will launch again.

77TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY ENGLAND (PLAYING THE PLAYER WITHOUT THE BALL): New Zealand 24-17 England, 77 minutes, Ollie Sleightholme scorches a trail! Sevu Reece is burned by the replacement England wing, making a very quick All Black appear as if he’s trudging through sludge. England are awarded a penalty in the All Blacks 22 for a tackle off the ball from Scott Barrett. To the corner in search of the score the tourists need...

79TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), PENALTY ENGLAND (OFFSIDE): New Zealand 24-17 England, 79 minutes, stolen by Asafo Aumua! Brilliant jackalling from the replacement hooker two metres from his own line as he wins a vital turnover! Beauden Barrett boots to touch but Marcus Smith tosses it quickly to himself. England explore left then right, with a penalty coming if they need it. They will, Ben Earl knocking on. A minute to play - this is it.

80TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TMO REFERRAL: New Zealand 24-17 England, 80 minutes, Jamie George picks his target, Maro Itoje taking safely. England try to maul, but New Zealand’s defensive shove is well built. Or is it! In pour the England backs to edge it closer....but there are All Blacks bodies beneath the ball as George comes to floor! Is that the end? Perhaps not! Nic Berry wants to check the actions of the New Zealand players to see if it was collapsed, calling in TMO Brett Cronan, who has had nothing to do for 80 minutes but may now decide the outcome...

PENALTY ALL BLACKS (OBSTRUCTION): New Zealand 24-17 England, 80 minutes, it will be New Zealand’s penalty! A clear obstruction from Ollie Lawrence as he shears away from the stalled maul to re-generate momentum with Jamie George in his boot. George pleads his case but the footage is clear - that will be that. The All Blacks’ 30-year winning run at Eden Park goes on!

FULL TIME: New Zealand 24-17 England

FT: New Zealand 24-17 England, Agonising again for England, but the All Blacks simply do not lose at Eden Park! It took the hosts an hour to come properly to the party, New Zealand reliant once more on the impact of their bench to tilt the contest their way. But what impact the replacements made, Beauden Barrett sensational as the hosts’ closer to secure a 2-0 series victory.

And what do I think of the test? Well, it went down to the wire at the end, especially New Zealand were desperately lucky not to concede a penalty try & a yellow card for pulling down a maul at the end which resulted in a draw, but somehow there might have been an obstruction to Ollie Lawrence (Who was really in front of the ball carrier where England got it all wrong before they were held up in fact then the ref decided to check whether there was a clear & obvious crossing in which a TMO decision had decided the outcome of the match) which resulted a penalty to the All Blacks that cost England both the test, as well as the series (And New Zealand's unbeaten run at both Eden Park & Auckland continues following our epic 7 point test win against the English (Who'll be absolutely gutted along with the England football team of not bringing football home following another defeat in the Euros final (First it was Italy in the delayed Euro 2020 which was held in 2021, then it's the Spanish this year with Spain's time to shine after redemption, 12 years in the making) as they felt the pain on Spain as England once again narrowly misses out therefore the drought of winning an international football tournament for the English, continues), but my standouts went to both our first five Damian McKenzie & super-sub Beauden Barrett (Who just come on for 'Stevie P' of ex-Whanganui Collegiate student as well as former Whanganui rep Stephen Perofeta to close out the test) for having outstanding games, but there was an easy All Blacks try that had been botched with England first five Marcus Smith intercepted a pass from Sevu Reece that was meant for Perofeta (And I mean, what a scum when Pops said it when me & him watched it along with Carole on TV here at our place) for whom I thought if Reece had dummied, he could've gone all the way to score (And bring on the Flying Fijians of Fiji as we are playing against them in our next test at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California, United States in which they're trying to bring rugby over there as part of the main reason to make it attractive towards the American people (In which Gridiron is the main football code in the United States, but it has always been stop-start just like rugby league in which Pops doesn't constantly follow these 2 sports a lot because of him being always a rugby union follower which has rucks & mauls).

And in other rugby news such as Australia continue their dominance against Wales to win the test series in Melbourne (Including the one try that Wales scored to tie the match had been disallowed due to an infraction against Welsh skipper Dewi Lake which resulted in a penalty to the Wallabies that cost Wales of sealing a draw as well as drawing the series), then the Springboks suffer their first defeat since becoming world champions again last year against the spirited Irish side (Who was the last side to beat the South Africans last year which was during pool play at last year's Rugby World Cup in France right up until that point, but the ref thought that there was an possible obstruction in the leadup to the winning drop kick from Frawley that they had to have a look at, although the TMO says that it was alright when one of the South African wingers of Cheslin Kolbe fell over as one of the Irish players was in the way, & then in all of a sudden that the kick went over in which the 2nd test between the South Africans & the Irish was decent, but the New Zealand-England 2nd test was much better not only that both me & Pops are All Blacks fanatics) in Durban courtesy of 2 dropped goals including the game winning one at the death from reserve Irish first five Ciaran Frawley which resulted in a drawn series just like the Argentina - France one with the Argentinians successfully replied with a win against the French in Buenos Aires after losing the first one.

And in Wimbeldon news such as young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (Who is Spain's leading Olympian at the Paris Olympics compared to Jannik Sinner who is the leading Olympian for his country of Italy & of course Stefanos Tsitsipas being the leading Olympic athlete for Greece along with NBA basketball superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo) has stunned the experienced veteran Novak Djokovic (Who is Serbia's leading Olympian at Paris alongside another one of the famous basketballers from that country of Nikola Jokic who plays for the Denver Nuggets which won the NBA championship last year (That was the year, right before the Boston Celtics went on to become NBA champions, for the record 18th time) to win the gentlemen's singles title once again just like last year in which the man known as 'Charlie/Carlito' able to repeat his heroics from the French Open in June, but he got booed from the pro-English crowd about him showing support for Spain to win the Euros (Just like the pro-German crowd had jeered one of the Spanish players of Marc Cucurella from English club Chelsea for a pair of illegal handballs that should've been penalties that cost hosts Germany a place in the semifinal against France according to the previous blogs that I did), & in the aftermath of his Wimbeldon success once more, he did send a message on his X account about the tremendous victory that Spain had over England to become champions of Euro 2024 while he celebrated every time Spain score a goal, including the one he sent a message on the social media platform X when Oyarzabal scored a late goal which resulted in Spain at that moment, becoming the new European champion (And I wonder the headlines would say: ¿QUE PASA? SPAIN TRIUMPH EURO 2024 AGAINST ENGLAND IN DRAMATIC, EPIC FINAL, or more like: SPANISH ARMADA BREAK 12 YEAR DROUGHT WITH SUCCESSFUL EUROS GLORY, or especially: SPANIARDS EASE PAST GERMANY TO BECOME MOST SUCCESSFUL IN EUROPE).

And news straight out of Euro 2024 as Spain led by its inspirational skipper Alvaro Morata (Who overcame his injury woes to play in the final which ended in glory for the Spaniards coached by the man who took over Luis Enrique of Luis de la Fuente after the events of the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar, but they brought back both Dani Carvajal & Robin le Normand from suspension as well as they didn't include Pedri who already suffered a tournament ending injury in the quarterfinal win against hosts Germany in controversial fashion), win the tournament for the first time since 2012 as well as their record 4th Euros championship (They first did it in 1964, then 2008, 2012 in which they successfully defended the Euros (The only time they did that in the tournament's 64 year history) & now this year to become the most successful football playing nation from Europe (Where they will be playing the Copa America champions of the Lionel Messi (Who is the mentor of young teenage Spanish football prodigy Lamine Yamal of FC Barca who was part of the triumphant Spanish team that recently won the Euros, & Yamal (Who is the protege of Leo (The Inter Miami player) in fact) was the one who got the winning goal against France in the semi) led Argentina who remained champions against Colombia in the final in Miami, Florida in the United States in next years Finalissima (In which the competition is contested between the champions of both the Euros & the Copa America respectively, has been brought in to replace remnants of the now defunct Confederations Cup which was last held in 2017 (And Argentina (Who were Copa America champions in 2021) won the inaugural game in 2022 (That was the year that the Argentinians won the Football World Cup after 36 years of get rich & die trying, despite dropping a game against Saudi Arabia in their opening match of the tournament in one of the tournament's biggest ever boilovers) against the champions of the delayed Euro 2020, Italy) after Messi got injured during the final of Copa America while his country shrugged off Messi's injury to successfully defend the title), compared to Brazil being the most successful football playing nation in the world with 5 Football World Cups to their name (Their first was in 1958 then they became the last side to complete a successful defence of the Football World Cup in 1962, followed by 1970, 1994 & 2002 which was the last time the Brazilians had won football's global showpiece event to date, but that fateful day of sport in Spain will be a day long remembered. It has seen the defeat of Novak Djokovic, & will soon see the end of the England football team (Who had all their fun & games until they suffered another defeat in the Euros final according to the newspaper report from Whanganui Chronicle on the 16th of July) with a 2 - 1 win over England in the final in Berlin courtesy of a late goal provided by one of the Spanish players of Mikel Oyarzabal (Who netted in for the match winner just like Mikel Merino did against Germany in that controversial QF & Yamal in the semi against France, but it was Dani Olmo who stopped England in their tracks with a game defining header, therefore preventing a possible equalizer from the English in the dying seconds were Spain were in front, & held on right through the end) as the Spaniards ended their campaign undefeated, being the first side to do so with a perfect record of 7 & 0 including 7 consecutive games without losing a match since the semifinal defeat against the Italians (Who were the eventual champions at the time) on penalties at Euro 2020 which was played in 2021 (And after the semifinal defeat against Italy at the delayed Euro 2020 in 2021 that Spain were able to get in shape in order to get back on top of the European continent).

And finally something awful has happened with America being on high alert which was marred by former US President Donald Trump who got shot to survive an assassination attempt which was shades of Ronald Reagan which was an absolutely shocking situation, but he was OK by getting over it & managed to survive before being taken away to safety by the President's bodyguards to a heavily secure medical facility to recieve treatment on his ear, but there are calls for necessary upgrades by hiring extra security to be provided by the Trump & Biden families as well as the current & former US presidents with Trump Tower (In which the NYPD reluctantly agreed to safeguard the facility 24/7, although the beefed up security measures have been upped following a serious incident & I mean, that is always terrible but shocking when Dad told me & Pops about the news on July 15th before tuning in to watch both CNN & Al Jazeera news channels about Trump having a scare of surviving an assassination attempt like that (Hope he's fine according to the estimates, but the current US President Joe Biden has addressed to the nation about that shocking situation regarding to Trump having his near death experience from the clutches of a deceased gunman that consipracy theories on social media about assassinating Trump should be unacceptable not only because it's objectionable (And X need to curb that as well to stop that from happening again such as preventing copycat attacks), but this one there, is the worst thing I have ever seen throughout my society in the political world, especially from my point of view), Mar-el-Lago & other sensitive areas belonging or associating to Trump as well as the upcoming Democractic & Republican national conventions (In which law enforcements have been deployed for the time being, but they need to implement bullet resistant glasses for adequate protection every time a former or current US president makes a speech at a rostrum in front of a crowd) were security is fully heightened nationwide all according to plan in the aftermath of a really serious incident (And there are also calls that backpacks need to be prohibited in which the item was used during the attempted assasination where a man (Who later the authorities identified him as a 20 year old) got gunned down by marksmen who are working for the president's security, but good job (And all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the family of a Trump supporter who got gunned down by a alleged gunman, so Rest In Power (RIP).

So that is my 560th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 36th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Fool's Gold/Feels Like I'm Falling in Love: My 35th blog of the year 2024

Well, hey guys & girls (G'day), I am Whetu tuning in to my Kiwiavenger blog, but first of all (And foremost), the final of Euro 2024 is set, it'll be Spain squaring off against England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany on July 14th, in the aftermath of Spain who became the first side to book a place in the final with victory against Kylian Mbappe's France after being a goal down in the 1st semi which was similar to the Portugal-Czechia & Netherlands-Turkiye games, then England did a similar thing to Spain (Who reach their first final of the European Football Championship since Euro 2012 which was held in both Ukraine & Poland in which they crushed Italy in the final to secure their record tying 3rd Euros championship to date, & have never won it since (They were eliminated by Italy (Who fell to Germany in the quarterfinal at the same tournament, 5 years before becoming champions & 3 years later, they were unable to defend their title this year in which the injury ravaged side were outfoxed against Switzerland (The one who caused the biggest boilover at Euro 2020 which was held in 2021 against tournament favourites France in the round of 16 before being fallen short against Spain on spot kicks in the quarters in which the Swiss have achieved their best result to date at the Euros) in the round of 16) at both Euro 2016 in France during the Round of 16 & at the delayed Euro 2020 in 2021 in the semifinal on penalties) as they crushed the Netherlands to a 2 - 1 win after becoming the 4th side to win a game after being a goal down at this years Euros tournament (And both the Spanish & English sides were down but not out for the count on that occasion).

So it's Spain to play England in the Euro 2024 final at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany on Sunday local time which is Monday morning New Zealand time to decide who will become champion of Europe (Well, who is it going to be? Whether it's the Spanish Armada to party like it's 1964, 2008 & 2012 (Vamos Espanya) or will football finally come home for the English in order to break their 58 year drought of winning men's football tournaments where the English have never won since their home Football World Cup tournament in 1966 (C'mon England! (And they came so close in 2020 which was held in 2021 where they lost to the Italians on spot kicks (And the English should've won on that occasion) which resulted angry England fans who racially abused Bukayo Saka (Who scored the goal of the quarterfinal against Switzerland that tied things up before going into penalties) for missing a penalty during the shootout, meaning that the war on racial hate towards footballers who have African roots like Saka had been declared on social media, with suspensions likely to be handed out to the fans those who discriminate them (And abuse as well as hate & discrimination on social media, is like bullying, therefore that they are trying to prohibit them in the process, I mean oh no, that is terrible I have to say), but will it be Spain skipper Alvaro Morata (It was the late Ferran Olivella who did it in 1964 against the Soviet Union in the final then Iker Casillas not once but twice in 2008 against Germany in the final & 2012 against Italy also in the final) whose hopes of playing in the final had been dealt with injury after the semifinal win against France where a cameraman (Who got clobbered by a steward in pursuit of a fan who illegally charged onto the field to celebrate with the Spanish players) trodded onto Morata's lower leg, therefore injuring the former Chelsea player but if he's ruled out through injury, Dani Carvajal (Who is returning from a 1 game suspension alongside his Spanish teammate Robin le Normand where both Carvajal (One of Jude Bellingham's teammates coincedentally in club level who was part of the Real Madrid club that triumphed in the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund in June this year) & le Normand sat out in Spain's win over France in the semi through a ban after being given another yellow card which resulted in a red card (Carvajal) while le Normand missed the next match for the accumulation of bookings during that controversial quarterfinal encounter against hosts Germany (Who had Toni Kroos who took Pedri out which resulted Kroos being shown a possible yellow card meaning that Pedri's tournament had been cruelly cut short with an injury like that, just like Malcolm Marx at last year's Rugby World Cup where his campaign was done with a serious injury which took him out of the tournament but didn't play in the final against the All Blacks (And the current best first five in the world of Handre Pollard had just called in to replace the unfortunate Marx which boosted South Africa's quest of retaining the RWC) just like All Black Dan Carter (It was Pollard who took over from DC as the best first five in world rugby, while Englishman Jonny Wilkinson was before Dan) did in 2011 where his tournament was over with a serious groin injury, but we did manage to pull it off with a winning penalty goal by Stephen Donald (Who was the fourth choice New Zealand first five in the aftermath of both Carter & Colin Slade getting injured during the tournament as well as Aaron Cruden) against the French in the final colloquially billed as 'The Kick' where it was immortalized by a TV movie, which came out in 2014 about New Zealand winning the Rugby World Cup after 24 long years) including Mikel Merino's goal during extra time that put them through to another semi) would lead the side, or England captain Harry Kane (Who currently plys his trade for Bayern Muenchen in the German Bundesliga competition) to become the European Football Championship winning captain to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy?.

And the AB's team has been named for our second & final test against England at the Garden of Eden at the City of Sails (Where New Zealand have never lost both at the ground & at the city since 1994 against France (Who sealed a dramatic test series victory after one of the French players had scored a winning try billed as 'The Try From the End of the World' which etched in French rugby folklore, then in 1995, a year after the French coup when a boat called Black Magic and a team called New Zealand became the first from outside the United States to win the America's Cup against Stars & Stripes aboard the Young America yacht led by Dennis Conner (And the famous words come from PJ Montgomery, the original voice of the America's Cup that was before Team New Zealand crossed the line to win race 5 "The America's Cup, is now New Zealand's Cup!" (And I remember the one-liner that has certainly repeated on air more often than any other in New Zealand's history according to the Back to back Black Magic book that I've still got in my bedroom somewhere) in San Diego (The city that hosted the America's Cup in 1995 & will play host to a historic first ever international rugby test match between the All Blacks & Fiji at Snapdragon Stadium), California, United States according to the previous blogs that I did), but the most recent test between the 2 countries was this year in the 1st test in Dunedin where the AB's managed to pull off a win against the English by a single point to kick off our international rugby year as well as the Razor era), so here is the starting lineup according to Scott 'Razor' Robertson:

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): Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes/Tasman)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Scott Barrett (Captain, Crusaders/Taranaki)

5 (No.5 lock): Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues/Auckland)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Samipeni Finau (Chiefs/Waikato)

7 (Open side flanker): Dalton Papali'i (Blues/Counties Manukau)

8 (Number 8): Ardie Savea (Hurricanes/Wellington)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Finlay Christie (Blues/Tasman)

10 (First five-eighth): Damian McKenzie (Chiefs/Waikato)

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): Sevu Reece (Crusaders/Southland)

& 15 (Fullback): Stephen Perofeta (Blues/Taranaki)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS

16 (Reserve hooker): Asafo Aumua

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ofa Tu'ungafasi

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell

19 (Reserve lock): Tupou Vaa'i

20 (Reserve loose forward): Luke Jacobson

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima (Who is in line to make his test debut off the pine with Finlay Christie promoted to the run-on XV following TJ Perenara's injury during the 1st test)

22 (Reserve midfielder): Anton Lienert-Brown

& 23 (Reserve back): Beauden Barrett

And the latest in the motor racing especially in F1 such as George Russell in the Mercedes-AMG, has taken victory in Austria which was marred by controversy involving the championship rivals of both Dutchman Max Verstappen (Who won in Spain & is currently the championship leader) & Britain's Lando Norris (Who was the polesitter in Spain, but Max had other ideas during the Grand Prix) taking out each other by going mad at them during the Grand Prix (In which Norris retired from the Grand Prix & Verstappen nursing the car home by finishing in 5th, although he got penalized 10 seconds for an avoidable contact on his championship rival during the race), then the following race in Britain where Russell's teammate, the Ferrari bound driver of 7 time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, has returned to the top step of the podium in Formula One for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021 in front of his adoring home fans in which he secured his 9th win at his home Grand Prix at Silverstone as well as his 104th of his career (He's 13 ahead of the legendary as well as the highly controversial figure of the sport, Michael Schumacher & currently leads the all-time wins list in F1), & then in Indycar where Pato O'Ward edged the 2 time defending series champion & current points leader of Alex Palou (The winner at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca) to take the win in the most recent Indycar race at Mid-Ohio (Which is the home track for the Rahal family, especially Bobby & his son Graham (Who is married to Courtney Force (Daughter of NHRA legend John who was recently hospitalized in a high speed wreck) in Lexington, Ohio even though with the series heading to Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa (Where the race was won by our very own Kiwi who drives for Team Penske of Scott McLaughlin who hasn't taken on the top step in Indycar since Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama), then it's the streets of Toronto, Ontario in the Great White North of Canada, the last before the Olympic break which is coming to suit American television schedules, meanwhile in the Supercars Championship where our own Kiwi Matt Payne went on to win one of the races on the streets of Townsville which is located in Queensland in Australia (Meanwhile Will Brown of Red Bull Ampol Racing is currently leading the championship, but standing in the way is Walkinshaw Andretti United's Chaz Mostert (The 2 time Bathurst 1000 winning driver in both 2014 with Paul 'The Dude' Morris (Dad of current Super2 racer Nash) & in 2021 with Lee Holdsworth) who is Brown's main challenger in terms of the championship when both are at a 2 man horse race at the moment (Compared to Aussie Indycar racer Will Power (The Chaz Mostert & Lando Norris of Indycar) who is Alex Palou's main challenger in terms of the Indycar Series championship (With Palou sharing a similar role to both Will Brown & Max Verstappen).

And finally that I once told Pops that I was stressed out once, but I have revealed that I have rage fit (Except me taking those risperidone medication pills but I can't take off that medication, literally, not only that I'm big (I used to be skinny as a 12 year old when I saw the photo of me & Jans when he was a baby way back then, 21 years ago), then I once told Pops that I was attempting to lose much weight, but somehow I'm a real, massive failure), just like the US president of Joe Biden who is still in his 80's who has fears of getting both Alzheimer's disease as well as dementia when the president who frequently lost his temper & lashed out his White House aides, many of whom have grown fearful of meeting with Biden (Who fears that he might pull out of the presidental race because he may be getting too old if he wants to step down as his bid for re-election is in tatters) alone, especially him being victimized by phone scammers since taking office, though his public remarks suggest a tenuous grasp of reality that would make him especially vulnerable while reports indicate Biden (Who I fear that he might pull out of his re-election bid against the former president Donald Trump even if the US Vice President Kamala Harris wants to replace him by stepping in Biden's shoes, but I don't know why I'm sure she wanted it) is also susceptible to fits of rage, a common symptom of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

So that is my 559th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 35th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Overcompensate/Next Semester/The Craving: My 34th blog of the year 2024

Well, g'day guys & girls, my name is Whetu here on my Kiwiavenger blog, but first, the AB's (Who are now entering their post Fozzy era) have done it, winning by just a single point against England in that epic 1st test at Forsyth Barr Stadium in 'Dunners/Edinburgh of the South' of Otepoti Dunedin to kick off the Razor era so let's relive the last 10 minutes of the test:

71ST MINUTE, PENALTY NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand 16-15 England, 71 minutes, A mighty shove! A proper scrum time lesson from the replacement All Blacks front row, destroying their English counterparts. The All Blacks boot up beyond halfway.

72ND MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), FREE KICK (SHORT ARM PENALTY) ENGLAND: New Zealand 16-15 England, 72 minutes, But that’s uncharacteristically loose from New Zealand. Asafo Aumua dummies his lineout throw and is free kicked. Fin Smith sends something skywards. Jordie Barrett hurries in to snatch it out of the hands of team mate Finlay Christie, who looked pretty uncertain under it.

73RD MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): New Zealand 16-15 England, 73 minutes, The crowd howls as Beauden Barrett runs into the back of a blowing Fin Baxter having chipped beyond the England prop. The officials are content that there is nothing illegal in Baxter’s challenge, the loosehead seemingly having just stood his ground, as he is entitled to.

74TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): New Zealand 16-15 England, 74 minutes, Pulverised! Sevu Reece absolutely vaporises George Furbank on the kick chase. A colossal hit, but somehow the England full-back holds on. Neither side is giving an inch in phase play. England kick up to halfway; Finlay Christie replies with a box kick that Furbank wisely marks before Reece can double his destructive dose.

76TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER): New Zealand 16-15 England, 76 minutes, Ollie Sleightholme is on for his debut. Can he be England’s hero?

77TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand 16-15 England, 77 minutes, Penalty to New Zealand! Alex Coles’ no-arms tackle is pinged. It’s out on the right but eminently kickable, and Damian McKenzie’s point to the posts will waste another minute at least.

79TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), THE SHOT CLOCK EXPIRES! New Zealand 16-15 England, 79 minutes, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Damian McKenzie has taken too long! The shot clock expires, Nika Amashukeli whistles and England have a scrum - and hope!

80TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY ENGLAND: New Zealand 16-15 England, 80 minutes, Penalty to England! Finlay Christie looks to be pinpoint in his breakdown scavenging but Dalton Papali’i is penalised for obstructing one of England’s clearout men. Into the All Blacks half Steve Borthwick’s side go with chance of snatching victory!

80TH MINUTE + 1ST MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand 16-15 England, 81 minutes, Penalty to New Zealand! Tupou Vaa’i and Dalton Papali’i force a turtled Englishman to hold on! The All Blacks have clung on!

FULL TIME: New Zealand 16-15 England

FT: New Zealand 16-15 England, A brutal and brilliant first Test that the All Blacks have just about emerged on top of. So many positives for England, but full credit to New Zealand for shutting the game down in that final quarter, even if they never managed to move through the gears with the tourists’ scramble defence simply outstanding. The hosts take a 1-0 lead to Auckland next week.

All Blacks edge brutal first Test as England denied famous win. How much better will the All Blacks be next week? For a first effort under a new coaching staff, their set-piece and defence were very impressive, and you felt like they have more layers to add to their attacking shape. And now England have to go to Eden Park, where New Zealand haven’t been beaten since 1994.

England suffer agonising defeat as All Blacks snatch victory in first Test

England fell agonisingly short of registering a famous victory over New Zealand as a narrow second-half lead ebbed away in a 16-15 loss in Dunedin.

Steve Borthwick’s tourists were kept in the first half by their spirited defence as the All Blacks threatened to cut loose and although their blitz system was open to exploitation, they were able to hustle a 10-10 scoreline heading into half-time.

Fly-half Marcus Smith endured a poor day off the kicking tee but his running skills were at the heart of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s 47th-minute try that nudged them 15-10 ahead in a gripping series opener at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

England have triumphed on New Zealand soil on only two previous occasions and joining the heroes of 1973 and 2003 was the tantalising prospect before them as they pressed for another score.

But the All Blacks crept back in front through two penalties from Damian McKenzie to reward their superiority at the breakdown.

New Zealand 16-15 England: Two penalties from Damian McKenzie sunk England as the All Blacks fought back to win Scott Robertson’s first game in charge.

And what do I think of the test? Well, there were 7 players who were standouts for the AB's such as Stephen Perofeta, Sevu Reece, Ardie Savea, Patrick Tuipulotu, Tyrel Lomax, Ethan de Groot & Beauden Barrett, but the real standouts in the English team were both George Furbank (The pick of the English backs) & Maro Itoje (The pick of the English forwards) who made massive impacts into the game. But I widely criticise Damian McKenzie who should've nailed that penalty goal to extend that lead, but it was too late as the shot clock had been expired which nearly cost New Zealand the test when England (Who nearly had it when Dalton Papali'i secured the winning pilfer for NZ with the help of Tupou Vaa'i which was similar to Sam Whitelock did against Ireland in last year's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal who would've gone on to win the test by a single point (For which the test could've gone either way) had been awarded the scrum for taking too long just like Bernard Foley did in 2022 during the Bledisloe test against the AB's in Melbourne which resulted World Rugby adjusting its law amendments in a bid to speed the game up by introducing shot clocks for conversions, penalty goals, scrums & lineouts similar to basketball, gridiron, tennis & baseball (In which Robertson had demanding the stadium operators to install a shot clock system at the grounds such as Eden Park every time a kicker takes a conversion after the try had been scored or a penalty goal after the team is awarded a penalty), but what a way to start the Razor era with a 1 point victory against the English (And Scott Robertson's first game in charge against England this year which resulted in victory is similar to 20 years ago where Graham 'Ted' Henry began his AB's coaching tenure against England (Who were defending champions at the time) at a same city but with a different venue), but the AB's have lost TJ Perenara who was injured again with what looks like to be a knee injury (And Noah Hotham, from Tasman, has been called into the squad immediately as injury cover (But why would the AB's have gone with Hotham instead of Folau? Because of Folau who was having a disappointing Super Rugby Pacific season for the Highlanders even though with the AB's selectors had just chosen the young gun Hotham to replace Perenara for the time being), & is likely to be ruled out of the next test at 'the garden of Eden' at Eden Park in 'the City of Sails' of Tamaki Makaurau Auckland where New Zealand have never been defeated at the garden of Eden since 30 years ago way back in 1994 against France (Who had scored a game defining try dubbed as 'The try from the end of the world' by Jean-Luc Sadourny that won them the test for the French, but it would be the end of the damn world if England had won it from there! But let's hope not by extending our unbeaten run which stretched from 1995) with Finlay Christie promoted to starting halfback while Chiefs player Cortez Ratima is in line to make his test debut off the bench as the reserve halfback, but I don't fully understand about the Dupont law (Compared to Pops who never understands about the brake foot law which had been introduced in 2022) regarding to French rugby player Antoine Dupont where rules state that every time a kicker kicks the ball that the kicker's teammates must get back within the allocated 10 metres until they're put being all onside, or else they'll be penalized for being offside in front of the kicker which is an unacceptable form of cheating (AKA gross misconduct), & the refs are always policing that meaning that they don't want players getting offside by encouraging them to remain onside & be behind the kicker wherever they make a tackle regarding to the law amendments about kick tennis that have been made from the sport's governing body, World Rugby & the option of taking a scrum in both free kicks & marks which is known as the Willemse law, has been abolished meaning that you have only 2 options, whether they kick the ball straight away or to take a quick tap.

And in the other results in the rugby such as 2027 Rugby World Cup hosts Australia begin the Joe Schmidt era with a win against Wales at Allianz Stadium in Sydney in Schmidt's first game in charge as the Wallabies coach therefore the Aussies did successfully have a shot of redemption after losing to the Welsh last year during the World Cup pool phase (Including that incredible run all the way to the try line from Tom Wright who made a massive sidestep to a Welsh player before scoring that has surely won the game for Australia, while a try by the grandson of an English cricketing great Ian & son of former rugby player Liam (Who is Ian's son & James's Dad), James Botham, had been disallowed due to shepherding where one of Botham's Welsh teammates was exactly in front of the ball carrier in the leadup to the try which had been erased, but Liam Williams tried to celebrate him, then Botham accidentally headbutted Williams in the process & during the match that the ref had asked Williams to go off the field for an HIA), followed by the 4 time defending world champions South Africa who go 1 - 0 up in the series against the reigning Six Nations champs Ireland with a 7 point win in a rematch of the RWC pool game from last year at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria (And the Springboks are now 2 & 0 since they retained rugby's most treasured prize, the William Webb Ellis cup in France last year at the most recent Rugby World Cup).

And I've been going full political here about mentioning the Gaza situation on my blogs in which Aunty Tan once alluded to me on the phone during Pops 77th birthday on the 5th of July (And there has been protests everywhere about Israel's invasion of Hamas (And I recently heard that the displaced people of Gaza had been asked to evacuate by the Israeli forces, but that madness needs to stop! Because it not only the lust of aggression sickens me), especially in America such as Columbia recently about students protesting the war, but the only way to stop the protests is the use of highly trained jacked up cops who are usually counter-protesters because they don't want people to cause a whole mess for it), but when will I get rid of that stuff? Once the war is over but I'm not sure why though (But this could take forever of someone asking for an offer about the ceasefire), but it's been 25 years since the horrific events of the Columbine Shooting massacre in 1999 (Same year that the late John F Kennedy Jr (The son of a US President of the late great John F Kennedy who was born a fortnight after his father was elected president in 1960, 3 years before JFK was the last ever US president to be assassinated in 1963) had tragically passed away in a plane crash along with his wife & sister-in-law on the 16th of July near Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts) in which 13 innocent students lives had been taken away while injuring many more, but both deceased suspects had been Doom fans was to blame about the mass shooting stuff that had happened (And then it was Sandy Hook in 2012 which was the most tragic (In which the US President at the time of Barack Obama addressing to the media following the tragic event that the US needs to introduce gun control measures just like both Australia & the UK did in 1996 as well as possibly Norway in 2009/2010 & our country of New Zealand in 2019), before that it was Parkland High school in 2018 & then finally, the Uvalde, Texas tragedy in 2022 that they once had as the majority of the American people are calling for gun control reforms to be handed out) as every high school, college & university in the United States have introduced metal detectors to check prohibited weapons being carried out since the tragedy unfolded in Columbine to prevent that from being occurred such as copycat attacks (And now elementary & junior high schools are following suit in light of the Uvalde mass shootings that they had which killed 21).

And American sports news that I missed such as the Jayson 'Jay' Tatum (Formerly from Duke University in the US) led Boston Celtics win their 1st NBA Championship in 16 years after winning the NBA Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks led by Slovenian Luka Doncic as well as their unprecedented 18th overall to ease past the Los Angeles Lakers to become the most successful side in the NBA then in the NHL as the Florida Panthers claim their first Stanley Cup championship after dominating the 7th & deciding game against the Edmonton Oilers at their home ice, therefore the dominance & invincibility of American teams in the NHL continues in which they have always been on god mode since 1993-94 where the New York Rangers had become Stanley Cup winners for the last time while the Montreal Canadiens was the last Canadian side to date to win a Stanley Cup in 1992-93 (And I haven't mentioned the Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City Chiefs (Who overpowered the San Francisco 49ers led by Brock Purdy in Superbowl LVIII) retaining the Vince Lombardi Trophy earlier in the year, being the first side to do so since the New England Patriots in 2004-05).

And the eyes of the Olympic world will be in Paris, as the city plays host to the Olympics, meanwhile American gymnast Simone Biles (Who is an American & is one of the top American athletes alongside swimmer Katie Ledecky & young 20 year old female tennis player Coco Gauff) the world's leading Olympian going into the Paris Olympics, compared to Dame Lisa Carrington who is New Zealand's leading Olympian (Along with Lydia Ko, Hamish Kerr, Ellesse Andrews, Portia Woodman-Wickcliffe, Sarah Hirini, Michaela Blyde, Stacey Waaka & others, but standing in Carrington's way is her main opponent in the form of fellow Kiwi Aimee Fisher according to the previous blogs that I did, but both Charlotte Caslick & Ariarne Titmus are the leading Olympians from Australia heading into Paris 2024 compared to Antoine Dupont who is the leading Olympian for the hosts France, along with basketballers Victor Wembanyama & Rudy Gobert).

So that is my 558th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 34th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Holding On to You/Car Radio/Stressed Out: My 33rd blog of the year 2024

Well, what's up guys & girls, it's me, Whetu on my Kiwiavenger blog, but first, the AB's team has been named for our highly anticipated first rugby test match of the year against England at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunners (And the most recent test between the 2 countries was in 2022 where England turned it around to seal a draw thanks to Marcus Smith after Beauden Barrett had easily been to the sin bin in which I thought was a penalty try), so here is the starting lineup according to Scott 'Razor' Robertson who is in his first test in charge:

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): Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes/Tasman)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Scott Barrett (Captain, Crusaders/Taranaki)

5 (No.5 lock): Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues/Auckland)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Samipeni Finau (Chiefs/Waikato)

7 (Open side flanker): Dalton Papali'i (Blues/Counties Manukau)

8 (Number 8): Ardie Savea (Hurricanes/Wellington)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): TJ Perenara (Hurricanes/Wellington)

10 (First five-eighth): Damian McKenzie (Chiefs/Waikato)

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): Sevu Reece (Crusaders/Southland)

& 15 (Fullback): Stephen Perofeta (Blues/Taranaki)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS

16 (Reserve hooker): Asafo Aumua

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ofa Tu'ungafasi

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell

19 (Reserve lock): Tupou Vaa'i

20 (Reserve loose forward): Luke Jacobson

21 (Reserve half-back): Finlay Christie

22 (Reserve midfielder): Anton Lienert-Brown

& 23 (Reserve back): Beauden Barrett

And the latest on the Euros that I haven't followed since the tournament began such as Spain (The tournament favourites now according to the bookmakers who are missing 3 players, dealt with both injury (Pedri) & suspension (Dani Carvajal & Robin Le Normand) cruising to a 2 - 1 win over hosts Germany in the quarterfinals which was marred by officiating errors (Including one of the German players kicked it into the Spanish player's hands of defender Marc Cucurella (Who plays for the struggling Chelsea side in the Premier League in England) who illegally handled the ball inside the penalty area first time around, but there was no call being made by the referee, the linespersons & the VAR (And it's unbelieveable that has been missed, but no doubt that there was an illegal handball!), then German player Jamal Musiala who was attempting to have a shot a goal, but it had been deflected into Cucurella for the second time in which the Germans who should've been awarded a penalty for an deliberate handball not once but twice (And Cucurella's hands were tied behind his back so that there was no penalty start with but they have made tweaks to the law amendements such as that if a player stops the ball with his or her hand, a penalty will be given (Or a free kick if it's outside the penalty area), & the German fans have been outraged about the decision that went unnoticed by the officials (And since that incident that Cucurella had been booed by the German fans every time he gets possession of the ball, but then after the game that the Germans were robbed of a place in the semi in which they were gutted about the defeat of course, while the Spanish were stoked about the outcome of the result in the quarters in which their bid of a record 4th Euros championship & their 1st since 2012 is still alive & kicking), then France (Who have star talisman Kylian Mbappe in their squad who squared off against his idol Cristiano Ronaldo in what was to be his final Euros tournament before retiring from international football) would able to prevail on penalties against Portugal in a rematch of the Euro 2016 final during quarterfinal 2, then the Netherlands (Who were 1 - 0 down at halftime) posted a 2 - 1 win over Turkiye (Formerly Turkey) in the 3rd quarterfinal before England had triumphed on spot kicks against Switzerland (Who knocked over the holders Italy out in the Round of 16) to advance to another semi of the European Championship during quarterfinal 4.

And here are the confirmed matches being played in the quarterfinal stage in this years Football World Cup tournament:

Spain Vs France (Their most recent meeting at the Euros between both sides was in 2012 in the quarterfinal where the Spanish produced a bit of magic where they had to win against France to appear in another semi to set up a showdown against Iberian rivals Portugal)

& the Netherlands Vs England (Well, their most famous meeting between the two countries was in 1993 during the Football World Cup qualifiers in which Ronald Koeman (The current Dutch coach/manager), should've seen red for a clear & obvious professional foul on David Platt that cost England a huge chance of making the 1994 Football/Soccer World Cup in the United States)

And in the Men's T20 Cricket World Cup department as India (Who had beaten England in the semi which was payback of Adelaide in 2022, but former Aussie cricketer Callum Ferguson was right that the Indians had now become world champions in the T20 form of the game according to him successfully predicting the outcome of the result of the tournament just like me (And I was backing England all the way when they took on the Indians (And I didn't follow the tournament until I saw Australia got beaten by Afghanistan (Whose country's sporting future is uncertain whether they'll continue on or not of competing in the world stage), & with New Zealand already out of the picture of making the Super 8 following a pair of defeats against both Afghanistan & the hosts, the West Indies), but I changed my allegiances to India following England's elimination in the semi due to our country of New Zealand's sporting as well as geopolitical rivalry on South Africa (And Steve Tew was right in 2019 that after South Africa won the 2019 Rugby World Cup that Tew actually fears that the Springboks were going to become champions of the world again at the Rugby World Cup last year in France by successfully pulling it off, & they did when many people predicted before the tournament that last year would be South Africa's year) reign supreme for the second time in the tournament's history, & for the first time since 2007 (To add to their 2 men's Cricket World Cup championships in both 1983 & 2011) with a win against first time finalists South Africa (Who prevailed over Afghanistan who are in their historic first ever appearance in the semifinal of a major cricket tournament in the 1st semi) by 7 runs in the final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies, with Suryakumar Yadav providing the game defining moment as he took a brilliant catch (For which I thought was questionable when the umpires had a look upstairs for a clear but obvious clean catch & whether Surya (SKY) was on the boundary rope when he caught it, but he wasn't when the all-important catch had to be taken with prolonged celebrations had been erupted across New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur & Mohali following India's success on the world stage in the T20 format of the game) to dismiss South African batter David Miller off the bowling of Hardik Pandya which was shades of Kapil Dev taking that running catch to dismiss Sir Vivian Richards off the bowling of Madan Lal that handed India their historic first ever men's Cricket World Cup title in the 1983 final.

And finally that the UK now has a new Prime Minister, in the form of Keir Starmer from the left wing liberal Labour Party UK who had been elected following his victory in the election which was a landslide, as he takes over from Rishi Sunak from the right wing Conserative Party UK who had been the British PM since 2022 where he took over from Liz Truss who resigned as she becomes the shortest serving UK Prime Minister in history (And Truss was the last person to meet the late her majesty the Queen of Queen Elizabeth II before her passing at her royal retreat at Balmoral in Scotland in 2022, allowing her son to take over as his majesty the King of King Charles III in which has held the role since (And there was a coronation of a new king that had taken place last year).

So that is my 557th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 33rd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.