Simple Kind of Life/Déjà vu/Special Ones/Come a Little Closer: My 8th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first in rugby as the AB's (Who now have 7 players part of the casualty ward such as Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali'i, Sam Darry as well as new additions to the injury list (IL) such as Jordie Barrett (Knee), Samipeni Finau (Concussion) & Tamaiti Williams (Neck) who are withdrawn due to injuries while the AB's await the return of Sam Cane & Mark Tele'a who are both healthy again after missing the previous test against France which was ruined by poor officiating from Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli that derailed our chances for victory in which we had a tough game to start with, even though we were defeated by a single point according to the comment I heard from Dad during our phone conversation on the 22nd of November last year) name our team to play in our final test match of the year against Italy (But can we finish off the test season with a win? Well, I really think so but our most recent meeting between the 2 sides was in 2023 at the Rugby World Cup where the All Blacks (Who always keep getting penalized under the new legislation interpretations such as the escort law in which chasers are keep getting taken out by the defence which results in a penalty for a shepherd (As the refs always ask for clear access, even if a player needed to get out of the way from a pursuing opposition player who is attempting to get the ball off from an up & under/garryowen kick) in which rugby have turned into Aussie Rules just like last year that rugby has turned into a mini-NFL in order to speed up the game) had a comprehensive but emphatic win over the Italians to be on track for qualification to the quarters) at Allianz Stadium Torino, in which we have never played at that ground where it is the home of the most successful football club in Italy of Juventus FC, so here's the starting lineup according to Razor:

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): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)

7 (Open side flanker): Sam Cane (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)

8 (Number 8): Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika/Wellington)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau)

10 (First five-eighth): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs/Waikato)

13 (Centre): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Mark Tele'a (Blues/North Harbour)

& 15 (Fullback): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS

16 (Reserve hooker): Asafo Aumua

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

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Who returns to the fold to replace Pasilio Tosi at reserve tight head prop position)

19 (Reserve lock): Tupou Vaa'i (Who is dropped to the pine with Patrick Tuipulotu elevated to the run-on team as the starting lock)

20 (Reserve loose forward): Peter Lakai

21 (Reserve half-back): TJ Perenara (Who returns to replace Cortez Ratima to play his final ever All Blacks test before heading overseas to play for a Japanese club competing in the Japanese Rugby League One competition)

22 (Reserve midfielder): David Havili (Who replaces Anton Lienert-Brown to cover at the reserve midfielder position with Lienert-Brown elevated to the starting lineup to replace Jordie Barrett who is injured again)

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie

And there has been an update in the rugby as the All Blacks return to winning ways with a not so convincing win over the improved Italy (Who beat Scotland & Wales then had a draw against France in last year's Six Nations championship season, & were fierce by giving New Zealand a sniff) side at Allianz Stadium Torino in what was the last games for both Sam Cane & TJ Perenara who both bowed out in style in the All Black jersey as Cane & Perenara head off to Japan to play for their respective clubs (But the test was disappointing, despite that we won of course which was our first most disappointing rugby match of the year according to our All Black standards since our home test defeat against Los Pumas of Argentina (Who was one of the 3 sides to beat the AB's after the defending world champions Springboks of South Africa (Whose main challenger at the next Rugby World Cup in Australia 2027 is both Argentina & Ireland) twice, & les Bleus of France, & these 3 sides that beat us could even be New Zealand's main challengers at the next RWC in Australia 2027, but I fear it might be a France - South Africa final, just like both sides have met at both the 1995 & 2023 Rugby World Cups in the semi & quarters respectively which had gone in the Boks way) in Wellington during the Rugby Championship opener), so let's relive the last 10 minutes of the test according to NZ Herald:

70TH MINUTE, TRY ALL BLACKS (M. TELE'A): TELE'A BAGS THE ALL BLACKS THIRD! Another advantage came out the scrum, with the All Blacks looping left. After a couple of loose passes, it found its way to Barrett, who floated over the head of Tele'a. He plucked it out the sky well though, finding his way into the left corner.

72ND MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION ALL BLACKS (B. BARRETT): Barrett nails it from the left sideline.

SCRUM FEED ITALY: Vaa'i is hoisted, and fittingly spills the restart. No advantage as the Azzuri loses 30m, so we'll go back for the scrum.

73RD MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Italy come inside off the scrum, seeing it spit out on the All Blacks side! They transferred left, where McKenzie toed downfield. It settled for the Italians, allowing Garbisi to eventually find touch 35m from the line.

74TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SCRUM FEED ITALY: It is messy in broken play for the All Blacks, and eventually, Savea slipped a pass forwards. Scrum Italy just outside the 22.

75TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY ITALY (ILLEGAL WHEELING): The scrum wheels, and this time the penalty goes the way of the Italians. Touch found 30m from the line.

76TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ITALY (T. MENONCELLO): REWARD FOR ITALY! The ball falls on the side of the All Blacks, so naturally after a couple of scrappy phases Barrett goes to an aimless cross-kick which nobody chased. Garbisi cross-kicked back across to the right edge, where Tele'a couldn't gather cleanly. Zanon scooped it up, charging to the 22m line, linking out to Menoncello on the right sideline! He put his head down, flying over in the corner!

78TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION MISS ITALY (P. GARBISI): Garbisi hooks it away to the right from the right sideline.

Italy holds it just outside the 22, before going to a box kick, but Garbisi sends it out on the full! Lineout just outside the 22 to come.

79TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS (B. BARRETT): ALL TOO EASY! The All Blacks rumbled into the 22, charging up through Lakai. They eventually looped left where another Barrett grubber was off-target, rolling into touch. Italy elected to go quickly, chipping and chasing from their own line! Barrett gathered on the 22m line, and the whole chase line overran it, leaving Barrett to trot it in down the left sideline!

80TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION MISS ALL BLACKS (B. BARRETT): Barrett pushes it away to the right.

Italy bat the ball back at the kickoff, but then cough it up themselves. That will put us all out of our misery.

FULL-TIME: 11 - 29

A horror test comes to an end, with the All Blacks crawling to a scrappy victory. Credit must go to the Italians, who upset the visitors rhythm, with spirited defence, and even managed to pinch a late try, one which was very much deserved. Outside of a dominant scrum, it was shocking from the All Blacks, who were sloppy, and were not up to their own standards. They knocked it on, kicked it away, and just generally lacked any sort of accuracy. They will be very disappointed.

Italy will be thrilled with that. They came into this test on the back of two fairly poor performances, but they clearly channelled that to put in a much-improved performance this evening in the freezing temperatures. They spoiled the breakdown well, and forced several attacking errors out of the visitors, who just were not up to their usual standards. Ange Capuozzo was very strong throughout, making several breaks with his elusive running game. Federico Ruzza was also very strong in the carry. They will be pleased heading towards the Six Nations.

That was not the performance the All Blacks wanted to have to finish the season. It was a long season, and the conditions were below freezing, but that would be of real disappointment, as they looked to send off Sam Cane and TJ Perenara on a high. Perhaps in many ways that shows the issue with this test, too much focus on sentimentality, and not enough on picking the best players for this job. They largely looked disinterested, and the execution was just terrible. Wallace Sititi, Ethan de Groot and Asafo Aumua were all fairly good, but outside of that it was grim.

That rounds things off from Turin, where the All Blacks have crawled to victory.

And onto the political stuff in the United States as many of the left wing news channels such as CNN are turning on & betraying president elect Donald Trump (Who is currently announcing his personnel to be named under his new cabinet) & his election win as well as his anti-immigration & tariff policies that he is dealing with once he takes office on Inauguration Day as I heard a comment that I literally remember from Carole (And I mean she is a lovely lady since she first met Pops secretly on an dating site for older people since Nan passed away, but my life living under Dad was great, compared to my life living under Pops would be the most excellent (And what if Pops passes away mainly due to old age? Is that I might move back in with Dad (Who along with Carole as our loved ones of our whanau (Although I live with Pops as my most loved one of our family) since Ben Blain left to go to the Philippines for a job there) during the time that she watched the AB's - Italy rugby test with us.

And now in rock related news as I've decided to become a Linkin Park (Who recently released their comeback album called From Zero on the 15th of November last year featuring 4 singles from the album being released by the band such as 'The Emptiness Machine', 'Heavy is the Crown', 'Over Each Other', & the latest which is 'Two Faced') follower again since Emily Armstrong had already joined the band as the band's female vocalist at that moment that she replaced the likes of the late Chester Bennington (Who already passed away in July 2017, 2 months after one of his great friends of Chris Cornell of both Audioslave & Soundgarden fame), compared to founding member Mike Shinoda (Who is still the rhythm guitarist) being the designated male vocalist of the band as well as me being a fanatic to these women in rock such as Alanis Morissette (I've still got one of her albums called Jagged Little Pill in my bedroom as well as her song Thank U that I downloaded off the internet via the MP3 downloader website), Avril Lavigne (The first time I heard Lavigne was in 2002 with her number 1 hit song here in our country called 'Complicated'), Evanescence (The first time I heard that band was also their hit song 'Bring Me To Life' that came out in 2003 on the radio) & Michelle Branch (One of my faves is 'Are You Happy Now?', but I like 'All You Wanted', 'Breathe' & 'Everywhere' as the other songs, & I didn't know that one of my fave radio stations of Brian FM play Michelle Branch, along with Evanescence, Lavigne, Linkin Park & Morissette).

And finally that in the gaming department such as I'm starting to now play the 2023 version of Forza Motorsport (Along with GTA IV (Xbox 360 via Xbox Series X console), Grand Turismo 7 (PS5), Tekken 8 (PS5) & SoulCalibur VI (PS4 via PS5 Pro console that I've still got) that I currently play as of today) but I'm currently want to reach 33 million credits which is my main objective so I can buy the racing cars that I love in the game, but I'm currently 9 million credits at the moment (As of November 24th last year) by doing the money method races many times with both the 1986 Lotus & 1990 Ferrari Formula One race cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval (The reward is 75,200 credits (74,900 if you fail to get the majority of the clean laps), but the latest in Formula One as George Russell wins the most expensive race in history at the Las Vegas Grand Prix under the lights as he finishes ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure a Mercedes 1-2, but a 5th place finish for Red Bull's Max Verstappen guarantees him of clinching his 4th straight Formula One World Championship for Holland's most successful racing car driver in history (And champions were to be crowned last year in motor racing such as Spain's Alex Palou in Indycar, Australia's Will Brown in the Supercars Championship, then American Joey Logano in the NASCAR Cup Series as well as Belgian Thierry Neuville in the WRC (In which he became the first Belgian in history to do so), & now Verstappen from the Netherlands in F1 most recently as he joins the likes of both Frenchman Alain Prost & German Sebastian Vettel as the other 4 time Formula One world champions as Max moves past the late Niki Lauda, the late great Ayrton Senna & Sir Jackie Stewart, & he is even one behind the late Argentinian of Juan Manuel Fangio who has got 5 to his name (He is 2 behind both Michael Schumacher & Lewis Hamilton who have both got 7 world championships respectively to their name) after one of his title rivals of Lando Norris (McLaren) couldn't even score enough sufficent championship points & make gains towards Verstappen to keep him in the title fight meaning that his quest for a maiden world championship is over (I wonder what the headlines would say: VERSTAPPEN NOW BECOMES A 4 TIME WORLD CHAMPION, or more likely: RUSSELL WINS IN LAS VEGAS, MAX STILL REMAINS THE CHAMP, or especially: LANDO DOWN & OUT AFTER MAX VERSTAPPEN CLINCHES TITLE (And I mean what a disappointing end for Lando Norris (Who would bag in the bonus point for setting the quickest lap of the race to keep McLaren in the constructors championship fight against Ferrari, but they're getting rid of the fastest lap bonus point starting from this year meaning that it is so unfair), what a race for our viewers right around the world, it's all happening) although Norris has taken over as the favourite to win the world championship this year in terms of his form, & there has been an update as Cadillac owned by US car giant General Motors minus involvement from former Andretti Global team owner Michael Andretti will join Formula One in 2026 as the 11th team on the grid therefore joining the likes of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Team Enstone, RB, Williams, Audi & Haas with Michael's dad, 1978 Formula One world champion Mario Andretti (Who was involved in a huge wreck during a private practice session for the 2003 Indy 500, 9 years after retiring from full time competition in which he walked away unscathed that I remember now) set to take over as managing director & ambassador of the new constructor (And that's the first time since 2016 where 22 cars will lineup on the grid while this year's Formula One world championship will be the last to feature 20 cars on the grid where they had that since 2017 following the demise of Manor (Formerly Virgin & Marussia that joined on the F1 grid in 2010 alongside HRT (The constructor was defunct in 2012) & Lotus (Who would later become Caterham in 2012 until it folded in 2014).

So that is my 584th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 8th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Two Faced/Heavy/Pretty Noose: My 7th blog of the year 2025

Well, hey guys & girls, welcome to all our audience here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo, & you're tuning in to my Kiwiavenger blog, but first in the rugby that the All Blacks have missed out on a win against France led by the best rugby player in the world of Antoine Dupont (A Summer Games gold medalist in rugby sevens for his country at their home games as they ended the reign of Fiji who dominated the first 2 Olympics in both Rio & Tokyo in the gold medal match) by a single point at the Stade de France in Paris, & that's not the way my goodness but, where was the consistency? And I mean what went wrong to suffer a test defeat against the French? (And our first since against the world champions South Africa in Cape Town due to that yellow card against starting All Black prop Tyrel Lomax for taking Cheslin Kolbe out off the ball which allowed reserve Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx to go in for the kill & score the winning try which was shades of Grant Williams scoring that winning try in Joburg after All Black reserve prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi had to spend 10 minutes in the bin for deliberately pulling down a maul) Is that we did not get it right as we led at halftime but we managed to slip during the 2nd half as we fell short by the barest of margins in which France pulled off moment inspired by Donald Trump's US election win, but Carole told me after the game that it's not as we lost by a whisker, but I'm totally devastated & gutted about the result (That was disappointing I have to say that it was a tiny bit unlucky, & that's what's happened) but our next test is against Italy (One of 2 tier 1 sides along with Scotland to have never have won against the AB's) at Allianz Stadium Torino in which we hope that we get back to winning ways to end the test year last year.

And finally that there was flooding in Spain that occurred such as the areas of Valencia & Barcelona after last year's America's Cup was held which resulted in 216 casualties as nearly half of the flood victims in Valencia where over 70 figures show due to floods & torrential rain have not gone away & residents hail stories of heroism as the clean-up continues as when the flash floods swept through Valencia, there was the destruction of pricless family mementoes as the waters were engulfed the ground floor flat of Marilo Grandoli in the worst storm in history, unlike in Dunedin in which they experienced severe flooding in which the city suffered the wettest day in history as heavy rain causes significant flooding in Dunedin that took place in early to mid October last year (And there was storm Darragh that ravaged across the UK & Ireland also last year which postponed a Merseyside derby game between Everton & league leaders Liverpool, then there was Storm Eowyn which bursted towards Northern Ireland & parts of Scotland on the 23rd of January as they brought in strong winds, heavy rain & snow with the worst of the weather forecast for Friday, & then in 2023, there was storm Minerva which ravaged parts of Italy in which residents told to evacuate which resulted the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola which is near Bologna had to be called off due to severe rain (And just like in 2019 that Typhoon Hagibis had ravaged most parts of Japan which cancelled Saturday qualifying during the Japanese Grand Prix that has been moved to Sunday while a Rugby World Cup Pool B match between Italy & the All Blacks had been cancelled as a result of the typhoon along with the cancellation of the Pool C clash between England & France & another Pool B match had been called off between Canada & Namibia in Kamaishi (The site of Uruguay's historic upset win over Fiji during the 2019 tournament).

And news in the motor racing department such as Will Brown (A former teammate of the most recent Bathurst 1000 winning driver of Brodie Kostecki (Who was the champion in 2023) during the Erebus Motorsport days) has been crowned the new Supercars champion after he finished 2nd in the penultimate race of the season at the season finale in Adelaide which was worthy enough to clinch the title after one of his title rivals & team mates in the Red Bull Ampol Racing stable of Broc Feeney who failed to impress as he didn't get enough sufficent points to keep his title quest alive.

And finally in our news regarding to our whanau that I'll still have Paige as my honorary sister, because of my intentions of meeting her again along with Cathey & Norah which is listed as one day as Dad alluded to me on the phone on the 15th of November last year since I have called off the proposed Wellington trip altogether as a result of Wellington being too far from here in Whanganui, & of Pops old age & mainly inflation because everything is still dear at the moment (But we'll go if we want to but only if the weather is decent).

So that is my 583rd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 7th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

A Symptom of Being Human/No Apologies/My Michelle: My 6th blog of the year 2025

Well, what's up guys & girls, welcome to all our audience here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo, & you're tuning in to my Kiwiavenger blog, but first in the rugby as the AB's (Who still have 6 players part of the casualty ward such as Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali'i & now Sam Darry as well as new additions to the injury list (IL) such as Sam Cane (Concussion) & Mark Tele'a (Broken hand) who are withdrawn due to injuries + Ethan de Groot who is still missing after sitting out the previous test again against Ireland but is likely to miss the rest of the Northern tour) name our team to play against France (Led by the mercurial Summer Games gold medalist in sevens rugby of Antoine Dupont in which the French have played against Japan recently with a comprehensive win, but we haven't beaten the French since back in 2018 in Dunedin in the 3rd test, but it's been 30 years since against France had last beaten New Zealand at Eden Park as well as the city of Auckland, & it was in 1994 which was during the amateur era at Eden Park courtesy from the try from the end of the world by one of the French players of Jean-Luc Sardouny that famously took victory in the test as well as the series that etched into French rugby folklore according to the previous blogs that I did) at the Stade de France in Paris (Our most recent meeting between the 2 sides was in 2023 at the Rugby World Cup where France managed to ease past the All Blacks to open their account & become the first side to end the All Blacks unbeaten streak in pool play at the RWC (Including that yellow card against Will Jordan for taking a player out like Thomas Ramos in the air that thwarted our chances of remaining unbeaten in pool play at the Rugby World Cup, but I remember a comment on TV by Ardie Savea following our loss against France that defeat sucks, just like Kamala Harris did when she narrowly missed out & fell short on becoming the new President of the United States against the overwhelmingly dominant Donald Trump (Who was the one who was brought back from the abyss as well as surviving a certain assassination attempt, to snatch & seize his chance of resurrecting his political career of successfully returning to the White House (And I reacted about Trump's win in the election that I was like: "America sucks! America sucks!") according to the popular vote during the US election as Aunty Tan alluded to me on the phone on the 12th of November, but Trump is getting tough as he declares war on immigration once he takes office (In a news headline that probably says: ALIENS OUT, AMERICANS ONLY), with the military being sent in therefore triggering a mass deportation of immigrants in New York who are being taken to Texas in order to be sent home to Mexico following Trump's win in the election (And the statement made the Trump (The ex-Apprentice host who hails from Queens in New York, & has both British & German roots) that he wants crazy foreigners, especially Mexicans that they want them out of his country (Just like our own PM Christopher Luxon in the aftermath of his win in the election in 2023 that he was asking that they want gangs out in public places as our country is coming down hard on crime in an effort to keep it safe) according to the comment that I heard from Pops on the 20th of November last year), but we haven't played at that ground since also in 2023 in which we were heartbroken after losing to South Africa led by 'The Bear' of global sporting icon Siya Kolisi (Who is one of by far, my fave rugby players throughout the South African team compared to Pops who used to love Faf de Klerk as one of his favorite South African rugby players) who went on to retain the Rugby World Cup, in that controversial final marred by Sam Cane (Who was the AB's captain at the time before Scott Barrett took over since last year (2024) who got red carded for deliberately taking out Jesse Kriel high in a blatant, malicious but egregious way which was unprovoked in what would be a serious case of foul play (And it was the South Africans were laughing about it, saying that there was justice for Dean Greyling taking out the New Zealand captain at the time of Richie McCaw (A country boy from a small town called Kurow who was once the cult figure of rugby across the globe, as well as our country's favourite sons who would conquer the world once again in 2015 one last time of becoming the first & only All Blacks skipper to win back to back Rugby World Cups) for that infamous cheap shot during an AB's-Springboks test in Dunedin back in 2012 for what I thought was a red card nowadays (Or at least it's a card under review before being upgraded it to red if it's either a Super Rugby Pacific, or an international test match like the Six Nations or the Rugby Championship as of today's legislation interpretations in the game of rugby regarding to the prohibited head contact counter measure review process being always automated) which resulted in a sin binning offence instead, although Greyling would later serve a suspension for a fortnight therefore destroying his international rugby career) that derailed our quest of regaining the William Webb Ellis Cup as well as the 3 yellows, both Springbok players of Kolisi & Cheslin Kolbe for reckless high tackles that was reviewed by the bunker which wasn't upgraded as it stayed that way, & an All Black player of Shannon Frizell for a dangerous clean out to the limb area that injured Bongi Mbonambi similar to Wallaby D'Arcy Swain did on an All Blacks player of Quinn Tupaea during a Bledisloe test a year earlier) in another one of the most difficult, but demanding as well as the toughest rugby test match of our lives since the Ireland test in Dublin on the 8th of November (November 9th back in New Zealand), so here's the starting lineup according to Razor:

STARTING XV

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams (Crusaders/Canterbury)

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): Tupou Vaa'i (Chiefs/Taranaki)

LOOSE FORWARDS

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

7 (Open side flanker): Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika/Wellington)

8 (Number 8): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau)

10 (First five-eighth): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes/Taranaki)

13 (Centre): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Sevu Reece (Crusaders/Southland)

& 15 (Fullback): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS

16 (Reserve hooker): Asafo Aumua (Who is dropped to the pine to replace George Bell as the starting hooker)

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

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve lock): Patrick Tuipulotu

20 (Reserve loose forward): Peter Lakai (Who is in line for his 2nd test cap as he replaces Samipeni Finau who is elevated to the run-on team at blindside flanker)

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima (Who is dropped to the bench as he makes way for Cam Roigard as he is elevated to the starting lineup to play in the halfback position)

22 (Reserve midfielder): Anton Lienert-Brown

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie (Who is also dropped to the pine to replace Stephen Perofeta who didn't feature against Ireland to cover at the reserve back position)

And Dad once alluded to me on the phone that I'll be seeing Cathey, Paige & Norah one day instead which is on an unknown date (And I mean, what is that? That these things takes place just prior to me dying that I get the chance to see them before I die. I don't get it, I don't believe it) since that it's a shame that I had to cancel the proposed Wellington holiday trip altogether.

And news straight out of the motor racing department in Formula One where Kick Sauber have confirmed a race seat for Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (As he joins the 3 other rookies such as Aussie Jack Doohan, Brit Ollie Bearman & Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Bortoleto becomes the first Brazilian to compete in Formula One since Pietro Fittipaldi in 2020) for this year pairing up with a German of Nico Hulkenberg as the pair replace Valtteri Bottas & Zhou Guanyu who will both leave the constructor at the end of this season, but RB haven't decided whether our own New Zealander Liam Lawson or an Argentinian who drives for Williams of Franco Colapinto (The one who replaced the accident prone American Logan Sargeant (Who will sit out this year after missing out on an available Indycar race seat) since the Italian Grand Prix) to team up with Yuki Tsunoda also for this year, but there is a lot to ponder after this situation unfolds during the driver market silly season.

And finally in cricket that Pakistan finally at long last, have won an ODI series in Australia against Australia (Who dominated in Melbourne in the 1st One Day International before Pakistan had to dominate the last two in both Adelaide & Perth before later winning the T20 series against the Pakistanis, but the Aussies have rested their frontline players such as captain Pat Cummins & their usual suspects of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, & Josh Hazlewood to prepare for the 5 match Border - Gavaskar test series (AKA the AB - Sunny Trophy) against India (In which the 1st test was won by the Indians who had their stand in captain for Rohit Sharma (Who missed the 1st test to witness the birth of his child) of Jasprit Bumrah who got 8 wickets in the match as well as Yashasvi Jaiswal bagging in his maiden test ton, then the most followed cricketer in India of Virat Kohli who had his form restored when he scored an unbeaten ton when India declared their 2nd innings) for the 1st time in 22 years (And it's been since 2019 that the Aussies had last been defeated in an ODI series, & it was against India) way back in 2002 during the 3rd & deciding ODI at Perth Stadium in Perth.

So that is my 582nd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 6th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Audacious/Circles/Mono/Over Each Other: My 5th blog of the year 2025

Well, kia ora & g'day guys & girls, welcome to all our audience here in New Zealand & around the world, it is Whetu here tuning in to my Kiwiavenger blog, but first in the rugby, the All Blacks have won the test as we beat the world number 1 ranked Ireland (Whose 19 match winning streak at that ground had ended, but it's been 391 days since the last meeting between the 2 sides in which they fought against each other during the quarterfinal of the 2023 Rugby World Cup) in an epic but enthralling test at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin by 10 points off the back of a 18 point masterclass from Damian McKenzie who was awarded player of the game honours for his performance (Well, I thought he was going to struggle when he filled Beauden Barrett's shoes, but he didn't as he got his act together in which he'd been done well), therefore ending an 8 year wait of winning against the Irish in Dublin, so here is the last 10 minutes of the game according to the live updates provided by the NZ Herald website:

10:47 AM: Kickoff claimed, boxed kicked clear and Frawley drops it cold again! Back to back knock ons from the replacement first-five! That could be massive as the All Blacks now have an attacking scrum inside Irish territory - right hand side.

10:50 AM: All Blacks win the scrum and it's very nearly stolen back by Ireland at the ruck but Jordan comes up with it! 40m out and the All Blacks stab a kick in behind which is returned and Lowe makes an outstanding 50-22! Unreal from the winger.

Ireland have a lineout about 15m out from the All Blacks line, left hand side of the park.

10:52 AM: Ireland win it and Lowe nearly sneaks through the middle! They build phases in the 22m but it's turned over at the ruck! Ardie Savea with a massive snag!

10:53 AM: McKenzie kicks to the sideline but once again it's pretty short. All Blacks lineout just outside the 22m - six minutes left.

10:54 AM: Clearance is eventually made and Ireland once more have to attack from their own half - Aki strong carry yet again but they decide to kick - big cheer from the crowd as it goes into touch in All Blacks territory but it's NZ ball.

10:55 AM: All Blacks secure the lineout and clear but it's not out and Ireland make their way up to the 10m through Lowe.

10:56 AM: A sneaky chip and chase from Hansen creates half a chance but he can't hang on and it's a knock on! Scrum All Blacks on their 10m line.

10:57 AM: Two minutes to go - Berry calls time off as the scrum needs a reset.

10:58 AM: Roigard slams a kick down field and it's deep into the Irish 22m - Ireland decide to kick it back and McKenzie hoists one high. Ireland have it once more inside their own half. All Black defence holding with one minute to go.

10:59 AM: It's once more kicked deep into the All Blacks' 22m and Barrett calmly slams it into touch. The clock shows 30 seconds left.

11:00 AM: Ireland have lost the plot here, didn't throw a jumper up on their own lineout! The All Blacks take it in, then smack one into touch and it's all over! All Blacks win 23-13!

11:01 AM: Breathe... Damian McKenzie player of the day and rightly so. Six penalties kept the All Blacks in it and he made some smart passes and his out of hand kicking was on point.

11:03 AM: You'd have to say the Irish were architects of their own demise in that second half - kicked an awful lot of possession away and their set piece went to... well... pieces.

11:04 AM: But the All Blacks kept cool heads and stuck to their plan, didn't panic and kept the scoreboard ticking over. Smart sub from Robertson and co brining on Roigard - wasn't Ratima's best outing and the replacement worked a treat with clean pill for the All Blacks backs.

11:12 AM: All Black captain Scott Barrett commends the bench performance and he's bang on. Have Razor's men finally got over their final 20 terrors? It certainly appears so from that second half.

11:13 AM: Beating England at Twickenham, then six days later a 10-point win over the world no. 1 Irish in Dublin? That's a ripper effort from the All Blacks.

And what do I think of the test? It was by far, the best game of rugby I have ever seen since the England test which had to be my number 2, & the 2015 Rugby World Cup final would have to be my 3rd fave, & what about Damian McKenzie? After a shaky form that he had when he stepped up to the occasion to score a brilliant 18 points in the night, but at least we did not panic that we managed to end that drought at Aviva which had been going since 2016, finally! But I was stoked about the result (And the Irish, they'll be gutted in which they suffered a defeat, but hell yes indeed) just like in the England test where me, Carole & Pops were holding our breaths. Plus there was Cam Roigard who had a cracker of a game when he replaced Cortez Ratima whose performance had been a bit clunky as he had a shocker until he had left the field, along with Asafo Aumua who had a blinder along with try scorer Will Jordan (The one who plays at fullback) as he started at hooker with Codie Taylor unavailable as he played throughout the 78 minutes that he had when he had a lovely but wicked try assist to Jordan before being replaced by reserve hooker George Bell. But the Ireland - AB's test would have to be the game that made Damian McKenzie, compared to the England test in which where the game that stood Wallace Sititi out the most. But bring on France (Led by an Summer Games gold medalist in men's sevens rugby for his country of Antoine Dupont in which we got to contain him for the entirety of the test) for our penultimate test of the year at the Stade de France (Venue for many of both the 2023 RWC & the Paris Summer Games last year) in Paris as we are chasing redemption after losing to them twice in a row in both 2021 to end the year in another defeat for the first time since 1999 also during the RWC, & during the opening match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup that the French finally broke the All Blacks unbeaten streak in pool play (In which we were being a bit clunky, but a yellow card by Will Jordan for deliberately taking French fullback Thomas Ramos out in mid-air has cost our chances of remaining unbeaten in the pools at the Rugby World Cup), & we are winless against the French in international rugby since 2021 but our last win against France came was during the 3rd & final test in Dunedin back in 2018, but the AB's have lost both Sam Cane due to a head knock & Mark Tele'a with a broken hand meaning that both will be unavailable for the France test in Paris (Host of last years Summer Games).

And in other rugby news such as the Wallabies (Who had league convert Joseph Sua'ali'i made his test debut at centre pairing up with second-five Len Ikitau) getting a shock result over England at Allianz Stadium in London with a match winning try provided by reserve Wallaby back Max Jorgensen that broke English hearts just like New Zealand did on the 2nd of November, before replacement first five Ben Donaldson even nailed a conversion just from the sideline, a day before the defending world champions & Rugby Championship title holders South Africa (Who had to take back their number 1 world ranking from the Irish whilst playing their first test in 43 days since ending a 5 year wait of winning the Rugby Championship last year, & have just lost twice (First against Ireland in the 2nd test of a 2 match test series at home, & Argentina in the penultimate round of the Rugby Championship in Santiago) since retaining the Rugby World Cup in 2023, but winning against the world champion Springboks (Who provided the moment after their win against the Scots inspired by Donald Trump's win in last year's US election) in international test rugby isn't always easy as they always employ the bomb squad which is their WMD (Weapons of mass destruction) stuff that they used at the 2023 RWC, & it is similar to the Spain football team employing tiki taka that won them both Euros in 2008 & 2012 & the Football World Cup in 2010 (They didn't use it when they won Euro 2024 last year with a quick, fast-paced high tempo style of play approach consisting their new generation of footballers like Neco Williams & Lamine Yamal for example (Just like the Bomb Squad that South Africa dominated the last 2 Rugby World Cups in both 2019 & 2023) begin their Northern tour campaign with a win against Scotland who had their player Scott Cummings sent off for a croc roll considered to be an intentional but aggravated foul, on on-field Springbok captain Eben Etzebeth deemed to be considered dangerous (In which the sport's governing body World Rugby is issuing a crack down on the croc roll technique that endangers players limbs that is blatant, malicious, but in an egregious way which is similar to a high tackle (In which that a contact above the sternum in rugby, is similar to targeting in gridiron, as well as unnecessary roughness (And disqualifications/ejections in the NFL is similar to a red card in rugby), as well as the hip drop in which both the NFL & NRL currently prohibits them (And the croc roll & high tackles in rugby, then hip drops in both rugby league & gridiron as well as targeting & unecessary roughness in gridiron, is like war without both the guns & bombs) after being given a card under review by the TMO bunker (And I label the 20 minute red card period as shambles, because they need to get rid of it again in order to make it fair) for which I thought it was a cheap shot similar to McKenzie being taken out deliberately by Joe McCarthy with a reckless/careless dangerous but high tackle during the Ireland-AB's test).

And news straight out of America such as the price hike for gaming & other stuff, is getting ready to begin when the US president elect Donald Trump (For which I bear hatred towards him from now on (And my thoughts? This hatred I bear is for you, & you alone! But I'm still gutted that he won of course) since he got elected again (But Trump's win in the US election is similar to Christopher Luxon (Who congratulated & appreciated Trump for his election win during a phone conversation) becoming Prime Minister since 2023 after his win in the New Zealand general election) because I mainly criticize him a lot, so damn that guy (For which I label him as a dumb idiot) since I'm an anti-Trump kind of person just like Mum, but I'm sick & tired as well as getting fed up about him, with many Americans grizzling Trump a lot) takes office once more on Inauguration Day (Which is the 20th of January) next year, with Trump taking direct aim by introducing a tariff as they seek to end a partnership with China by declaring a tariff war on them that makes gaming consoles, controllers & other devices such as headphones being dear according to the policy regarding to inflation or the price hike should I say (And many die hard but hardcore gamers want to do it before the price increase which is going to be in effect prior to Trump (Who I label him as by far, the worst leader in the world, & the most unprofessional but selfish individual human being, in the history of mankind that you could possibly imagine (Nonsense, don't be ridiculous) is preparing to be sworn in as President of the United States yet again), but it was on the 11th of November that I was day dreaming about me being offended & disrespectful by somebody like Carole (And Aunty Tan told me on the phone on the 12th of November (11th in Canada), that Rejean's sister Francine lives near the heavily secure Mar-el-Lago Trump residence estate facility which is located in Miami, Florida in the United States).

Meanwhile in motor racing news such as the Supercars Championship title will be decided on the streets of Adelaide on the weekend of 15th to the 17th of November, & it is mate against mate between 2 championship contenders such as championship leader Will Brown (The guy who took over Shane van Gisbergen's race seat since the opening round in Bathurst) & his main challenger standing in the way of Broc Feeney (Both men are at a 2 horse race to decide who'll become champion for the very first time, which is the last before the implementation of the Supercars Championship finals which is due next year that is inspired by NASCAR's playoff system that they're currently using), both racing for Red Bull Ampol Racing as the 2 who are seeking their maiden Supercars Championship (And the other challengers who are in the running such as Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters & our own Kiwi Matt Payne, have seriously dropped out of contention).

And finally in the cricket news department such as Sri Lanka won the 1st T20 against the Black Caps (Fresh off from their test series triumph in India against India) before turning it around with a win in the 2nd T20 which resulted in a drawn series.

So that is my 581st blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 5th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.