Well, welcome to all of our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu here & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog (And welcome to my 600th special, but it has been 13 years since I started blogging back in 2012 where it was my first one, but now here I am doing my 600th this year), but first as February 24th this year marks 3 years since that brutal invasion began in which I have not fully mentioned since Pops told me not to post stuff on my blogs by still keeping it clean to avoid being deemed objectionable & sensitive to the country who started it, even though with US President Donald Trump is going to be the one that'll stop that dreadful war that has been going since 2022 (And he's not going to since the United States has switched sides by turning into the country who started it, but I heard about the latest update is that about the Ukrainian president got into an argument with US President Donald Trump (Who the British PM Keir Starmer labelled him as by far, a laughing stock worldwide amid a tariff debacle, therefore Trump (Whom he labelled the United States as a disaster & a flop as he blasts 'open borders' & 'weak leadership' in the aftermath of a pair of attacks in New Orleans & Las Vegas) has been humiliated once more on the world stage about himself with foolish statements ill-considered ideas as he made ridiculous comments about Democrats & the FBI following deadly mishaps sent shockwaves in the US following the French president Emmanuel Macron, & I mean, that is embarrassing & disgraceful, nonetheless (And Trump should never serve his third term as President of the United States, this is ridiculous! Come on!) by hurling abuse at him (I don't know that Volodymyr Zelensky had illegally used foul language towards Trump (Who sides with that lunatic who started that unprovoked invasion) during a heated argument that escalated upon which was a shouting match before he got thrown out at the White House by the US Secret Service who escorted Zelensky outta here for showing dissent towards the US President (And why the hell did the US President's security want to boot the Ukrainian president out of the White House like that by asking him to leave? Because of that Zelensky who showed signs of anger by getting aggressive as he misbehaved like a person who has TS & was having a bit of anxiety in front of Trump, if you know what I mean,).
And secondly in the Six Nations news department so here are the results that they had in round 3 of northern hemisphere's biggest rugby competition around:
Ireland 27 - 18 Wales
England 16 - 15 Scotland
& Italy 24 - 73 France
And continuing onto the rugby stuff in Super Rugby Pacific as here are the results that they had in round 2 of the southern hemisphere's biggest club rugby competition around:
Chiefs 49 - 24 Crusaders
Queensland Reds 56 - 36 Moana Pasifika
Hurricanes 38 - 34 Fijian Drua
Highlanders 29 - 21 Blues
& ACT Brumbies 42 - 45 Western Force
Bye: NSW Waratahs
And thirdly in the gaming department as Jonah Lomu Rugby had arguably by far, had the best commentary in the video game so far compared to other rugby games according to Dad who alluded to me as revealed on a comment that he made on the 23rd of February, including digging like a demented mole there according to one of the announcers of the late Bill McLaren while my fave commentary line would have to be the Ward 4 one where I always say the famous quote every time a player does a big thumping tackle during a rugby game shown on TV as Bill would say "Mercy me, that could've put him in Ward 4!", then one of the English rugby announcers of former rugby player as well as ex-president of World Rugby (And grandfather of current player Josh), Bill Beaumont responding "I hope not Bill, that's a maternity ward", but there was once a story about the late Jonah Lomu that he endured a tragic life as a professional sportsman as he escaped the clutches of gang violence when he was young just like 2023 men's Rugby World Cup winning Springbok player of Canan Moodie that he went to Wesley College to establish himself of learning the game of rugby, & he did, then after he left school that he signed a NPC contract with Counties Manukau where he was a relatively unknown at the time before making the AB's at 19 years of age for the 2 match test series against France way, way back in 1994, then he was dropped from the test side until he was impressed by the selectors during a North-South game in 1995 to make the men's Rugby World Cup squad for New Zealand before scoring his first 2 tries against Ireland in a pool game before beating both Wales & Japan (In which Lomu didn't play) in a record comprehensive score, then embarrassed Scotland in the quarterfinal scoring a try, then something happened in the semifinal as he would race in to score four tries, including running over the top of Mike Catt by trampling him, all the way to the try line in one of the men's RWC most iconic moments (Then we narrowly missed out against the Springboks (The team that Lomu had never ever scored a try against throughout his entire career) in the final therefore uniting the host country under the late president of Nelson Mandela who was in charge as I mentioned in my previous blogs), a year before he had a decent Super 12 for the Blues during the inaugural season in which they triumphed, then a year later in 1997 that he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome which is a rare & serious kidney disorder which kept him out of the game, before a year later that he made a comeback to the sport (Although his appearances for the Blues had been limited due to chronic health issues) as he secured a gold medal in rugby sevens at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then in 1999 (He played just the one season for the Chiefs) which came around during the World Cup as he scored tries against Tonga, England & Italy in the pools, then Scotland in the quarters before eventually falling short against France in the semi despite a double from him, then in 2000 (The year that he joined the Hurricanes until he left in 2003) as he scored the winning try against the defending world champions at the time of the Wallabies in Sydney in front of a world record crowd in Sydney during a Bledisloe test, then he won an NPC crown with Wellington in which he joined from Counties Manukau where he played the likes of Tana Umaga, Christian Cullen, Rodney So'oialo & the late Jerry 'JC' Collins in which the 4 of them were great players, then a year later that he was a men's Rugby Sevens World Cup winning player when the All Blacks Sevens triumphed in La Plata in Argentina when he got called up as an injury replacement for his good mate on & off the field of Eric 'Rushy' Rush, a year before his international rugby career had ended in which the Wales test, was his 63rd & last game (His last test try was against England in which he crossed over for his 2nd try (His 37th of his career) after scoring the 1st which was his penultimate of his test career), then 13 years later, he passed away due to a cardiac arrest relating to his kidney disease that he had been haunted throughout his life (And Lomu to me was one of rugby's greatest ever players of all time so he was like a complete package to start with if not one of the best operators & iconic legends of the sport in which he was established as the first true global superstar of rugby (But no other rugby players would emulate them of course, but Lomu (Who terrorised his opponents trying to tackle him every time he got the ball left, right & centre as well as his skills that he endured such as scoring tries, line breaks, big tackles, fends & bump offs but he was big for his size because mainly he was a power winger just like the late Inga Tuigamala & now Caleb Clarke, but boy he can run) was once my rugby idol since I was mainly a Michael Schumacher (The highly controversial German Formula One legend who was a multiple world champion just like Britain's Lewis Hamilton) fanboy back then according to the previous blogs that I did), but they recently remade a rugby computer game called Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 4 as a tribute to the late humble man to rival against Rugby 25 which performed poorly in terms of the gameplay), but I have revealed a news report that he was broke mainly due to financial problems meaning that Lomu (Who is survived by his wife Nadene & his 2 sons of Brayley & Dhyreille (His middle name is Jonah which is named after his famous father while his nickname is 'Frenchie' due to him being born in France) who wished to play for a Six Nations team of France because he was born there whilst his famous dad spent time playing for Marseille therefore due to his eligibility criteria) ran out of money just right before he passed away at age 40 back in 2015 (The year that the All Blacks last triumphed at a men's Rugby World Cup just coming up to a decade ago by retaining it after our victory in 2011, right before the Springboks had their turn of dominating the last 2 Rugby World Cups in also back in 2019 in Japan & the most recent one in 2023 in France in which they became the most successful with 4 (And every time they appeared in the final, is that South Africa would always going to win, but at least our own Emirates Team New Zealand had dominated the last 3 America's Cups such as the one in Bermuda in 2017 (Once again! The America's Cup is, New Zealand's Cup!) where we emulated our 1995 triumph in San Diego, then Auckland 2021 where COVID had been around (The America's Cup, remains, New Zealand's Cup!), in a repeat of the successful 2000 defence & last year in Barcelona, Spain that we produced a Mediterranean masterclass (The threepeat is complete! And Emirates Team New Zealand, win, the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup!) to finally win 3 America's Cups in a row in modern history), especially the Bomb squad that made them the difference of winning the World Cup which is their main WMD (Weapons of mass destruction) in order to terrorise opponents as I also mentioned in my previous blogs last year (And the Springboks employing the Bomb squad, is like La Furia Roja doing their tiki-taka that they once had to win both Euros in 2008 & 2012, & a single Football/Soccer men's World Cup in 2010 for the Spain men's national football team), but the South Africans (Who became just the 2nd side to defend the men's Rugby World Cup in 2023 after our own All Blacks did it back in 2015) have always been tough to beat in rugby against from our NZ point of view according to the comment that Pops alluded to me on the 20th of March this year (Compared to in the sailing that Team New Zealand who beat the Americans (Who ran with the all-Aussie crew) first, then the Italians (With an Aussie helmsman) next time round followed by the British the last time we raced against (And at least our Taihoro boat was reliable last year, compared to NZL 82 in 2003 in which was unreliable, therefore we suffered our loyal defeat in the hands of the Swiss syndicate of Alinghi which lured key Team New Zealand personnel prior to the Cup which was the most controversial ever according to the previous blog that I did, statistically speaking).
And finally in the Champions Trophy cricket as New Zealand got off to a flying start against hosts Pakistan at National Stadium in Karachi with a 60-run victory all thanks to a ton scored by Tom Latham who posted 118 not out & did get player of the game openers while Black Caps opening batter Will Young got a century as he scored 107 (And there has been an update as the Black Caps march on to the semis of the Champions Trophy following our win against Bangladesh for which I thought was a tough side to start with, but our next match is against India (Who haven't got Jasprit Bumrah who is by far the best bowler in world cricket through injury, but they have a danger man in the Indian pace attack of Mohammed Shami (Which is going to be a gigantic problem for the Black Caps (Who are still sweating on the fitness of the injured 'Chinny' Ravindra (The one who got a ton against Bangladesh) who hasn't played since he badly hurt his eye whilst attempting to make a catch during the Tri-Series match), especially our batters point of view facing him) who won of course in which we did not get the result after the Indian spinners who were overwhelmingly dominant from start to finish who had embarrassed our batters in which we struggled to contain against even though we had encountered the toughest of matches to start with, therefore we avoided Australia by squaring off against South Africa in the semi instead (And are we reminiscing about 10 years ago that Grant 'Jav' Elliott's heroics with the bat which put us through to our historic first ever men's Cricket World Cup final following our victory in the semi against Elliott's country of birth of South Africa who posted a bigger score? But it became low when rain shortened the innings, especially the target score (And I remember that now that it would be impossible to win should rain had not happen, it would've been a bigger score anyway) while India lock horns with the Aussies in the 1st semifinal of the Champions Trophy taking place in Dubai (And facing off against South Africa (Who haven't been to a final since 1998 during the inaugural competition that they've won) could even be tougher than India (Who are seeking their 3rd straight appearance in the final (A win against England back in 2013, then a loss against their rivals Pakistan also back in 2017) in which we haven't reached a final since 2009 (In which the last time Australia had contested a Champions Trophy final in which they were successful against us to claim the white jacket) who returned from injury when he missed the Border-Gavaskar series which resulted in a series win for Australia, but they still have the most followed cricketer in the world of Virat Kohli (Just like both Kapil Dev first, then Sachin Tendulkar who were both India's iconic cricket legends before Kohli) who retired from the T20 format last year when his country triumphed for the 2nd time in the men's T20 World Cup against South Africa in the final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, therefore ending a long overdue wait of winning ICC sanctioned tournaments after 11 years where they became title winners of the Champions Trophy 2 years after winning their 2nd men's Cricket World Cup back in 2011 (That was 4 years after winning the inaugural men's T20 World Cup way back in 2007), to add to their title long ago in 1983) in Dubai, UAE which is going to be a much tougher assignment than both the host nation Pakistan & Bangladesh).
So that is my 600th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 24th of this year, viva Ukraine (On behalf of myself, bye for now).
P.S. And there has been an update in the rugby department as here are the results that they had in round 3 of the southern hemisphere's biggest club rugby competition around:
Moana Pasifika 29 - 31 Highlanders
NSW Waratahs 29 - 24 Fijian Drua
Chiefs 49 - 24 ACT Brumbies
Hurricanes 29 - 33 Blues
& Western Force 24 - 28 Queensland Reds
Bye: Crusaders
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