Part of Me/All It Takes: My 48th blog of the year 2025

Well, what's up guys & girls, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that I recently remembered of me rewatching the 2015 men's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal game between the All Blacks against France at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in anticipation of our first test match this year, AKA the vengeance game where we had to beat them so comprehensively which was the highest winning margin in a men's RWC knockout game at 59, surpassing the 43 point margin that we set against a 14 man Wales team long ago in 1987 in a semi of the World Cup, but back then that the AB's were super good because of the decent amount of star studded New Zealand players such as Richie McCaw who was captain at the time, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu (Who is now rugby's oldest player at 43, & is the only one who is currently playing (His current club is Toulon in France, but he looks fit at an old age because of his fitness regimes & training programmes that he does now), was involved in the 2003 men's Rugby World Cup), Conrad Smith, Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, Sam Whitelock, Ben Smith & Julian Savea (Brother of Ardie the current All Black) who was the one who got a hat-trick against the French just like the late Billy Wallace, current Moana Pasifika coach Fa'alogo Tana Umaga & Joe Rokocoko where he dotted it down 3 times, including the one he eased 3 defenders to score that all important try (But the Retallick & Milner-Skudder ones were fantastic) after Bender defused the high ball situation where he won the aerial battle against one of the French players, while for the French, they weren't so competitive back then.

And secondly, news straight out of motor racing in F1 (For which I have not followed lately, but I've been playing the new F1 25 game recently) as Oscar Piastri's main challenger in the McLaren (A British racing icon founded by a Kiwi of the late Bruce McLaren (Who has a daughter named Amanda who loves Formula One) of Lando Norris has landed with a win at the British Grand Prix in front of his adoring home crowd therefore maintaining his quest of a maiden world championship alive (And there hasn't been a British Formula One world champion in 5 years with Lewis Hamilton being the last to do so in 2020 (While the first was the late Mike Hawthorn, then the late great Graeme Hill, the late Jim Clark, the late great John Surtees, Sir Jackie Stewart, the late James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Hamilton & Jenson Button as the 10 British F1 world champions, but will Norris become the 11th different world champion from the UK? Well, that's according to the previous blogs that I did) going into the next Grand Prix in Belgium at the notorious Spa-Francorchamps circuit near Stavelot (It was Lewis Hamilton (Who was racing for Mercedes last year now currently racing for Ferrari this year) who was declared the winner last year after his Mercedes-AMG teammate at the time of George Russell who thought he originally won the race, but he would eventually get disqualified for an underweight car meaning that his victory had been overturned), but Christian Horner had been fired from Red Bull recently as the team principal after spending 2 decades with the team (And there has been an update as Frenchman Laurent Mekies of RB, takes over as the new team principal of Red Bull Racing who are in a rebuilding phase since Horner got sacked, while Alan Permane has reluctantly agreed to replace the Red Bull Racing bound Mekies as head of RB) due to the constructor's form slump with Max Verstappen's reign as the world champion could be in jeopardy saying that it is likely that it'll come to an end if either Piastri or Lando Norris has a chance of becoming the new world champion this year, even though with McLaren leading at the front as the fastest team in Formula One.

And thirdly that I have revealed a story about the Bangladesh cricket team back in 2019 (That was the year before COVID had struck) managed to have a near miss by having to survive as they escaped terror in New Zealand with the horrific Christchurch mass mosque shootings (For it was the worst ever terror attack in New Zealand's history (And one of our country's darkest days since the massacre at Aramoana in 1990) therefore we managed to bond our brotherhood such as our fellow Kiwis in the aftermath of such a tragic event like that with the message bearing "Kia Kaha" to everyone throughout the country of 4 million people at the time before our population even changed it to 5 million a year later) which 51 people who are mainly Islamic people, have been gunned down by a perpetrator who is a far-right extremist type of person who really was a despicable human being (And that really was dreadful from the beginning, but it had got worse because it was shocking which resulted Australia announcing a clamp down on far-right extremism stuff, but the gunman however did end up in jail in Christchurch Prison as he is still serving time behind bars because he had already been sentenced to imprisonment for life with no parole for the mass murder charge) because they were seconds away from being caught in crossfire while they're on their way to a mosque for Friday prayers which is prior to the 3rd & final test scheduled for 5 days between the 16th to the 20th of March which was cancelled (In which the test match was eventually being abandoned without a ball being bowled) due to tragedy in Christchurch (If me & Pops remained there like especially in an airport in which we had to stay there if something tragic had been occurred, but we were in Whanganui at the time of tragedy also being struck, but it's lucky that were not in Christchurch in which we left to head to Palmerston North on the 10th of March (That's 2 days before me & Pops went to Raetihi on March 12th to pay our respects to my late bro Wiremu (And we did the same a year later in 2020, right before the start of the COVID pandemic), 3 days before tragedy had struck in the Garden City in Otautahi) because we were on our way home to Whanganui) as the players & management staff who fled then survived the brutal mass killings were told to get to Hagley Oval to safety before heading back at a team hotel for which they were placed under a lock down (And unlike the dissident musical group of PR who had their concerts in both Christchurch & Dunedin being called off at the last minute due to the tragic incident that they had whilst on tour to New Zealand), then in the aftermath of the trauma that they had when they were on their way home back to Bangladesh as they were accompanied by armed cops to Christchurch Airport before they departed & then, they left because the rest was history (And our PM at the time of Jacinda Ardern (AKA the female Winston Churchill who recently released an autobiography called Different Kind of Power that Pops has got for his 78th birthday along with the Ian Foster one that he loved) had brought sweeping changes to the firearm legislations by declaring war on high powered machine guns such as an AR-15 used in the tragic massacre being brought into the country which kind of worked similar to Australia following the Port Arthur tragedy way, way back in 1996 meaning that gun violence in that country is rare compared to the United States, as well as Dunblane in Scotland in the UK during the same year, & Utoya in Norway way back in 2011, but it's 20 years since the tragic London bombings on 7/7 also way back in 2005 (Same year that England had won the Ashes series against the all-conquering Aussies for the first time since 1986-87 which was the best test cricket series ever in history (Until it was surpassed 20 years later in 2025 between England & India in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy test series where it was arguably by far, the best test series since the Ashes series took place back in 2005, especially the modern era as well as in recent memory, where the series had ended in a draw therefore it was a drawn series in fact), & a year before the terror foil bomb plot took place in the UK 19 years ago way back in 2006 where the legislations regarding to terrorism have been tightened by announcing a crack down on liquids being brought onto the plane, especially the carry on luggage stuff) has happened in which was one of the most deadliest attacks related to terrorism ever recorded on UK soil that resulted 52 to 56 people losing their lives as well as over 700 of them got injured/wounded in a tragic event like no other for which that sickening terrorist attack was in fact, dreadful (And many British Muslims are still living in fear 20 years after a serious incident like that because of them having been fallen victims to Islamophobia which is not a nice thing to do).

And finally in the rugby as the All Blacks cruise to a stunning clean sweep following our victory in the 3rd & final test against France at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton so let's relive the last 40 minutes of the test:

8:05 PM: TEAMS BACK ON THE FIELD

MASSIVE 40 MINS COMING UP FOR THE ALL BLACKS

8:06 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): Antoine Hastoy to kick off for France

UNDERWAY IN THE SECOND HALF

8:07 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): FRANCE CLAIM THE KICK OFF AND SWING ONTO ATTACK but mainly because Villiere was a mile offside from the kick off and got a huge jump on the All Blacks, France get a call back for that shocking forward pass.

8:08 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), DROP GOAL MISS FRANCE: Hastoy goes for ANOTHER DROP GOAL...NO GOOD, struck it well but faded away

BIG BOO FROM THE CROWD

8:10 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): HERE GOES ARDIE

Good run and they're up over halfway...GREAT KICK THROUGH AND BARRE IS PINNED ON HIS OWN LINE, hurried clearance AND THE ALL BLACKS END UP WITH A LINEOUT 15M OUT, GREAT RESULT

8:13 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS...NO!

Great defence again, this time they hit midfield repeatedly and try and open up a gap, one final charge to the line and they're HELD UP ONCE MORE

8:14 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY FRANCE

Free piggyback out of danger and THAT'S A MASSIVE STATEMENT on defence!

8:15 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY FRANCE

Oh now they can move right into the 22! All Blacks caught in possession off a kick and this is A HUGE SWING...actually Le Garrec will take a LONG KICK AT GOAL, about 50m on the angle

8:16 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY GOAL MISS FRANCE: KICK IS...NO GOOD

HAD THE LEGS BUT OFF TO THE LEFT

Score stays the same as the All Blacks switch out their entire front row

SUBSTITUTION ALL BLACKS: CONGRATULATIONS BRODIE MCALISTER ON HIS ALL BLACK DEBUT

8:18 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): Gael Fickou with a nice carry and France dictating the tempo well here...NO!

PENALTY ALL BLACKS

Ruck infringement and DMac bangs the All Blacks down to the French 10m line AND IT'S ANOTHER MOMENTUM SHIFT

8:19 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): BOTCHED IN MIDFIELD

Ball drops to the deck and Villiere hacks it downfield, France swing back onto attack!

8:20 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

ARDIE WITH A BIG TURNOVER

All Blacks move back into the French half as both sides play sloppy rugby!

8:22 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

SUBSTITUTION ALL BLACKS: France indisciplined at the ruck! DMac boots them into the corner, ON COMES JORDIE BARRETT

8:24 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS...NO!

Finau LOSES IT near the line!

PENALTY FRANCE

Ruck infringement after and THAT'S ANOTHER ONE BLOWN FOR THE ALL BLACKS, IT'S STARTING TO ADD UP AND FRANCE CAN PROBABLY START TO TASTE IT

NOW HERE GOES JORDAN

ALL BLACKS BACK INTO THE 22

8:25 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

France caught offside and this is ANOTHER HUGE CHANCE FOR THE ALL BLACKS

DMac kicks them into the corner for another 5m lineout

8:26 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

IT'S DU'PLESSIS KIRIFI!!!

8:28 PM (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION MISS ALL BLACKS: IT WAS UGLY, BUT THEY'LL TAKE IT

The All Blacks tried to run a move off the lineout, didn't work so they reloaded and DMac was really cramped, KICKS THROUGH and Barre couldn't hold on, ball went pinging around and ended up in the hands of Kirifi to dive over.

DMac's kick is...NO GOOD

ALL BLACKS IN THE LEAD FOR THE FIRST TIME

8:30 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY FRANCE...NO!

WHAT A TACKLE JORDIE BARRETT

Bouncing ball this time works for France, spun wide and Émilien Gailleton heads towards the corner, CUT DOWN BY JORDIE AND INTO TOUCH

8:31 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): NOW A TURNOVER BY ARDIE ON HIS OWN LINE

Big play from the skipper!

All Blacks escape up to their 22

8:33 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): Good result from a DMac kick, forces Attissogbe into a tight clearance and they get a lineout on the French 10m line

8:35 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): LET OFF FOR THE ALL BLACKS

Ratima went by himself and got isolated, should've been turned over but KNOCKED ON by the French defender

Scrum All Blacks and that's the last role Ratima will play as Hotham comes on

8:36 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

Big one from the new tight five! They win a scrum penalty and this is straight in front...DMAC TOLD TO KICK FOR THE LINE AGAIN, 5M OUT FOR A LINEOUT

8:38 PM (2 MINUTES LATER), TMO REFERRAL: TRY ALL BLACKS MAYBE!!!

DALTON PAPALI'I OVER...NO!

REF SAYS HELD UP...THEN IN COMES THE TMO!

8:40 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): NO TRY!

HELD UP BUT THAT WAS VERY CLOSE

Great work by Papali'i to get there though

12 mins to play, EVERY PLAY CRUCIAL HERE

8:42 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): All Blacks start with the ball on the French 10m line and will simply aim to keep the ball in the French half...don't know if we'll see any more tries in this one!

8:43 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): MASSIVE PLAY HERE

Noah Hotham with a PERFECT KICK, makes Attissogbe clear only 10m out from his line...ALL BLACKS CAN SHUT IT DOWN HERE

8:44 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): 8 MINS TO PLAY

ALL BLACKS 10M OUT

8:46 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS...NO!

ARDIE HELD UP THIS TIME

8:47 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): 5 MINS TO PLAY

All Blacks collect the restart and run it back, ALL GAME MANAGEMENT NOW

8:48 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

BRODIE MCALISTER SCORES AND WINS THE TEST FOR THE ALL BLACKS

8:49 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION ALL BLACKS: WHAT SCENES

Take a bow Jordie Barrett, perhaps his involvement was destined after all! He takes a wrap and goes CLEAN THROUGH, holds up his run and passes to McAlister, who doesn't quite have the pace but SMARTLY DIVES EARLY, slides across the turf to ice the game for the All Blacks!

DMac's kick is...GOOD!

8:50 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): All Blacks just need to grind it out here, feeling very much like the way the first test played out.

8:52 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): GAME OVER

ALL BLACKS WIN!

And what do I think of that game? Well, there were 2 massive plays provided by Jordie Barrett (Brother of both injured All Blacks such as Beauden & captain Scott) who originally was going to be rested as planned, but after Rieko Ioane got injured a day before the test (With Sevu Reece replacing him as he goes from the right wing side to the left while Will Jordan slots in from the pine to be on the starting right wing position) & Luke Jacobson withdrawn minutes before kick off meaning that he was gutted that he couldn't play through injury sustained in the warmup (And we were stoked about the result following our 10 point win against the French who dominated in the 1st half, but it has been all New Zealand during the 2nd half as the tide was turned therefore we're heading to the Rugby Championship with a win (And bring on Argentina as we take on Los Pumas (Who have never beaten the AB's before on their home patch (They came so close in 2001, until a winning try by future All Blacks coach Scott 'Razor' Robertson brought us home at the death) as they did beat us on 3 occasions, one in Sydney in 2020 then Christchurch in 2022 & Wellington last year) on Argentinian soil for the opening rounds of the final ever Southern Hemisphere competition), he was in on the pine as he came onto the field to replace Quinn Tupaea when Barrett made the difference, such as that try saving tackle that he made on Émilien Gailleton (The one who replaced Leo Barre, but the Damian McKenzie one on Tom Wright during the Super Rugby Pacific semi between the Chiefs & the Brumbies was better), then set one up for test debutant Brodie McAlister to score the try that surely won the test for NZ (And there was Du'Plessis Kirifi scoring his first test try in just his 3rd test as he was the one who replaced Sam Cane who departed overseas), but what about Ardie Savea? He made one massive turnover during the game, showing his class that he remains as the number 1 player for the All Blacks.

And in other rugby news such as the British & Irish Lions (Who I label one of their players of Owen Farrell, as a hostile human being in world rugby because of him being the most hated rugby player in the world) draw first blood against the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane 27 to 19 which was marred by the red card against Ellis Genge (Who was originally being given a yellow card & an off-field review by our own New Zealand referee of doctor Ben O'Keefe) whose tour is over as he has been hit with a series ending suspension, before the B&I Lions secured another win at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne against the First Nations & Pasifika XV, 4 days prior to the Melbourne test at the MCG where 90,000 tickets have been sold even though with the series now on the line with the British & Irish Lions need a win to clinch the series, while for the Wallabies, well, they need a win to rescue their chances of winning the series of forcing a decider just like Queensland did against New South Wales in this year's State of Origin, then it was the world champion Springboks who extended their winning streak to 7 (Their last defeat came was against Los Pumas in Argentina last year, meaning that the Rugby Championship was on the line as South Africa would eventually complete their turnaround to secure the Southern Hemisphere rugby tournament after 5 years, before they went on their Northern tour, undefeated, then defeated Italy twice in a row to start the test year & then Georgia) after their thrashing against the Georgians just before their defence of the Rugby Championship which starts on the 17th of August.

So that is my 624th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 48th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Space Oddity/Faith: My 47th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that I have made my decision that I've put my future holiday plans to Wellington on hold permanently by cutting it short due to the fact that I seemingly have lost interest of meeting Cathey & Paige again, & Norah for the first time, & the reason why? Is that the 3 of them aren't close together with our whanau according to the comment I heard from Dad on the 2nd of July so that Paige would focus on looking after Norah by asking for respect as well as privacy being requested towards her, due to being happily married with a child with her relationship status being closed simple as that as well as being a full time mother, because she doesn't use social media a lot, but 2016 will be the last time I have ever met with Cathey & Paige so I won't be able to meet or catch up & reconnect both of them ever again in the foreseeable future, especially for the rest of my life (And I'll do my best to leave her alone since I have abandoned my plans of going on a proposed trip to Wellington).

And in the gaming news department such as Hollywood film as well as comedy star & lead singer of the American band Tenacious D of Jack Black who will reprise the role of Officer D (Who appeared in the first 3 THPS games as well as the THPS 1 + 2 remake) in the upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake (Which will feature 8 new skaters, such as young female Aussie who became the youngest X Games gold medalist at age 13 of Chloe Covell, female Brazilian Olympic star Rayssa Leal, male Japanese Olympic champion Yuto Horigome, Frenchman Aurelien Giraud, female American who was the first skater to be signed by Adidas of Nora Vasconcellos, female Filipina skater Margielyn 'Margie' Didal, male American skater Jamie Foy, & male African American skater of Zion Wright) all according to plan, along with his British counterpart of Constable Richard (The one who talks in a English accent that Black must've prepared for that role), but I recently played that game which was the early access version, & managed to get the 6 skate videos such as Tony Hawk, Tony's son Riley on the first day, then Lizzie Armanto & Leticia Bufoni on the 2nd day, & Andrew Reynolds & Nyjah Huston on the 3rd day which is the day prior to the official release (And when I played the new THPS 3 + 4 game that I did not know that skateboarding is the most popular extreme sport in the United States, but rugby is still our main sport here in New Zealand (Compared to baseball being their national pastime in America) according to the Rugby 25 PS4 game that I still play on the PS5 console (And Dad always plays the Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 4 game which is way better than Rugby 25, but he prefers Rugby League Live 4 as his main game before the new Rugby League 26 game comes out on July 17th in which the new trailer has been dropped in, according to a phone call from Dad that I made on the 10th of July, a week before its official release in which the new game will feature new try scoring animations, also new acrobatic tries being scored especially in the corner, & there'll be new Aussie Rules style contestable high ball animations).

And onto a motor racing related story that I have revealed that WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, has always been my fave IndyCar Series track (But I like Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval & Road Course, Mid-Ohio & Road America as well), compared to the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia being my favourite Supercars Championship circuit & the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park in Australia being my fave Formula 1 track (Along with the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, Circuit de Monaco, Interlagos, Monza, Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Spa, Suzuka & Yas Marina that I like), & Daytona International Speedway Oval being my favourite NASCAR track (Along with Homestead Miami Speedway, the aforementioned Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval & Watkins Glen Short Circuit as the others that I also like) according to the 2023 version of Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo 7 & F1 25 (Which had been released to critical acclaim in terms of the rave reviews just like F1: The Movie starring Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt (For most people saying that it's the best sports movie ever (I'm getting it on Blu-ray once it comes out next time when I'm in Palmy of Palmerston North at JB Hi-Fi with either Dad & Raewyn or Pops & Carole (And I have not watched the movie though), & it was way better than the Sly Stallone CART/Champ Car movie came out way back in 2001 of Driven), meaning that it has much improved from last year's F1 24 game where it was a shambles) games that I always play.

And finally the AB's have named their team to play against France for the 3rd test at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton (Our last meeting between the 2 sides was on July 12th in which in fact we beat the French again by thumping them in an emphatic score line, meaning that the Dave Gallaher trophy returns to New Zealand after 7 years) before they hop on the plane to Argentina (Who have never beaten New Zealand on home soil before because of them beating us 3 times in Sydney 2020, then Christchurch in 2022 & Wellington last year) in the opening rounds of the last ever Rugby Championship, so here is the team naming in its entirety:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)

2 (Hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho (Chiefs/Waikato)

3 (Tight head prop): Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes/Tasman)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues/Auckland)

5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)

LOOSE FORWARDS

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

7 (Open side flanker): Du'Plessis Kirifi (Hurricanes/Wellington)

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

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cortez Ratima (Chiefs/Waikato)

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

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs/Waikato)

13 (Centre): Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs/Waikato)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Sevu Reece (Crusaders/Southland)

14 (Right wing): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& 15 (Fullback): Ruben Love (Hurricanes/Wellington)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): Brodie McAlister (Who is in line for his test debut off the pine, replacing his Chiefs teammate Taukei'aho who is elevated to the starting lineup to replace regular first choice hooker Codie Taylor)

17 (Reserve loose head prop): George Bower (Who'll return to the fold to make his first appearance for the AB's since 2022 against England at Twickenham as he takes Ollie Norris's place at reserve loose head prop)

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Who is dropped to the bench as Tyrel Lomax makes a timely return from injury to start a tighthead prop replacing him)

19 (Reserve loose forward): Dalton Papali'i (Who is set to return to the AB's after originally being dropped from the original squad until assuming the call-up for the 3rd test to replace Samipeni Finau who is promoted to the run-on team as the starting blindside flanker position to take place of the concussed Tupou Vaa'i)

20 (Reserve loose forward): Christian Lio-Willie (Who is dropped to the bench with Du'Plessis Kirifi elevated to the starting lineup to replace the unfortunate Luke Jacobson who pulls out through injury minutes before kick-off)

21 (Reserve half-back): Noah Hotham (Who comes back for his first All Black game this year off the bench to replace Cortez Ratima who too earns his promotion to the starting lineup at the starting halfback position, replacing Cam Roigard who is rested for this game)

22 (Reserve back): Timoci Tavatavanawai

& 23 (Reserve midfielder): Jordie Barrett (Who is dropped to the bench at the reserve back position after he originally being planned to be rested for this test, therefore replacing Will Jordan who gets his wish of starting at 14 after also originally named on the pine, replacing Sevu Reece who is moved to the left wing position in the aftermath of Rieko Ioane who had to pull out through injury, just a day before the test).

So that is my 623rd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 47th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

All the Things She Said: My 46th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everybody, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that the American cities of Los Angeles, then New York has turned into a war zone with protests everywhere left, right & centre as protesters clash with police that resulted multiple arrests in a civil unrest about illegal immigration being stamped out by that greedy leader.

And secondly in the Cricket as Lord's in London, England gears up for a surprise showdown of the World Test Championship final between defending champions Australia led by its inspirational skipper Pat Cummins, & first time finalists South Africa led by its first African captain Temba Bavuma in the ultimate test (And 6 cricket legends have been inducted into ICC's hall of fame such as both South Africans of Hashim Amla & Graeme Smith, an Aussie of Matthew Hayden, an Indian of MS Dhoni (Who was unable to be there due to security reasons), a female Pakistani cricketer Sana Mir & our own Black Cap Daniel Vettori who is the 4th New Zealand to be inducted after Debby Hockley, the late Martin Crowe & our most famous cricket specimen above them all, Sir Richard 'Paddles' Hadlee) at the most iconic cricket ground of Lord's (Along with the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia & Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India as the others that are most iconic) in London, England, but there has been an update as South Africa (Led by the first black captain of Temba Bavuma who battled through injury just to be there on that memorable occasion (He although missed the semifinal defeat against Australia (Who couldn't make the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup when they unsuccessfully defended their title that they won in 2021, a year before they completed the treble such as the World Test Championship first against India who had to appear in another final at the Oval in London, then the Ashes in which they defended it against England in England despite the series ended in a draw, & last but not least, beating the hosts at the time when they took on India (Who had a redemption story that after they missed out on beating Australia in the men's ODI Cricket World Cup in 2023 that they won the men's T20 World Cup last year instead in the West Indies against the South Africans in the final at Bridgetown, Barbados ironically, in Virat Kohli's final ever T20 international match before retiring in that format), then 9 months later, they would add the Champions Trophy to their trophy cabinet this year when they would gone on to beat the Black Caps of New Zealand in the final in Dubai in the UAE) again to silence the 130,000 pro-Indian crowd just to pull off the Ahmedabad heist of winning their record extending 6th men's ODI CWC crown) during the 2023 men's ODI Cricket World Cup, a year before South Africa narrowly missed out against India in the T20 World Cup final in the West Indies last year in which they didn't get the result, & I mean, who loves redemption stories in cricket anyway? Somebody go & ask them by telling someone thinking about that one if anyone is a cricket fanatic) finally at long last, win the World Test Championship for the first time after 27 years of heartache behind them (Well, their rugby team of the Springboks had dominated the rugby field when they won the men's Rugby World Cup like 4 times (Including in 2019 where they won in Japan then they went back to back in France in 2023 under the leadership taken from the global sporting icon of 'The Bear', Siya Kolisi (Who is understandably, a good friend of the South African cricket captain Temba Bavuma), & now it's their cricket team's time to shine for the historic first ever ICC senior men's international tournament when they won the WTC this year. And in your life, have you ever seen anything like it? But it's over, it's over! It's a first World Test Championship for South Africa! And I've got to stop, because I've got a lump in my throat. South Africa, are the champions) as they went on to defeat the reigning champions Australia (It's their first defeat in the final for the Aussie pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood & captain Pat Cummins, while Temba Bavuma, maintains his unbeaten record as captain of South Africa in the test format) by 5 wickets, including that magnificent knock by opening South African batter Aiden Markram who top scored 136 during the 2nd innings that proved to be the winning knock where he got the player of the game honours, before he got dismissed with Travis Head taking the catch off the bowling of Hazlewood (Who was prioritizing the IPL over the WTC final, but there was muted celebrations behind the Aussie camp as every Aussie player congratulated Markram by appreciating them, just before Kyle Verreyne (Who thought he was out caught behind, but Australia had ran out of reviews to speak with because they used all 3 of them, but nothing had come down to that) had to score the winning runs as the whole of South Africa went berserk (Especially back home), sending the fans into a frenzy as the crowd erupt (And I was like, damn hell, they did it so, un-damn-believable, but it's so damn awesome if you're a South African, not so much if you're an Aussie (And the World Test Championship final this year to me, is the match that made Aiden Markram, mainly due to his performance in the 2nd innings that he got a ton or century I should say which was the game changer, as no one have backed Australia while everyone including Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & the West Indies were rooting or I should say, supporting South Africa all the way throughout that entire final).

And thirdly that it's official, I'm back on Facebook after over a decade since Dad set me up a private Facebook account since I've got my new phone recently, so I've got 29 friends now I guess (Including Pops (Who thought about getting a new car which is an MG in a couple of days to trade in with his old Ford Fiesta from 2005 for which repairs had cost $5,000, but that's unlikely), Dad, Carole, Raewyn, Aunty Tan, Kathryn & others) on that social media platform, but I'm trying to reconnect with my mates from the past (And both Cathey Middelplaats & Paige (Who I have not seen both gorgeous ladies since 2016 where I last saw both of them) have yet to accept my friend request because it might take a while to sort or suss it out (And believe me that it's unlikely that they both won't accept my friend request mainly due to the two of them who hardly use social media just because they have their jobs, as well as they're looking after their kids such as Cathey's son Nico & Paige's daughter Norah for example, but Paige (Who is friends with Pops, Raewyn & Kathryn) has blocked me on Facebook saying that we were never ever going to be friends with us on the social media platform anytime, ever (Unless I still want to meet her one day next time when I'm in Wellington) by adding friends (There was one person who liked me which is Ken's son Will that I've met back in 2016, so too is Ayesha (Who is Zaki's wife that I met her before in 2020 but I think she started to like me on Facebook because she was impressed that I added her as a friend, & Russell Karu (Friend of Nigel who lives in Hamilton in the Waikato province for which he is a Harvard University trained lawyer, but I was alluding to Pops on the 16th of June (Just right prior to Carole's 73rd birthday this year) that I must've uttered the famous words of "Somebody get me to Middlemore Hospital, I must've been involved in a wreck!" after we were involved in a minor collision from a musician who was speeding whilst on his way late to a gig) who liked me), but I am overcoming my social media fear a little bit since I returned to Facebook.

And finally news just in the rugby department as the AB's reclaim & clinch the Dave Gallaher Series for the first time since 2018 after a resounding win against France (Who had the son of an Irish player of Josh Brennan who got sin binned for a lifting tackle on All Black second five Jordie Barrett before he deliberately headbutted him with his head to the head of Jordie (Who had to be subbed off to get checked for a head knock which Timoci Tavatavanawai who'd been able to get his first taste in international rugby, then passed after being given the all clear) for which the TMO should have checked as well) at Sky Stadium in Wellington, so let's relive the last 40 minutes of the test:

8:06 PM: UNDERWAY IN THE SECOND HALF

Joris Segonds to kick off for the French

8:07 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): Good work by Attissogbe off the kick off and France swing onto attack...NO

Put his foot in touch and that's just as well for the All Blacks as France had a massive overlap back the other way

8:09 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): LINEOUT STOLEN

All Blacks attack, nice run by Rieko and they're into the French half...KNOCKED ON

That was promising but comes to naught, France with a scrum on their 10m line

PENALTY ALL BLACKS

Not sure what happened there but the ref changed his mind! Beauden boots the All Blacks into the 22 for a great chance early in the second half.

8:10 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): LINEOUT BOTCHED

France clear upfield...PENALTY FRANCE

Once again accidental offside off a kick and France march straight back down to the All Black 10m line

8:13 PM (3 MINUTES LATER), SUBSTITUTION: FRENCH BOMB SQUAD

They empty the bench in one go...NOW THEY FLY INTO THE 22, should be a try out wide, NO!

Great work by Rieko on defence!

Intercepts the pass but goes into touch, France with a 5m lineout though

8:15 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY FRANCE!!!!

LEO BARRE OVER

8:18 PM (3 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION FRANCE: WELL DESERVED

France hit the All Blacks with everything there, smashing into the edge of the defence before it went went wide sharply from Le Garrec and Barre came cruising in on an angle to dive over.

Le Garrec's kick is...GOOD

FRANCE LOOK TO COME BACK

8:20 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

Proctor did really well off another bomb, retained possession and the speed caught the French offside, ROIGARD TAPS AND GO'S, they move into the 22

8:21 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

This time they slow it down and Beauden kicks to the corner

8:22 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

WILL JORDAN OVER

8:23 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): Pretty much what the French just did down the other end - targeted phase play around the edge of the defence and then Jordie popped a beautiful offload to almost send Proctor over, quick ball and Beauden found Jordan in a big bit of space, he walked it in.

Beauden's kick is...GOOD

ALL BLACKS RESTORE THE LEAD

8:26 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): TRY FRANCE...NO!

Held up over the line and that's a big let off for the All Blacks, came off a turnover from the kick-off, one area where the All Blacks haven't been very accurate

8:27 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

Now a good bit of breakdown work and they escape up to halfway

8:29 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): Nice backline move and kicked through, GREAT BOUNCE FOR RIEKO, he almost scores and the All Blacks set up shop in the French 22.

8:30 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

RIEKO IOANE OVER

8:36 PM (6 MINUTES LATER): WHAT SLICK HANDS

Quick phase play again, this time it's Kirifi with the nice touch with a perfect flick to Jordie, one more pass and Rieko slides in...HE LOVES IT! Points to his own name on the screen!

Beauden's kick is...GOOD

MASSIVE LEAD NOW FOR THE ALL BLACKS

8:39 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): 12 mins to play and this one is playing out the way we thought this series would go.

8:42 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): Can really start to wrap this one now, obviously a very sharp performance by the All Blacks, most notably in the way they forced the pace on attack. The offloading has been very strong, as well as the tactical kicking battle against a French side that was committed to the boot from the start.

8:43 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): France with a bit of possession in the All Black half as we wind down towards the end.

8:44 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): France with one last attacking chance, they get a lineout in the All Black 22

8:46 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY FRANCE...NO

Held up over the line once again and we come back for a penalty to France

8:47 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY FRANCE

JOSH BRENNAN OVER

8:48 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): Nice bit of fight by the French but too little, too late. The big lock Brennan gets the final barge over after a series of pick and go's.

Antoine Hastoy's kick is...GOOD

8:51 PM: GAME OVER

ALL BLACKS WIN BIG AND TAKE THE SERIES

And in other rugby results such as the British & Irish Lions had a clean sheet win for the first time since 2013 against the Combined NSW/Queensland team in Newcastle over the AU/NZ Invitational XV team (Whose preparations had been lacking going into the game, but there was an serious injury by Luke Cowan-Dickie whose Lions tour is over, meanwhile Owen Farrell makes a return by appearing his 4th Lions tour as came out onto the field that the crowd were either happy or stunned according to the reaction after his last international appearance for England was against Argentina during the 3rd/4th place playoff at the previous men's Rugby World Cup, while the hero of that game went to Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe who got a hat trick during that game) at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, & then the Springboks go 2 & 0 this year when they defeated Italy again which was marred by the sending off of a Springbok player who played in the number 8 position for a headbutt on an Italian player (And there was a certain try scored by South Africa being cancelled out from the TMO due to an obstruction that I saw from the Sky rugby programme, the Breakdown, but there was 3 crazy plays such as South Africa started the match by doing a short kickoff which hadn't gone the 10 that allowed the Italians to be awarded the scrum in order to quicken play, & also not once, but twice that the Springboks utilized the lineout lifting in order to form a maul after a player passes the ball during general play, reminds me straight out of schoolboy rugby back in South Africa according to the viral video that they sent on social media) & England who would gone on to secure another win against Argentina (Who fell short again, but their last win came was against the B&I Lions in Dublin to secure one of the most famous victories in a game of rugby) in San Juan as they won the series 2 - 0.

So that is my 622nd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 46th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

A Horse with No Name: My 45th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first in the European football/soccer department such as Portugal led by it's captain of the wily old veteran of Cristiano Ronaldo (Will he make it into the World Cup next year at age 41 if Portugal qualify? I think he might too old to play regardless of his age) & their star man Ruben Dias, has become the first side to win 2 UEFA Nations League titles to become the most successful, as they upstaged the defending champions of both the Nations League & the Euros of Spain which featured the likes of young gun Lamine Yamal, & their star player Pedri, in the final which was held in Muenchen, Germany (And France led by it's star man better known as the Antoine Dupont (The most successful rugby player (An Olympic champion in men's rugby sevens for his country at his home Olympics in Paris last year currently playing for Toulouse who still became champions of the Top 14 after their win against the ill-disciplined European champions Bourdeaux-Begles, while Leinster (Who had Jordie Barrett claim a URC winner's medal before heading back home to New Zealand to be selected for the All Blacks) won the URC against the HB Sharks in the final in Dublin & Bath winning the Gallagher Premiership after their victory against Leicester Tigers in London) who attended the French Open men's singles final, along with British F1 star George Russell (The winner at the most recent Grand Prix race in Canada after both McLaren's of championship contenders Lando Norris (Who won in Monaco therefore surging back into championship contention against his McLaren teammate before managing but consolidating his 3rd victory of the season in Austria where he finished ahead of Piastri while Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium (And there was a 6th place finish by our own Kiwi F1 star of Liam Lawson (There was once a golden generation of F1 drivers here in New Zealand such as the late Denny Hulme, the late Bruce McLaren & the late Chris Amon whose statue was unveiled in front of his families of the 3 (There was Adele Hulme (Daughter of the late Denny), then Amanda McLaren (Daughter of the late Bruce) & the siblings of Georgie & James (Daughter & son of the late Chris), & 17 Ferrari cars at his hometown in Bulls according to the newspaper article that I saw on Whanganui Chronicle (And I was alluding to Pops that next time when I go to Bulls with him that I should pay a visit to the statue honoring the late Amon (And there is a Māori rugby referee who is named after the late Chris Amon of Amon Rimene who is a passionate motor racing fan even if he is not officiating), who managed to achieve his best result in Formula One), going into his home British Grand Prix at Silverstone where he is the favourite to win the Grand Prix & for McLaren in their homecoming in front of his adoring home fans in terms of his form) & Oscar Piastri tangle at each other who is one of 4 Brits lining up on the F1 grid alongside multiple world champion of Hamilton (Currently racing in the Ferrari), McLaren's Norris, & young Ollie Bearman (Haas), & was involved in an avoidable collision during the Spanish Grand Prix with the 4 time defending world champion Max Verstappen who now has got 11 penalty points, 1 more before he gets suspended for one race for the accumulation of penalty points (And either our own Kiwi Liam Lawson could return to Red Bull Racing or one of the Frenchmen of Isack Hadjar who is in line to replace Max if he's found to be banned once he gets 12 penalty points (And the test & reserve driver of Racing Bulls of Japan's Ayumu Iwasa could potentially make his F1 debut for VCARB if either Lawson or Hadjar fills in for the suspended Verstappen (He doesn't want to get one because Kevin Magnussen was the last to be banned for a single race which was last year where he missed the Azerbajian Grand Prix with Bearman (Who made his debut in Formula One for Ferrari (Who successfully won the Le Mans 24 Hours 3 times in a row which was in June this year, but their 4th placed car eventually got disqualified for a flexi-wing part that has gone missing, especially the bolt stuff) in Saudi Arabia last year due to Carlos Sainz being unavailable to race through appendicitis) substituting for him & before that, it was Romain Grosjean who was sidelined in Italy back in 2012 due to a one race suspension for reckless, rough driving during the opening lap in Belgium (Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio filled in for him), 2 years prior to the penalty points system in Formula One was implemented also back in 2014 as part of changes to the loophole) along with his partner) of French football/soccer of Kylian Mbappe (A former PSG (Who I have not mentioned them winning the UEFA Champions League against Inter Milan in the final even though with the French fans who erupted about their win (Then they fell short against Chelsea who would win the expanded Football/Soccer Club World Cup in the final for their first trophy since the Intercontinental Cup in 2021) meanwhile Crystal Palace became the new FA Cup champions after victory against Man City) player currently playing for Real Madrid whose idol is Cristiano Ronaldo, compared to Yamal's hero growing up is Lionel Messi) finished 3rd after their win against Germany over in Stuttgart).

And secondly in tennis such as Coco Gauff who would gone on to defeat the number 1 ranked Aryna Sabalenka to claim the women's singles crown at Roland Garros during the French Open, just a day before Carlos Alcaraz (Who alluded to Sinner (Who has an Eastern European partner named Anna Kalininskaia who is also a tennis player) after the final saying that he was sorry that he had to beat him, & that's why then, but that's what's happened) who would able to stun number 1 ranked Jannik Sinner to complete the greatest comeback in tennis history to dispatch the Italian opponent after being both sets down just to retain the men's singles title (And the Alcaraz-Sinner encounter is very similar to the Djokovic-Tsitsipas one in 2021, & the Rafa-Meddy matchup in Australia in 2022 that they once had, but there was the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry that lasted from the mid noughties to late 2010s, but now the younger generation of male tennis players have taken over such as the likes of both Alcaraz & Sinner as of today for which they created a new rivalry being forged between them).

And thirdly that I'm a motor racing fanatic because of me mainly playing Gran Turismo 7 on the PS5 daily (My favourite cars of the game would have to be one DTM & the 3 modern Super GT cars, as well as the SF19 & SF23 Super Formula cars (The SF19 one is much quicker than SF23 in terms of grip, while the Honda powered Super Formula car is faster than the Toyota powered ones, on both instances), & my most thing that I always love, which is the Grand Turismo F3500-A car which is inspired by early 90's Formula One & is based of the Williams FW14B Formula One car from 1992, but the recent Forza Motorsport update includes IndyCar to go along with classic Formula One such as Grand Prix Rivals & Formula 70's, as well as NASCAR, Supercars Championship, the Trans-Am Series TA class & GTX Sports Cars), despite that the fact that I'm always mainly a rugby fanatic just like Pops (Who has still slightly got vertigo which is halfway through for which is partially gone, but I mainly play Rugby 25 (PS4 version) on the PS5 console in which the rugby game which came out in February at launch was dreadful of not having enough rave reviews, saying that it was a complete mess), but I like tennis because of Carole who mainly follows the sport, totally (Mainly because of me playing the Tiebreak tennis game on the PS5 console (Well, I play the PS4 version of it for which I've got it on Aunty Tan's birthday on the 10th of June).

And finally the AB's have named their team to play against France for the 2nd test at Sky Stadium in Wellington (Our last meeting between the 2 sides was on July 5th in which in fact we at last beating the French (Who had to come over to NZ to send their B team all along) after 7 long years, but the last time we lost a home test, it was at that same ground against Los Pumas of Argentina during the opening round of the Rugby Championship last year) on Saturday, July 12th (On the same day as AU/NZ Invitational (A team consisting of both Aussie & Kiwi players) play the British & Irish Lions (Who'll have their last hit out before taking on the Wallabies in the 1st test at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane scheduled on the 19th of July) at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide), so here is the team naming in its entirety:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)

2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)

3 (Tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Crusaders/Canterbury)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues/Auckland)

5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Tupou Vaa'i (Chiefs/Taranaki)

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

8 (Number 8): Christian Lio-Willie (Crusaders/Otago)

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): Billy Proctor (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Emoni Narawa (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)

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

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ollie Norris

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve loose forward): Samipeni Finau

20 (Reserve loose forward): Du'Plessis Kirifi

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima

22 (Reserve midfielder): Timoci Tavatavanawai (The one that Pops loves the most who is a fan of him in which he'll make his test debut on the pine as he takes Quinn Tupaea's place at the reserve midfield position)

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie

So that is my 621st blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 45th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Games Without Frontiers/Sledgehammer: My 44th blog of the year 2025

Well, what's up guys, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that I hope that Pops is OK because he's been admitted to hospital due to low blood pressure (And it could be the ear as he undergoes tests according to the COVID stricken Dad who alluded to me on the phone), but all fingers crossed of him of getting well (And Dad has COVID again now so he won't be attending my 34th birthday dinner at Caroline's until he is better, unless Pops has still got health related issues, but now that he has vertigo because Pops is scared of heights that make him experience dizziness such as headaches, Dad had just informed me a day before his 56th birthday according to the latest update that he is heading back home either on the evening of the 4th of June or June 5th during the day) while this could be a prolonged wait because of Carole & Dad calling me about the updates that had just sent in (And it was between 10 to 11 that I last heard from Carole about Pops being in hospital as a result of health problems), but Pops Ford Fiesta is experiencing troubles such as a car won't move while attempting to accelerate (And it could be the gearbox as well, so they fixed it which was worth of $5,000 in repairs, but the car radio is fully operational again so I can listen to it now like my fave radio station of Brian FM for example), so Dad told me on King's Birthday this year that Pops car might have to sell it, then buy a new one which is a cheap, used car which is an MG.

And secondly the NBA finals for the 2024-25 season is set, it will be the Indiana Pacers (Who are competing in their first NBA finals appearance since 1999-2000) squaring off against the Oklahoma City Thunder (The last time the Thunder had even appeared in the NBA finals, it was in 2011-12 where they fell short to a star studded Miami Heat side consisting of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade & Chris Bosh at the time), even with both sides have failed to win a single NBA Championship each before, compared to the Stanley Cup this year in which they'll be a repeat of last year when the Florida Panthers & their quest of retaining the Stanley Cup when they go up against the Edmonton Oilers desperate to end a long drought that stretches back to 1990, & also end the utter 21 year American teams dominance on top of the NHL.

And thirdly it was on the day after my birthday that I've got my new phone that I got from the Warehouse, & it looks so beautiful from the inside meaning that I'm on Messenger now according to the private Facebook account that I've got now (And I'm trying to befriend my old mates from the past way back then), & I got to listen to Brian FM but I can't make calls because I haven't got debit stuff (And I've got it on the 15th of June on a monthly plan from 2degrees for which is 100 hours of calls).

And finally that the AB's (They had a try by Jordie Barrett being denied by the TMO for an obstruction before the French pounced on from scoring it from the other end, then 2 further tries from the All Blacks by both Billy Proctor & Will Jordan had to be overturned by Aussie Television Match Official Damon Murphy during the time that France were down to 14 players, but New Zealand have lost winger Sevu Reece after being subbed off to get checked for a head injury in which he looked a bit groggy inside the very first minute whilst attempting to tackle young Frenchman Theo Atissogbe, then Reece failed so he didn't take further part, & also Scott Barrett with a slight niggle with the AB's expected to make 2 or 3 injury enforced changes for the next test against the French in Wellington) had a close win against France to open proceedings of the test season this year as we finally ended a 7 year drought against the French who had to send their B team here with one of their front line players unavailable on that occasion, therefore breaking or I should say, snapping that wretched 3 match losing streak against them, so let's relive the last 40 minutes of the test:

8:04 PM: Joris Segonds to kick off for France

UNDERWAY IN THE SECOND HALF

8:05 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), SCRUM FRANCE: KNOCKED ON

Rieko with a bad mistake and hands France a scrum straight away in the 22.

8:07 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY FRANCE!!!

GABIN VILLIERE OVER

8:09 PM (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION FRANCE: Oh man, what a calamity on defence for the All Blacks!

France kept knocking on the door, really nice work by Guillard to get the momentum going, then a HUGE GAP opened up in midfield, Villiere needed no invitation and sped through to score.

Le Garrec's kick is...GOOD!

FRANCE MAKE IT A ONE POINT GAME!

8:10 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): ALL BLACKS ALMOST HIT BACK STRAIGHT AWAY

Roigard goes for a snipe, STRAIGHT THROUGH, All Blacks into the 22!

8:11 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

WILL JORDAN GETS A DOUBLE

8:13 PM (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION ALL BLACKS: THAT WAS SLICK

If the All Blacks can just get a few things right on defence their attack is working really well, this time some quick ball saw Vaa'i go close, then the commitment to the front door runner plaid off again, space created for Jordan to blast through and dive over.

Beauden's kick is...GOOD!

8:15 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): HERE COME FRANCE AGAIN

INTO THE 22

8:16 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): TRY FRANCE!!!

CAMERON WOKI OVER

8:17 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION FRANCE: THEY'RE GOING PUNCH AND COUNTER PUNCH

This time it was another mistake from the kickoff, Jacobus van Tonder with A HUGE RUN, splits the defence and almost scores, France keep it patient, the veteran Woki found his spot and DIVED OVER UNDER THE POSTS!

Le Garrec's kick is...GOOD!

FRANCE REFUSING TO YIELD

8:21 PM (4 MINUTES LATER), SUBSTITUTION ALL BLACKS: DU'PLESSIS KIRIFI ON FOR HIS ALL BLACK DEBUT

Beauden with a chip ahead for Jordan...TAKEN!

He moves up to the 22 and this game is going at 100 miles an hour!

8:24 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

YELLOW CARD GABIN VILLIERE

Deliberate knock down! Unlucky for the French winger, he's been really good but that hands the All Blacks a great chance in the 22.

8:26 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

BILLY PROCTOR SCORES!!

8:27 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), TMO REFERRAL: WAIT, HERE'S THE TMO...NO TRY!

Proctor knocked it on over the line!

8:28 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): 20 mins to play and it's ANYONE'S GAME

8:29 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): GREAT KICK JORDIE

Sends a bomb high and claimed by Jordan, then Roigard kicks again, Attisogbe under pressure and has to force it dead.

8:32 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): All Blacks win it on the French 10m line, AGAIN IT'S OUT TO JORDAN, kicks ahead and this time Attisigbe fields it in front of his tryline, France with a rushed clearance! Lineout 10m out and a big chance here!

TRY ALL BLACKS!!!

WILL JORDAN GETS A HAT TRICK!

8:34 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): HE'S BEEN FANTASTIC

TMO REFERRAL: Jordan may well have got the crucial score there, once again...UH OH...IT'S THE TMO AGAIN AND WE'RE CHECKING OBSTRUCTION

8:36 PM (2 MINUTE LATER): NO TRY!

Extremely unpopular call there, very marginal contact and France escape from danger

8:37 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): 15 MINS TO PLAY

8:38 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): All Blacks have played the vast majority of the half in French territory, it must be noted. Both sides have rung the changes and it feels like France are making it up as they go along with the meagre ball they're getting.

8:39 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), SUBSTITUTION ALL BLACKS: CONGRATULATIONS OLLIE NORRIS, ON FOR HIS ALL BLACK DEBUT

8:42 PM (3 MINUTES LATER): France rumble it up to halfway...TURNOVER!

All Blacks swing onto attack, NICE WORK ARDIE and they're into the 22!

TURNOVER!

France with a massive play in their 22, they boot it back to halfway!

8:43 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): 10 mins to play!

8:45 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): BLINDSIDE RAID, QUICK HANDS AND JORDIE IS AWAY, CHIPS AHEAD...GREAT TAKE AT THE BACK BY ATTISOGBE, saved a try there!

8:47 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

France offside and this is a big play here!

15m in from touch on the 22 and Barrett will have a shot at goal, All Blacks backing their defence for the last 7 mins it seems!

CONVERSION ALL BLACKS: KICK IS...GOOD!

ALL BLACKS JUST NEED TO TACKLE NOW

8:49 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): Good sequence for France, they win a kicking battle and set themselves up with a lineout near the All Black 22.

8:50 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): FRANCE SMASH THEIR WAY INTO THE 22

8:51 PM (1 MINUTE LATER), SCRUM FEED ALL BLACKS: KNOCKED ON!

BIG HIT ON TAOFIFENUA AND HE LOSES IT FORWARD!

That may have just won the game!

All Blacks with a scrum 15m out from their line.

8:52 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): PENALTY ALL BLACKS

MASSIVE SCRUM AND THEY MOVE ALL THE WAY TO HALFWAY

All they have to do now us close the game out.

8:54 PM (2 MINUTES LATER): All Blacks grinding it down...

8:55 PM (1 MINUTE LATER): GAME OVER

ALL BLACKS WIN AND THAT'S THEIR 500TH TEST VICTORY

Probably not in the convincing manner they would've liked though.

And other results in the rugby such as Scotland overcome a yellow card to dispatch the Māori All Blacks in Whangarei at the death, while Japan have made rugby history as they clatter Wales (Who are now have lost 18 in a row which is an unwanted record since their last victory stretching back to the men's Rugby World Cup pool game against Georgia in 2023) in Kitakyushu before the British & Irish Lions (Who beat the Queensland Reds in their 2nd match of the tour) remain undefeated on Australian soil during the tour with a win against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney before travelling to Canberra to take on the Brumbies, & won in which they completed their clean sweep against Aussie Super Rugby Pacific teams, a day before a match winning try from Wallabies captain Harry Wilson, KO's Fiji in Newcastle meaning that Australia went into the Lions series with a win against the Fijians, & Italy put up a fair fight against the world champion Springboks who had to win in the end (And I once saw on TV that the fireworks must've gone off when the Springboks famed bomb squad came onto the field according to the Aotearoa Rugby Pod programme that I saw on TV because I have not seen anything like that in modern day rugby before where it is like a T20 cricket match where the fireworks had gone off every time a batter scores a 6 or if a bowler picks up a wicket).

So that is my 620th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 44th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Love Remains the Same/Hooked/Processed Beats: My 43rd blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everybody, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that I fear it might be a likelihood of current Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus who is attempting to become the first head coach in history to win a 2nd men's Rugby World Cup, surely not while the All Blacks tried & failed back in 2019 that the Springboks are trying to win 3 men's Rugby World Cups in a row to continue their dynasty (Just like Emirates Team New Zealand did last year against INEOS Britannia (Now renamed Athena Racing Limited) in Barcelona, Spain where our country was still the giants of world sailing, but our dominance began in Bermuda back in 2017 against the all-Aussie crew of Oracle Team USA, before we had our 2nd successful defence of the Auld Mug against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli co-led by Aussie Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni, & the aforementioned one from last year that I already did), damn that (And if Damian Willemse (Who was one of the 25 Springbok players along with the 14 All Blacks & 5 Wallabies that have won the World Cup twice) is fit & available that he's also attempting to become the first player to win 3 men's Rugby World Cups, unlike Sam Whitelock tried & failed in 2023), because I always wanted the AB's to win in Australia 2027 (But we are facing stiff competition from South Africa as well as Argentina, France, & the hosts of the Wallabies), that is my pledge to end our country's drought that stretches back to 2015 which was a decade ago, in which the last time New Zealand had won rugby's global showpiece event, even before the Springbok dominance began back in 2019, & continued on in 2023 when they became the 2nd team to defend it meaning that South Africa has always been the tougher side in the international game according to Pops who told me before (And our next meeting against the Springboks (Who have selected a squad as part of their training camp with Evan Roos being left out of the team while Faf de Klerk (One of Pops fave Springbok players compared to Siya Kolisi being my favourite rugby player from the South African team) returns to the squad while Ntokozo Makhaza is one of the fresh new faces in the Springbok squad (Although they have included a Northampton Saints player of Juarno Augustus who is one of the uncapped players in the team as well as young Sascha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who remains with the squad) is round 3 of the final ever Rugby Championship this year, where South Africa are willing to become the first team since France (Who'll send a full strength team (But not as they're going to send a B team instead) for the 3 match test series against us in July this year as they attempt to become the 2nd team after Ireland to beat the All Blacks in a test series during the professional era (Including the 3rd & final test in Hamilton has been sold out on that occasion because tickets were ever popular on demand), in which the French haven't done that since 1994, 2 years even before the professional era began) way, way back in 1994, to win against the All Blacks at Eden Park as well as the city of Auckland).

And secondly that Pops alluded to me that 220 had turned out to attend the funeral service of 'Wally Wal' Ngapo (First Andy Ngapo, then him, now that our Ngapo whanau born during the baby boomer era such as Pops & Kathryn are down to both survivors (Just like the Beatles had lost both John Lennon due to an assassination from a gunman, & George Harrison as a result of a terminal illness way back in 2001 (Same year that the late Sir Peter Blake was gunned down by those pretty filthy Brazilian pirates), & the reason why? That both Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr are the remaining Beatles members that are still alive as of today), including Kathryn, Ken, Ben, Huia, Gemma, Rosalie, Narlea, Steven, Euyfemya, Di, Che & others like Lenny, but when Pops went home back to Whanganui, his car went flat as he left the lights on so he has to tell the guys to get his car running (And Dad called me about the situation, so too is Carole), & it worked well when the batteries had been plugged in which cost about $30, but he was home safe & sound.

And thirdly that I went to bed at quarter past 7 on the 28th of May, & had a massive dream about me wanting to, or I should say requesting a move to Wellington with Dad (Who alluded to me on the phone before that he has zero interest of moving to Wellington after Pops passes away due to possibly old age because of Whanganui being preferred his hometown), Raewyn & Raewyn's daughter (And I wanted a house with a flat) once Pops passes away due to old age (Although he once said to me on May 29th that the late Nana Minnie lived to be 95 so Pops wants to live until he is in his 90's just like the famous American professor Noam Chomsky) so that our whanau could catch up with Cathey, Paige & Norah in the future one day, hopefully (And I'll call Dad about it, because it will have to be after school) if we get enough money to buy a cheap property like in Petone for example, even if Dad acquires a fortune from Pops once he passes away if we have enough money to sell both Pops & Dad's places here in Whanganui.

And finally the AB's have named their team to play against France for our first test match in 224 days, as well as our highly anticipated first test match of the year at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin (Our last meeting between the 2 sides was last year in which in fact we lost the test by a single point at the Stade de France (Venue for much of the Paris Summer Games there) in Paris, but the last time the French beat us on NZ soil was in 2009 at the old Carisbrook where they opened the test season in style with Sebastien Chabal providing the starring role) which happens on the 5th of July which is Pops birthday so here is the team naming in full:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)

2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)

3 (Tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Crusaders/Canterbury)

SECOND ROW

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

5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Tupou Vaa'i (Chiefs/Taranaki)

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

8 (Number 8): Christian Lio-Willie (Crusaders/Otago)

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): Billy Proctor (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

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

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

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ollie Norris

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve loose forward): Samipeni Finau

20 (Reserve loose forward): Du'Plessis Kirifi

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima

22 (Reserve midfielder): Quinn Tupaea

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie

So that is my 619th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 43rd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

MORE/S!CK: My 42nd blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger (And this is a double post, remember. Please acknowledge), but first in the gaming department that there are rumours & speculation about GTA IV: the Definitive edition remastered (Which will have the main game as well as both expansion packs (AKA DLC) such as the Lost & Damned (TLAD), & the most successful of them all which is the Ballad of Gay Tony (TBOGT) about to be release late this year (In which the year of 2025, should be a gigantic year in terms of gaming you have to say compared to 2019 & 2005 as well) on current gen consoles in place of Grand Theft Auto VI who have since changed the release date to May 26th next year for which I'll be getting (It would have to be the PS5 version of the game since I got the PS5 Pro), but the new Rugby League 26 video game by Big Ant Studios (The makers of the Cricket series like Cricket 24 & the upcoming Cricket 26 which will come out to coincide the Ashes series held down under starting from November right until January next year, as well as Tiebreak: The Official Game of ATP & WTA that released last year in August, & Rugby 25 which came out in February this year) due to be revealed during Origin I at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane between the 2 old foes of New South Wales & Queensland on the 28th of May, while I pre-ordered Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 4 PS4 game at EB Games (One of my fave shops in town compared to Pops who's listed Mitre 10 as his favourite shop) so I can give it to Dad because he doesn't play Rugby 25 now since the updates have rolled out (And I've got a secret which is an old PS2 rugby game of Rugby 08, but I'll never show it to Pops until my birthday, but I wanted to keep it as a souvenir just like the old Andretti Racing PC game that I got already (And I now have WRC Rally Evolved PlayStation 2 game that I bought at EB Games on the 23rd of August this year (And I always go to Trafalgar Square, especially EB every Saturday along with the River Traders Market) so here is the list of PlayStation 2 games that I'll be getting for my future birthdays & Christmases, but I'll have to do a request of presents that I want to get when I email Aunty Tan:

Christmas Day 2025: Star Wars Battlefront II PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), Cricket 07 PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), F1 Career Challenge PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), Rugby 06 Playstation 2 game & EA Sports Rugby Playstation 2 game (PAL version).

June 7th 2026 (My 35th birthday): 2006 FIFA World Cup PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), F1 04 PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), Rugby League 2 PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith PlayStation 2 game (PAL version) & Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 PlayStation 2 game (PAL version)

Christmas Day 2026: Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), Midnight Club: Street Racing PlayStation 2 game (PAL version) & Midnight Club II PlayStation 2 game (PAL version), & Andretti Racing PS1 game (PAL version).

And secondly that I made my wise decision to make a brief comeback on social media because of that YouTube account that I've got, so I must've originally put 39 random comments to different videos (But I've decided enough's enough as I deleted my YouTube channel immediately, while I've decided to keep my google account).

And thirdly that I would be able to shed some light when I finally reveal a story that it has been 40 years since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior (Owned by Greenpeace whilst on their way to a protest about anti-nuclear testing from the French in the South Pacific that stopped the cause by the perpetrators themselves was to blame) by both French agents who are in fact spies that took the life of a crew member from Portugal named Fernando Pereira on July 10th long ago in 1985 for which in fact was dreadful but shocking in which relations between both countries of France & New Zealand let them down for which was turbulent (And unlike the niece of the US President Donald Trump of Mary who is filled with horror by her uncle in which President Trump was always being a bully because nowadays that he is considered dangerous in that torrid situation that the US has put them through in the midst of a current trade war, but am I still into American politics? Well, I guess I do despite the fact that I haven't watched both CNN & Aljazeera lately though).

And finally that the Māori All Blacks have stunned Japan XV at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium in Tokyo to begin proceedings after they trailed at halftime, while the British & Irish Lions got their tour to Australia underway with a convincing win against the Western Force at Optus Stadium in Perth, therefore bouncing back from an historic defeat against Argentina in Dublin (And there's rugby on the 2nd of July with the B&I Lions next match is due against the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane which will host the opening test of the 3 match test series against the Wallabies on the 19th of July, then 3 days later on Pops 78th birthday which is the 5th of July, it's the Māori AB's who head back home against Scotland in Whangarei, just before the AB's who square off against a second string Les Bleus team at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, in the first of also a 3 match test series) & then the British & Irish Lions are back in action when they take on the NSW Waratahs at Allianz Stadium in Sydney).

So that is my 618th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 42nd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Waiting for Stevie: My 41st blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everybody, & welcome back to another blog, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger (And happy father's day to you all the fathers out there today in New Zealand), but first, why the hell are my beloved readers who are turning away from my blogs of me mentioning about the war in Gaza between Israel against the Iran backed Hamas forces? I mean, come on (Damn it, this is making me sick, & I mean, this is an outrage! Totally. With many people are in disbelief & in shock, but they're most displeased about the way that I always mention the Gaza war on my blogs as many people who are silly don't appreciate my stuff, well, that is shocking), because of the less views that they have got about that dreadful invasion that is so sad & heartbreaking (And many readers are getting fed up about the Gaza invasion stuff that I always mention on my blogs), especially from Carole's point of view that I'd be able to shed light of (And that is a disgrace for the Middle East, not least a couple thousands of people are pretty filthy, but that one looked a bit mild to me (And what is the reaction of the whole wide world? Well, they're stunned. Stunned silence. But there'll be serious ramifications about the invasion that has still been going on there, stop) since I have been an anti-war activist just like her (And while there is never going to be a ceasefire happening around to fix the solution of releasing all of the remaining innocent hostages that have still being kept in captivity by these foes which are Hamas troops who are armed terrorists since war began on October 7th, 2023 that Israel was under attack (And there's protests everywhere around the world demanding an end to this sickening but unprovoked invasion), but I always play GTA IV everyday that I also always engage in a police shooting/shootout as well as only in the main GTA IV game that I have the ability to activate a police computer like engaging a gang activity such as a drug deal, & a criminal on foot such as a criminal fleeing a crime scene or I should say, a criminal/suspect resisting arrest which reminds me similar to a war like I said before on my previous blogs, but meanwhile that there are calls for the United States to issue a crack down on antisemitism according to US President of Donald Trump following a spate of killings to both Israeli diplomats about the war in Gaza (And I'm absolutely stunned about it, just like Carole does as of today (I mean, that is strange that it is now compared to the start of that awful genocide towards Palestinian people in 2023, & it has been still going since, but news straight out of Indianapolis in the motor racing department as Israeli driver Robert Schwartzman has been handed an shock pole in the Indy 500 (In which he became the first rookie in 42 years since Italian Teo Fabi long ago in 1983, but Schwartzman said after claiming pole that he wants peace by supporting against the war between Israel & the Iran backed Hamas over their invasion as he is willing to seek a decent, calm world in which the death toll during the war has been risen to over 53,000, & injuring over 122,000 which was one of the most heartbreaking tragedies in history, but now the war between Israel & Iran has begun recently with at least 13 casualties & wounded 100 of them as the Iranians launched more than 200 rockets towards Israel (Who launched a wave of strikes targeting different areas of Iran), that is absolutely dreadful, shocking & disgraceful) after Team Penske (Winner of the Indy 500 20 times & the powerhouse racing organisation) got penalized for an illegal modification into the rear crash structures on both of its 3 cars for which has been prohibited (But they had to fire their whole leadership, including team president Tim Cindric (Dad of NASCAR racer Austin), & two others, but there was drama as our own Kiwi Scott McLaughlin crashed his car during qualifying but he walked away unscathed from the impact that he had in which he'll start 10th on the grid in which the race is expecting in front of a sell-out crowd only because the tickets were ever so popular by demand, just before the city hosts game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers (Who leads the series 2 - 0, & are both wins away from their first NBA finals appearance since 2000, in which when they didn't get the result against the eventual champions the Los Angeles Lakers led by its stars including the late Kobe Bryant, & Shaquille O'Neal) & the New York Knicks just miles away from the city) that resulted grid penalties to both Newgarden & Power for cheating, but it's not the first time that the Penske team had landed in hot water when Newgarden's win had been overturned due to an illegal push to pass usage before the restart in St Pete which handed him, McLaughlin, Newgarden & Power had their championship points docked for their role in the cheating scandal last year, but there has been an update as the defending 3 time IndyCar Series champion from Spain of Alex Palou (AKA the Fernando Alonso of IndyCar) had dominated the rest of the field to win the 200 lap Indy 500 in style in one of the most epic races in history (And Palou becomes the first reigning IndyCar series champion to win the Indianapolis 500 since Dario Franchitti (Who retired in 2013 after serious injuries caused from the crash on the streets of Houston, Texas that ended his career) back in 2012 (And the first Spanish driver in history to win the Indianapolis 500), a year after he became the champion also back in 2011 (Which saw Dario, Tony Kanaan & Scott Dixon's good friend of Dan Wheldon who won in Indy for the 2nd & final time, 5 months before he was involved in a fatal crash (Just like Filipino Jovy Marcelo at Indianapolis way, way back in 1992 (A year after a NASCAR racer of JD McDuffie at Watkins Glen also way, way back in 1991, & 2 years before Ayrton Senna did in 1994 at Imola in Italy as I mentioned a story on my blogs, in a fatal crash where he suffered a basilar skull fracture (And the only way to prevent it from happening is to wear a HANS device (Which had been mandated in Formula One since 2003) in which the head & neck restraint type of stuff, saves many lives as part of the safety features used in motor racing, along with the halo in Formula One (Used since 2018), F2, Super Formula (Where they have been using that motor racing safety type of thing since 2019), & many junior Formula series to name a few (While IndyCar has the aero screen of course which was introduced in 2020), then American Scott Brayton also way, way back in 1996 at the same location, followed by fellow American competitor Jeff Krosnoff in the same year at Toronto, before 3 years later that there was 3 fatal accidents had occurred such as Shingo Tachi in which he was the only Super GT driver to die in a crash as well as Uruguayan Gonzalo Rodriguez first at Laguna Seca in Salinas, California way, way back in 1999, then the famous Canadian racer Greg Moore did the same in Fontana, in the same year, a year before the trio of NASCAR drivers Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr & Tony Roper who took their own lives in an accident way back in 2000 (That was the year before the infamous NASCAR race at the Daytona 500 where Dale Earnhardt (The last NASCAR driver to die in a fatal crash) got killed also way back in 2001 (2 years before Tony Renna lost his life in a testing accident way back in 2003 who was the last to die at Indianapolis in a fatal crash, then 3 years before our own Kiwi Mark 'Didley' Porter during a Tier 2 V8 Supercars race at Bathurst, Australia at the Mount Panorama circuit in 2006 (Same year as Peter Brock did in a Targa West event in WA in Australia), 2 years before Ashley Cooper lost his life in a fatal wreck in Adelaide, Australia during also a 2nd tier V8 Supercars race, then a year later it was Henry Surtees was involved in a fatal accident during a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch way back in 2009, 2 years prior to Wheldon losing his life in Vegas, 3 years before Jules Bianchi (Who was involved in a wreck in Suzuka 2014 where he had been in a coma until his passing a year later) & Justin Wilson (Who was the last Indycar driver to die) in Pocono both lost their lives back in 2015 (That was 4 years before Anthoine Hubert lost his life in a major fatal wreck during an F2 race near Stavelot in Belgium back in 2019) that took his own life at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada during the season ending race in which motor racing is considered a dangerous sport just like rugby, league & gridiron).

And secondly, that in music related stuff such as I'm starting to love the late British musician, David Bowie (Who passed away back in 2016 due to a terminal illness similar to also the late Nan) because of his decent music, including bangers such as 'Fame' (Which is my fave Bowie song), 'Space Oddity', 'Suffragette City', 'Let's Dance', 'Heroes' & 'Starman' since I always listen to him daily on Brian FM according to the previous blogs that I did, compared to me always listening to Neil Finn & his bands of both Split Enz & Crowded House every day on the same radio station for which has been my personal fave throughout the entire world along with Linkin Park, Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, Evanescence, U2, Nickelback, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Incubus, Shihad, Filter, & others like Lenny Kravitz, Matchbox Twenty, Oasis, the Smashing Pumpkins, Live, Twenty One Pilots, Muse, Coldplay, Weezer, Blink-182, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Blur, Limp Bizkit, Stone Temple Pilots, Royal Blood, the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Metallica, Queen, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Idol, Van Halen, Guns N'Roses, Bush, Tonic, the Verve, Radiohead, No Doubt, System of a Down, Goo Goo Dolls, Manic Street Preachers, Placebo, Moby, Fuel, 3 Doors Down, Stereophonics, Feeder, the Killers, Audioslave, Fall Out Boy, Greta Van Fleet, Imagine Dragons, Måneskin, the Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Papa Roach, Queens of the Stone Age, the Warning, Dave Matthews Band, Garbage, the Cardigans, Lifehouse, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elton John, Toto, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Simple Minds, Kenny Loggins, INXS, Joe Walsh, the Doobie Brothers, Genesis, Bon Jovi, Living Colour, Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, the Black Crowes, Faith No More, Creed, & Pink Floyd (The band that I also listen to daily on Brian FM just like the late Bowie as well as Crowded House & Split Enz), to name a lot (And the list goes on & on).

And thirdly that I'm still saving money to go on my future holiday to Wellington with either Dad or Pops to see Cathey, Paige & Norah, & have a selfie with all 3 of them (I wanted to reach $7k which is the maximum amount for me, 1,000 below the $8k cap that Dad has set, but somehow I'm possibly now on $1,700 on my EFTPOS card, & $700 to $900 range in cash) even if I have my phone that I want for my 34th birthday at least, despite my intentions of pre-ordering a Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 4 PS4 game so I can give it to Dad since he hasn't played Rugby 25 lately because of the updates being rolled out recently, but I can now cook meals such as Italian pasta dish, an Indian curry, or a Chinese stir fry on my own, even if Pops is not at home (And Dad would always check up on me if Pops is away on a holiday).

And finally, the Oklahoma City Thunder led by its star Canadian Shai 'SGA' Gilgeous-Alexander has finally at last, won an NBA championship this 2024-25 season since moving from Seattle, Washington in 2008-09 after dominating the 7th & deciding game against the Indiana Pacers who had their star man Tyrese Haliburton who left the game through injury which was the game changer, allowing the Thunder to create history as they secured a maiden NBA title, 13 years after they didn't get the result against the Miami Heat in 2011-12 during the finals series, meanwhile in the NHL that the Florida Panthers go back to back therefore continuing their dynasty just like the Springboks where they won back to back Rugby World Cups in 2023 after a dominant display against the Edmonton Oilers in game 6 of the Stanley Cup therefore continuing their trend of the utter dominance of American teams in the NHL since 1993-94, just like Queensland who would reclaim the State of Origin series after their dominant victory over New South Wales in the decider in Sydney in Origin III.

So that is my 617th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 41st of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.