Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that in the rugby department when I rewatched another old game in August which is the opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand (Who were super good at the time according to the previous blog that I did), & Argentina at Wembley in London where Pablo Matera (Who Aaron Smith was referred to as the big Argy fellow) got sin binned for not being back the 10, before 2 yellow cards dished out against both AB's such as captain at the time of Richie McCaw for foul play, & Conrad 'Snakey' Smith for going off feet at the breakdown in that we trailed at halftime by a single point, then in the 2nd half that tries from 'Nuggy' Smith & Sam Cane must've won ourselves the game to open our account, but shame that we did not get a bonus point at the start (And there was another All Blacks - Los Pumas match that I've rewatched about the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal at Eden Park in Auckland, in which we scraped past the Argentinians thanks to All Blacks halfback at the time of Piri Weepu who had a just incredible performance in that he got player of the game honours, but we had to lose first five Colin 'Sladey' Slade through a dreadful groin injury similar to Dan Carter's, it just had to be as they allowed Stephen 'Beaver' Donald (Who did not make the initial World Cup squad, then the selectors didn't pick him again when 'DC' Carter got injured meaning that his tournament was cruelly cut short as Aaron Cruden (Who thought that he might be going on a holiday to somewhere, like Fiji for example when at the moment that he replaced the injured Slade according to Ian 'Smithy' Smith, the former New Zealand cricketer who was the rugby sideline commentator working for Sky Sport NZ at the time) got the nod instead) to assume the call-up, whilst on his white baiting mission), but the favourite memories of the All Blacks against Argentina according to the Breakdown programme would have to be Zinzan 'Zinny' Brooke's test debut during the '87 World Cup in which he scored a try at the old Athletic Park in Wellington, then current All Blacks coach Scott 'Razor' Robertson in his playing days, scoring the winning try way back in 2001 at the death in Buenos Aires in which the Argentinians came so close, while in 2017 that Vaea Fifita (A future Tongan international) who became a meter eater when he scored that infamous try that entertained the fans at Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth, as well as Argentina picking up their first win against us in Sydney in 2020 that was during COVID times for which really was disappointing in that we got a reality check in fact, & Will Jordan's hat-trick of tries in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi at the Stade de France (Venue for much of the Summer Games last year in that city) in Paris that put us through to the final in that Jordan was the top try scorer in that tournament, equalling both the late Jonah Lomu (1999), & Springbok Bryan Habana (2007) with 8.
And secondly onto the music stuff that I did not know Brian FM play Linkin Park (Well, my fave song from the band (Who opted to continue last year with both new band members such as Colin Brittain & Emily Armstrong as replacements for original member Mike Bourdon & the late Chester Bennington respectively just like both AC/DC & the Foo Fighters, as one of the bands are making a grand comeback (In which they released an album that was released also last year called From Zero to critical acclaim that they had rave reviews in it), along with Oasis (Who were reunited also last year in the aftermath of the end of hostility between the Gallagher brothers of Liam & Noel who the band would gone on to perform in sell-out shows such as Wembley in London in the UK & around the world during their reunion tour), compared to both Led Zeppelin, Blind Melon & Soundgarden decided not to continue following tragedy) would have to be 'Numb' anyway (Compared to my favourite Armstrong-era Linkin Park song being 'Up From the Bottom' because it used to be 'Two Faced', but I like the instrumental version of 'The Emptiness Machine' in fact as well as 'Heavy is the Crown' & 'Over Each Other' as the other Linkin Park songs during the Emily Armstrong era), but I like 'One Step Closer', 'In the End', 'Somewhere I Belong', & 'What I've Done') along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, U2 & others like the late David Bowie, Neil Finn & his bands of both Split Enz & Crowded House, then Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, INXS, the Police, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, as well as the Beatles, & Nirvana.
And thirdly that we have got 59 days until Christmas as of October 27th this year, so Christmas will indeed be my favourite time of the year along with my birthday on June 7th, compared to Nigel whose birthday is Christmas day so he would have to wait for a bit longer for a year to do that on that occasion, but our whanau (Including both Aunty Tan & Rejean who'll arrive on the 8th of December (That's the 10th in Whanganui when they arrive here) until January 2nd (The day after New Year's Day) will be having Christmas dinner at my old flat at Dad's place on 28 Koromiko Road as part of our celebrations building towards the new year.
And finally that the All Blacks have named our team to play against Scotland (Who pose a real threat or danger to us which is going to be our threat of claiming our Grand Slam (They have star players in mind, including first five Finn Russell, & others like lightning quick winger Duhan van der Merwe, & the midfield combo of Aussie born Sione Tuipulotu (Who is of Tongan descent) & Huw Jones), compared to England for which are always the biggest threat of our chances of a Grand Slam) at Murrayfield in Edinburgh (Our last meeting between the two was in 2022 where Mark Tele'a made his dream debut where he got a brace where we won by 8 points), so here is the team naming in its entirety according to our AB's coach of Razor:
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): Josh Lord (Chiefs/Taranaki)
5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)
LOOSE FORWARDS
6 (Blind side flanker): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)
7 (Open side flanker): Ardie Savea (Captain, Moana Pasifika/Wellington)
8 (Number 8): Peter Lakai (Hurricanes/Wellington)
BACK LINE
HALVES
9 (Half-back): Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau)
10 (First five-eighth): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)
MIDFIELD
12 (Second five-eighth): Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs/Waikato)
13 (Centre): Leicester Fainga'anuku (Crusaders/Tasman)
OUTSIDE BACKS
11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)
14 (Right wing): Leroy Carter (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)
& 15 (Fullback): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)
& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)
16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho
17 (Reserve loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams
18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi
19 (Reserve lock): Sam Darry (Who replaces Josh Lord who is promoted to the starting lineup to replace regular captain Scott Barrett through injury as part of the 2 injury enforced changes so far)
20 (Reserve loose forward): Du'Plessis Kirifi (Who has replaced Wallace Sititi who earns promotion to the starting XV, replacing Simon Parker who is rested for this match)
21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima
22 (Reserve midfielder): Billy Proctor (Who takes Leicester Fainga'anuku's place at the reserve midfielder spot, with Fainga'anuku promoted to the run-on XV as he takes Quinn Tupaea's place at centre with Tupaea replacing the injured Jordie Barrett at second five, in another one of the 2 injury enforced changes being brought in)
& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie.
So that is my 635th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 59th of this year, viva Ukraine.
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