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 in gaming that the Aussie sports games developer of Big Ant Studios seemed to fail because of their rugby, league & cricket gaming products has always been a flop in the gaming industry due to short development cycles that result in poor approval ratings like abysmal ones for example like Rugby 25 (That came out in February last year that has a 2 star rating on PlayStation Network, & once that game came out that they released another rugby game on the PS4 named Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge in which that one was better than Rugby 25, but every team is unlicensed besides one man, one myth & one legend of the late New Zealand rugby player who was widely regarded as the greatest of all time (The GOAT himself), Jonah Lomu), then Rugby League 26 (That was released in July also last year which has a 2 & a half star rating on PSN for which is better than Rugby 25), & Cricket 26 (Which was released in November last year in time for the previous Ashes series held in the 2025-26 season that currently has a 3 star rating also on the PlayStation Network when they praised the graphics, game mechanics, improved AI, & on-field gameplay of that game, saying that it is an iterative but significant improvement over Cricket 24, however, they noted the presence of frequent crashes and graphical bugs even after several patches in the first week post-release for that is way better than Rugby 25, & better than Rugby League 26 in fact).
And secondly in the rugby that that the Springboks bomb squad had remained intact when they won all but 2 games last year during the test season, including a 2 match test series win over Italy, then a one-off test victory against Georgia, as well as retaining the Rugby Championship despite dropping both games against the Wallabies in Joburg, then the AB's in Auckland, & completing another European Autumn tour series unbeaten against Japan at Wembley Stadium in London, then Italy, France, Ireland, & Wales therefore cementing their status as the early favourites to lift the William Webb Ellis cup for the 3rd time in a row next year according to the previous stories that I did on my blogs when the men's Rugby World Cup takes place down under in Australia (And can we stop the South African onslaught from happening (Especially from our All Black point of view as we are chasing our 1st men's RWC title since 2015 in England (We have a poor record but we rarely only won one tournament on foreign soil which is outside of New Zealand) that they always dominated when their reign began since 2019? We will find out in due course) in which the Boks are drawn in Pool B along with Italy, Georgia & Romania & even if they top their pool that they're on the same side of the draw as either the All Blacks, or the Wallabies with both sides willing to top Pool A (If we beat Australia, it will be South Africa in the quarterfinal in which we have never lost since 2007 against France in one of the biggest upsets of the history of the men's Rugby World Cup that was our worst performance ever (And we have made it to at least the semis at all the other tournaments), but if we lose to the Aussies, we must avoid the South Africans until the final, unlike that 2019 tournament that England produced arguably their finest performance in recent memory to beat New Zealand in the semifinal. A week later, they failed to turn up and were comprehensively beaten by South Africa in the final. As it turns out, England weren't the first team to play their final "early". Since the 1995 final, every side to have beaten the All Blacks at the World Cup has gone on to lose their next game.
1999 - Semi: New Zealand 31 - 43 France, then final: Australia 35 - 12 France
2003 - Semi: New Zealand 10 - 22 Australia, then final: Australia 17 - 20 England (During extra time)
2007 - Quarters: New Zealand 18 - 20 France, then Semi: England 14 - 9 France
& 2019 - Semi: England 19 - 7 New Zealand, then final: England 12 - 32 South Africa
In fact, since both the 1995 (AET) & 2023 losses against the Springboks was in the final (In which the South Africans had never ever lost due to the fact that they have a perfect 4 & 0 record every time they appear in a final, but just conceded the one try which was during the 2023 final), only one team has ever beaten New Zealand and gone on to win their next game at the same World Cup, namely the Wallabies way back in 1991.
And thirdly in football/soccer that the goal scored by France against the Republic of Ireland during the Football (Soccer) men's World Cup two legged qualifying play-off for the 2010 tournament in 2009 that resulted in a draw, should not have been stood due to an illegal handball by Thierry Henry who assisted the goal scored by William Gallas because there was no VAR back then (And they would have referred to it to a possible goal & red card should the video assistant referee have been available since it was introduced in 2018, mainly because it would have been a no goal meaning that the Irish would have gone through to the tournament instead on away goals loophole, & of course Henry would've been cautioned or sent off as well as he snuck a hand in there that cost the Republic of Ireland a place in the World Cup in South Africa).
And lastly that I have revealed the name of my Facebook friend Marisa Lopez's eldest daughter, & her name is McKenzie who goes by the nickname of 'Kenzie', is 12 or 13 years of age who lives in Florida in the United States who goes to junior high over there because of her being excited to be a part of the amazing OSHS Varsity Dance group recently according to the Facebook message that Marisa had posted, even though I never met her before along with Marisa (Marty's daughter from a previous relationship, & Andy's cousin) in person, but I've met her before on Facebook like I said before.
So that is my 716th blog of the year 2026 (MMXXVI) & my 68th of this year, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And the entertainment world is in mourning as female American country singer, & actress of Dolly Parton (Otherwise known as the queen of country), has passed away due to a terminal illness about August last year (In which she kept it secret), but they already sent their thoughts, prayers, & heartfelt condolences go to her family, & loved ones, rest in pieces (RIP).
Dolly Parton
1946 - 2026
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