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 (And it is my first blog since the Black Knights of Auckland FC have won the A-League for the first time ever as they became the first New Zealand club in history to win the Trans-Tasman football (Soccer) club competition (And there are 12 competing from the men's comp, such as 10 from Australia & both from New Zealand such as the aforementioned AFC (Whose defence of the title is in jeopardy as the A-League had issued a war on the salary cap that had been implemented at a limit of AU $3 million being imposed as part of its loophole changes coming into effect starting next season which is 2026-27, according to most reports where they think that the Black Knights had spent twice the amount as the Nix did before that certain loophole change had now been introduced), & the Wellington Phoenix (Who I'm a fan of when they reached the playoffs back in 2010 where 24,278 fans attended the game that the Phoenix won on penalties against Perth Glory, then 32,792 people turned up at Wellington Regional Stadium to witness them smashing the Newcastle Jets in the minor semi-final, even before they fell short to the eventual champions Sydney FC involving their player Steve Corica (Future Auckland FC (Who is the 3rd New Zealand club to compete in the A-League after the New Zealand Knights (Founded as remnants of the Football Kingz in the defunct NSL who competed in the first 2 seasons before disbanding in 2006-07), then the Wellington Phoenix (Their debut season was in 2007-08 (And has been there since) compared to AFC who had their first season in 2024-25) coach) in the preliminary final in Sydney, then the World Cup arrived where the All Whites didn't advance through to the round of 16 despite ending our campaign unbeaten in all 3 draws against Slovakia first, then the defending champions at the time of Italy, & Paraguay as New Zealand was the only team that had never lost a match throughout the whole tournament (And 16 years later, we have waited for this as we are in a World Cup in North America, for only the 3rd time since our debut in 1982 (And our first since the aforementioned 2010 one), & our upcoming matches will be against Iran in LA, then both Egypt & Belgium in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada), but first in gaming that the EA Sports Rugby game on the PlayStation 2, has become one of my fave PS2 games therefore taking over from Star Wars Battlefront II (2005), but I clocked the game 3 times such as completing both the Tri Nations (A competition involving the big 3 Southern Hemisphere teams of Australia, New Zealand, & South Africa that they must play each other 2 times with the side with the most wins is the champion) & World Championship (A global event which all 20 teams compete from pool matches to a knockout stage with one main goal is to win the prestigious global rugby tournament in order to become champions of the world) as the All Blacks (My favourite international rugby team to root for along with the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific & Whanganui in the Heartland Championship), & the VI Nations (A European tournament that features the 6 major Euro teams competing such as England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, & Wales) as the Scots because of our family roots over there that is why the reason I wanted to play as Scotland out of the other 5 like the English, the French, the Irish, the Italians, & the Welsh for example + There are 23 venues in the game (5 from France (Beziers, Bordeaux (Stade Chaban Delmas), Lens (Stade Bollaert-Delelis), Paris (Stade de France) & Toulouse (Stadium de Toulouse), then 4 from England (Bristol, Huddersfield, Leicester & London (Allianz Stadium Twickenham), & 3 each from Ireland (Belfast, Dublin (The old Lansdowne Road before it became Aviva Stadium where it was renovated) & Limerick), Scotland (Glasgow (Hampden Park), Murrayfield (Edinburgh), Galashiels) & Wales (Cardiff (Millennium Stadium), Llanelli & Wrexham), then there's both from Australia (Melbourne (Docklands Stadium) & Sydney (Stadium Australia), & 1 each from Italy (Rome (Stadio Flaminio), New Zealand (Auckland (Eden Park) & South Africa (Joburg (Ellis Park).
And secondly in Formula One that Italian driver Kimi Antonelli has continued to assert his dominance of winning 4 in a row in Canada (His winning streak began in China where he became the 2nd youngest driver to win a Grand Prix, followed by Japan prior to the 5 week break when both the Bahrain & Saudi Arabian Grands Prix had to be called off as a result of America's invasion of Iran (In which was colloquially known as that dreadful American leader's war), as well as Miami where F1 was back at last when the 35 day break had been expired, & most recently, in Canada), therefore he remains as the world championship leader (2nd place went to Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton (His best result of the new season) who just had to beat Max Verstappen who finished on the podium in the dying moments of the race, but Antonelli's Mercedes teammate of Britain's George Russell whose chances of winning in Canada, ended in heartbreak as he gets a DNF mid-race when Kimi capitalised the situation being unfolded at that moment) following the Canadian Grand Prix (Which was held following the Indy 500), but Italy hasn't produced a world champion since the late Alberto Ascari in 1953 when he secured back to back world championships with Antonelli seeking to become the 3rd if he becomes the new world champion after both the late Ascari & the late Doctor Farina, but it is a long way to go with 17 races left in the calendar with the next one being held in Monaco at the Monaco GP scheduled for the 5th to the 7th of June (And I expect big, massive upgrades from McLaren who are attempting to beat Mercedes, at one of McLaren's most favourable circuits at the Circuit de Monaco, in their bid of defending their constructors crown, therefore assisting Lando Norris's chances of successfully going back to back in terms of the world drivers championship fight (And Norris is 4th in the championship behind Monaco's Charles Leclerc (Who goes into his emotional homecoming full of confidence) in the Ferrari), & if Lando wins the Monaco Grand Prix, his aspirations of becoming the world champion again, could well be in truly, back on track).
And thirdly that Dad will be heading to Christchurch on May 30th to pick up his new camper van meaning that he'll have to head down there to get one by catching a flight to Christchurch to acquire the new camper van first, then stay in Picton for the night before a day later of catching a ferry on the Inter Islander on the way home to Whanganui in time on May 31st a day before we head to Caroline's for Raewyn's daughter's birthday lunch there due at 11:30 pm during King's birthday on June 1st which is 6 days out until I hit the big 35 for my 35th birthday on June 7th at Thai Villa for lunch.
And lastly in the rugby as the Crusaders (Who remain undefeated at their fortress of Te Kaha Stadium at 4 & 0 (First the New South Wales Waratahs during Super Round, then the Blues, as well as the Chiefs, & recently the Hurricanes) with a San Antonio Spurs inspired performance that saw them led by 'Wemby' of Victor Wembanyama (The Antoine Dupont & Kylian Mbappe of French basketball who will be in his first final, for which San Antonio will be the host of the first 2 games of the NBA finals) against the Oklahoma City Thunder (Whose reign as the NBA champions had ended after defeat in the 7th & deciding game meaning that there has to be the best of 7 first to 4, in order that they're can only be one clear winner, much more like the super over in cricket (T20 & ODI only during the knockouts of the men's ODI Cricket World Cup), & the penalty shootout in football (Soccer) during the knockout stages of a major tournament, especially both the Euros, & the World Cup), as well as in league like State of Origin, & in rugby where there is a 3 match test series) advance through to the NBA finals against the New York Knicks in a chance to claim the NBA championship for the first time since 2013-14 where it had the likes of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, & Kawhi Leonard back then when they last triumphed) & the Chiefs recorded dominant wins over the Hurricanes (Who had to rest key players for the clash at Te Kaha Stadium in Christchurch) & the Blues (Who'll have to travel to Christchurch against the Crusaders in the qualifying finals following defeat against the Chiefs who too rested those big guns for the clash at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton, allowing Wallace Sititi to take over the captain or skipper's armband for that occasion) respectively, but Moana Pasifika sign off Super Rugby Pacific with a boil over win one last time in what would be their final outing in the competition, against the Brumbies (Who'll go to Wellington to take on the Canes during the 1st round of the playoff phase that is the qualifying finals) in Canberra, which means that Moana had been given the axe since they're not going to compete next year because they ran out of money to continue operating (And it was dogged by a 20 minute send off against Faletoi Peni after a second sin bin offence for shockingly taken Andy Muirhead out of commission with a dangerous tackle deemed to be a cheap shot & a cowardly act (Is there a high shot? Is there an impact above the shoulder? Now, Peni did what? This is going to give us, a bit more of the clue. He did something? He certainly did something. Now what happens, he'd seen some more. Well, the pictures tell the story. He leaves, Super Rugby Pacific, in disgrace. And he leaves his team in big trouble. Moana down to 14 players. And the chances of leaving the competition with a win, has an unsavoury moment there. But that will make the headlines of the result I feel. It's a sending off for the high shot, Faletoi Peni can hardly believe it. Faletoi Peni, has been shown the send off offence. Well, this is the man, who that day, has been tipped to play, for this game to start in the midfield, in order to make the difference, in a game, that he had to get through, without blemish, he's got himself red carded, after 62 minutes, it is a remarkable start. It's a send off, second sin bin for Faletoi Peni. Unacceptable tackle. Sent off) which was shades of the Kalyn Ponga incident where he deliberately, but intentionally taken Tolu Koula out with a no arms tackle straight to the head during Origin I in Sydney between New South Wales Blues, & the Queensland Maroons (And 'KP' just escaped with a ban as he got fined 23% of his match fee following the incident that landed him in hot water, in which the referee had ejected him for a terrorist like hostile act such as a high shot, as well as impact above the shoulder for that was volatile (Another word that I also getting intolerant with along with tyrant as well throughout), but Moana have managed to overcome the send off therefore bidding farewell to the Super Rugby Pacific competition before possibly joining MLR as a team based in Hawaii).
And here are the list of games coming up as the Super Rugby Pacific competition heads into the qualifying finals:
Hurricanes Vs ACT Brumbies: Hnry Stadium, Wellington (The most recent meeting between the two was during Super Round in Christchurch at round 11 on ANZAC Day, where Fehi Fineanganofo who lit up of scoring an impressive 4 tries, compared to Josh Moorby who would gone on to score a double)
Chiefs Vs Queensland Reds: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton (The last time both of these sides met was in round 13 of the competition where the Chiefs won in that controversial match which was blighted by a dreadful but shocking refereeing performance from Marcus Playle who never refereed a game of Super Rugby Pacific again following the match)
& Crusaders Vs Blues: Te Kaha Stadium, Christchurch (Their last meeting between the two was in round 13 where the Crusaders were overwhelmingly dominant against the Blues who had to lose Dalton Papali'i through injury)
So that is my 728th blog of the year 2026 (MMXXVI) & my 80th of this year, viva Ukraine.
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