Round 4 of the 2017 Super Rugby season got underway as the Crusaders just drilled the Blues to retain their status as comeback kings for the 3rd week in a row after producing wins over the Highlanders in round 2 & the Reds in round 3 with a news report coming straight near you:
The Crusaders claimed their third successive come-from-behind win of the season when they beat the Blues 33-24 in Christchurch on Friday.
Just like their previous fixtures against the Highlanders and the Reds, the seven-time champions were trailing by a huge deficit at half-time but launched a superb second half fightback and eventually outscored the Blues by five tries to three.
The result means the Crusaders are still unbeaten after 4 games and they move provisionally top of the New Zealand conference although that situation could change if the Chiefs beat the Rebels later on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Blues leave Christchurch with their tail between their legs and they are still in 4th place in the New Zealand conference although they could be at the bottom of the table if the Highlanders beat the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Blues were fastest out of the blocks and after dominating the early exchanges, George Moala crossed for the opening try in the 11th minute after Augustine Pulu and Matt Duffie played prominent roles in the build-up.
The Crusaders seemed stunned by that opening salvo from their opponents but a quick change in tactics saw the home side gradually taking control of proceedings.
After a 30 metre drive from a line-out, inside the visitors' half, the ball was shifted it wide to Ryan Crotty who was tackled into touch close to the Blues' corner flag by Melani Nanai.
And five minutes later, the hosts took the ball through several phases inside the Blues' 22 before Bryn Hall fired out a superb skip pass to Manasa Mataele, who dived over in the left-hand corner.
It did not take long for the Blues to respond, however, and 5 minutes later Pulu crossed for his side's 2nd try after side-stepping a couple of opponents deep inside the Crusaders' half.
Shortly afterwards, the Blues took the ball through several phases inside the Blues half before Moala found himself in space on the edge of the home side's 22. The All Black was confronted by Joe Moody but ghosted past the prop thanks to a superb turn of speed before crossing for his second try.
Piers Francis slotted the conversion which meant the Blues had their tails up as they led 21-5 at the interval.
The visitors were fastest out of the blocks after the break when a Francis penalty extended his side's lead in the 48th minute, but it wasn't long before the Crusaders took control of proceedings.
In the 53rd minute the hosts were camped close to the Blues' try-line and they were soon celebrating when Pete Samu spotted a gap at a ruck before barging over.
Mitchell Hunt added the extras and two minutes later, he slotted his second conversion when Ben Funnell crossed for the Crusaders' third try from a line-out drive inside the Blues' 22.
That meant the Blues led 24-19 and for the next 10 minutes the men from Auckland were on the defensive before Hunt rounded off a flowing move which tied the score at 24-24.
His conversion gave his side the lead for the first time in the match and they secured the result when Mitchell Drummond sold Patrick Tuipulotu a dummy before crossing for his side's 5th try in injury time.
And the Chiefs just blasted the Rebels in Melbourne to remain unbeaten along with the Crusaders & Stormers back & forth by still leading the New Zealand conference ahead of the Crusaders on points difference with another news report delivered to you:
The Chiefs retained their unbeaten status when they claimed a hard-fought 27-14 win over the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
In a tightly contested encounter, the visitors had to dig deep to secure the win but they eventually took control of proceedings and outscored the Rebels by four tries to one.
The win means the men from Hamilton return to the top of the New Conference while the Rebels are still languishing at the bottom of the Australian Conference without any points from three matches.
In a closely contested affair, the home side - who conceded 50 points in each of their two previous matches against the Blues and Hurricanes - delivered their best performance of the season and held the lead for large periods.
They ran out of steam in the game's latter stages, however, and 2 late tries from Sam Cane and Shaun Stevenson secured the visitors a try-scoring bonus-point.
The opening half was characterised by several handling errrors from both sides and both Chiefs goalkicker Damian McKenzie and Reece Hodge of the Rebels missed shots at goal which would have given their side the lead in the opening quarter.
The visitors eventually took the lead, albeit in bizarre fashion when Dominic Bird dotted down after scooping up a loose ball close to the Rebels' try-line.
This, after Solomon Alaimalo laid the grounwork with a superb run down the left-hand touchline in the build-up. 3 minutes later, the Chiefs thought they had increased their lead when Stevenson crossed the whitewash but television replays revealed that he stepped into touch in the build-up.
The Chiefs suffered a setback in the 28th minute when Liam Messam was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul on defence deep inside his half. Jackson Garden-Bachop slotted the resulting penalty which meant the men from Hamilton held a slender 7-3 lead at half-time.
The Rebels made a superb start to the second half when, 3 minutes after the restart, Garden-Bachop glided through a gap in the Chiefs defence before throwing a splendid long pass to Marika Koroibete, who dived over in the left-hand corner.
The Rebels increased their lead 10 minutes later courtesy of another Garden-Bachop and they received a shot in the arm shortly afterwards when Alaimalo was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Sefa Naivalu.
The home side did not exploit their numerical advantage, however, and the Chiefs did well to soak up the pressure on defence during this period. The visitors upped the ante on attack when Alaimalo returned from his spell on the sidelines and were rewarded in the 66th minute when Brodie Retallick barged over from close quarters.
Damian McKenzie's successful conversion meant they now held a three-point lead but the Rebels drew level when Garden-Bachop slotted his third penalty in the 70th minute.
The Chiefs finished stronger, however, made sure of the win when Cane dotted down after showing great leg strength in the build-up in the 77th minute.
Despite having the game in the bag, the visitors did not stop playing and secured the bonus point when Steven rounded off a flowing move in injury time.
And the Bulls get their 1st win of the season against the Sunwolves after Namibian international Renaldo Bothma got sent off for a head high tackle on Sunwolves captain Ed Quirk so he may be facing suspension just like Steven Luatua & Michael Leitch.
And the Hurricanes knife edge the Highlanders with a bonus point victory so here is another news report in order to improvise like Phoenix Foundation agent Angus MacGyver:
With the bonus-point win the Hurricanes jump to the top of the table to 15 points as they leap frog the Chiefs. The Highlanders desperately needed a win today as they are stuck at the Roddy Bottum of the table with 5 points.
The game got off to a quiet as 10 minutes in no points had been scored despite a vicious competition on the field.
The Hurricanes would be the 1st on the scoreboard though when they set up a maul 10 metres out and drove the Highlanders back for Ardie Savea to score, but Barrett missed the conversion.
The Highlanders looked as though they had scored when Malakai Fekitoa made a searing break down the right wing, before Jordie Barrett made a hit on the centre taking him into. The referee went to the TMO to check whether the tackle was illegal but Gardner was happy and the Hurricanes had possession on their 5-metre line.
Rookie number 10 Fletcher Smith then closed the gap after the Highlanders were awarded a penalty from 40 metres out and the Smith keenly slotted it through.
The Highlanders then took the lead for the 1st time in the match when the visitors had a scrum 10 metres out from the Crusaders line which they used well after replacement Matt Faddes ran a hard line off the inside shoulder on the blindside of the set-piece and Smith gave him a pop pass to score.
The Hurricanes stole back their lead after a perfectly weighted chip over the defence from Jordie Barrett went straight into the hands of Ngani Laumape who scored in the corner. The half ended 10-8 to the hosts after a tight contest.
The Hurricanes then came out of the blocks firing in the second half after scoring in the 42nd minute when Proctor finshed off a great run of play from the home side. Their luck would run out moments later when Perenara was yellow carded for a deliberate knock down.
Once the number nine was off the Highlanders used the advantage well and scored through flanker Dixon. The Highlanders had a 5-metre lineout, and went wide before Dixon barged over.
Laumape then scored his second try of the match after receiving the ball in the midfield before showing some incredible pace to dance around the opposition defence to score in the corner, charging through Ben Smith.
Julian Savea scored his side’s 5th try of the match after receiving a pass down the left wing from Wes Goosen and simply cantered over the line for an easy try.
And the champions continued their dominance of the 2nd half after Aso scored his first try of the match, and after ten minutes would grab his second, to seal the game off.
And the Waratahs have lost 3 games in a row by going down to the Australian conference leaders, the Brumbies in Sydney while a sending off by Quade Cooper for a high shot has landed the Reds in hot water, losing to the dominant Lions side over in Joburg while the Kings were out of reach against the Sharks in Durban & the Jaguares who were without first five-eighth Nicolas Sanchez due to suspension produced a bonus point victory against the Cheetahs by elevating on top of the Africa 2 conference.
So that was Round 4 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 5:
Crusaders Vs Force: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Rebels vs Waratahs: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Blues vs Bulls: QBE Stadium, Albany
Brumbies Vs Highlanders: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Sunwolves vs Stormers: National Stadium, Singapore
Kings vs Lions: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Cheetahs vs Sharks: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
& the Jaguares Vs Reds at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires to end Round 5 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Chiefs & Hurricanes taking a week off to prepare for Round 6).
And finally in the Six Nations as Scotland kept Italy scoreless to win 29 points to nil as Federico Ruzza (Italy) made his test debut while Vern Cotter had his last game as coach of Scotland as this was the first ever time Scotland has kept Italy scoreless against them while this was the first time, since beating Canada 41–0 in 2008, that Scotland kept their opponent scoreless as this was Scotland's first ever match in the Six Nations where they kept their opponent scoreless & the match concluded Scotland's most successful Six Nations tournament since they won 3 games in 2006 while France snatch it right to the death against Wales as Ken Owens (Wales) won his 50th test cap while this was France's first win over Wales since their 9 – 8 victory during the 2011 Rugby World Cup (And so on in 2011, the All Blacks opened with a win over the kingdom of Tonga (Who hijacked us at the start) at Eden Park in Auckland (41 - 10) followed by Japan at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton 83 - 7 (The night before the mighty green throng of Ireland turned the tables on Australia, causing an upset), then France in Auckland (37 - 17) with captain Richie McCaw becoming the 1st All Black to reach 100 test caps followed by beating Canada at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington 79 - 15 (The day after Tonga providing another upset victory over France as well as Dan Carter, who was ruled out of the tournament altogether with a groin injury), then it is quarter final time as we scraped Argentina 33 - 10 in Auckland (Although Colin Slade suffered an injury similar to Dan Carter's), then finally beating against our traditional Trans Tasman rivals Australia (Who defeated South Africa in the quarter final which was better off forgotten) in the semifinal 20 - 6 (It was the night after the French flair titans (Who gave England the chop in the quarterfinal) defeated the Welsh (Who had beaten the mighty green throng in the quarters) in the other semifinal in which Sam Warburton got sent off for that famous spear tackle) before we once again took on France in the final, just as it was back in 1987, with the weight of the nation above our shoulders (Although Stephen 'Beaver' Donald was called up in the last minute whilst he was white baiting, YA GOT THAT!! WHITEBAITING), we have won us the CUP!!! HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!! I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEL!!! And yeah, not only that we have ended our Rugby World Cup curse after 24 years of agony and pain, as if, not ONLY we beat France 8 - 7, we have managed to lift the World Cup trophy, not only because it is the greatest moment of my life) as France finished in the top half of the table for the first time since 2011 and Wales finished in the bottom half for the first time since that same year, with fifth their lowest position since 2007 & the winning points were scored in the 100th minute of the match in one of the longest games on record while a Iain Henderson try for Ireland denies England's hopes by falling short of both the world record for most consecutive victories & the 2nd straight Grand Chelem as Jamie Heaslip withdrew from the team after suffering an injury during the pre-match warm-up while Andrew Conway (Ireland) made his international debut as Tom Wood (England) won his 50th test cap as this was Eddie Jones's 1st ever loss as England coach, and England's 1st since losing 33–13 to Australia in the 2015 Rugby World Cup & Ireland reclaims the Millennium Trophy.
So Ireland deny both the All Blacks & England their 19th consecutive victories (From Chicago to Dublin) so the Kiwi born Irish coach Joe Schmidt would be proud meaning that he was fired up with the win...So it was the 1st defeat for England under coach Eddie Jones so Jones is no longer the Savior as well as the Second City Saint, well that is a big blow for England because they are in mourning as Ireland put both the All Black & English trains off their rails...so uncivilized, what a day. Real drama here as the Irish Curse has struck again! So England are now 18 & 1 under Eddie Jones.
And finally I am overshadowed by watching more TV on Sky (Well I've got Sky now as a result) as I record a whole lot of programmes that I usually watch so I fear that I might not do blogging that much.
And the 2nd one is taken from Feel Good Hit Of The Summer/Let You Down/Pray/Voices: 99 Blogs (And counting) but a girl ain't one (Super Rugby round 8 review & Formula 1 report episode 3: Bahrain):
Well, it is surely my 99th blog overall before my century, Wow! So this is going to happen like tomorrow than expected but today we went to Caroline's for breakfast on Easter Sunday today (Well I was listening to some rock & roll on the radio all day which is The Rock FM still so I had to listen to some good songs) so I did enjoy it so it felt great (And I watched both movies yesterday such as Guardians Of The Galaxy (Although my favourite part of the movie was the Star Wars esque battle scene in mid air) & 300 (Including that famous line which is ''This is blasphemy...this is madness! Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!!!'') because I have seen 16 films this year (Actually it's 17 now).
And it is round 8 of Super Rugby that got under way as the Crusaders brushed aside the Sunwolves 50 - 3 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch with Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett breaking Keven Mealamu's record for most capped Super Rugby player with 176 (He was man of the match) as well as the return of All Blacks captain Kieran Read after an injury layoff & Seta Tamanivalu's nephew Manasa Mataele getting a hat-trick of tries but the Reds defeated the Kings to end their 6 game losing streak with Reds openside flanker George Smith celebrating his 150th appearance while the Hurricanes getting the better of the Blues with a 4 point victory at Eden Park in Auckland with a brace by Hurricanes lock Mark Abbott then the Rebels ended a 7 match losing streak with an upset win over the Australian conference leaders the Brumbies (Well that has been a bit of a surprise because the Rebels is 1 of 2 teams along with the Western Force who are in line to be axed or should I say omitted from next year's competition to make them competitive because Australian rugby is in deep trouble or in ruins) while the Chiefs avenged their Cape Town demons (Although their unbeaten run had ended by the hands of the Stormers) with a win against the Cheetahs at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein because the Cheetahs led 24 - 0 at one point until the Chiefs clawed their way back into contention to win 41 - 27 & talk about the pet hate such as fight backs as the Chiefs managed to survive their massive scare before a comical mix-up led to the Chiefs 6th try of the game & with the Cheetahs on defence behind their own goal-line, substitute Fred Zeilinga threw a shocking pass, which Hika Elliot capitalised on, snatching the loose ball to score (I heard Homer Simpson's line (Which is D'oh!) during the Rugby Nation programme on Prime when one of the Cheetahs players knocks the ball on or should I say lost the ball forward in contact allowing Hika Elliot to score an all important bonus point try which is kinda hilarious & player of the game honours went to Chiefs halfback & La Rochelle bound Tawera Kerr-Barlow) but the Stormers unbeaten run ended by the hands of the dominant Lions side at DHL Newlands in Cape Town (Although the Stormers will head into Christchurch, hoping to end the unbeaten run of the Crusaders because the Crusaders is the only team in Super Rugby this year undefeated) & the Bulls return their winning ways against the Jaguares over at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
So that was Round 8 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 9:
Hurricanes Vs Brumbies: McLean Park, Napier
Waratahs Vs Kings: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Lions Vs Jaguares: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Highlanders Vs Sunwolves: Rugby Park, Invercargill
Crusaders Vs Stormers: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Force Vs Chiefs: nib Stadium, Perth
Bulls Vs Cheetahs: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
& the Sharks Vs Rebels at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban to end Round 9 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Blues & Reds taking a week off to prepare for Round 10).
And finally Valtteri Bottas of Finland in the Mercedes has surprisingly taken pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix for the 1st time in his career (Unbelievable!) after his British teammate Lewis Hamilton (Well, trust me because if Hamilton wins, he will take over the lead of the championship) committed a mistake by running wide during his last qualifying lap to start on the front row ending his hopes of a 7th straight pole position & talk about that important announcement...the decision that McLaren's Fernando Alonso (Spain) made that he announced his intentions to miss the Monaco Grand Prix (The crown jewel in motorsport as Formula 1's premier event & although, 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button is going to take over Alonso's seat at Monaco because he had missed a few calls just like Stephen Donald did way back in 2011 when the 4th choice first five-eighth (1st Dan Carter fell over because of his injured groin allowing Aaron Cruden (Originally not in the original squad) to replace him then Cruden injured his knee during the 2011 Rugby World Cup (And so on in 2011, the All Blacks opened with a win over the kingdom of Tonga (Who hijacked us at the start) at Eden Park in Auckland (41 - 10) followed by Japan at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton 83 - 7 (The night before the mighty green throng of Ireland turned the tables on Australia, causing an upset), then France in Auckland (37 - 17) with captain Richie McCaw becoming the 1st All Black to reach 100 test caps followed by beating Canada at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington 79 - 15 (The day after Tonga providing another upset victory over France as well as Dan Carter, who was ruled out of the tournament altogether with a groin injury), then it is quarter final time as we scraped Argentina 33 - 10 in Auckland (Although Colin Slade suffered an injury similar to Dan Carter's), then finally beating against our traditional Trans Tasman rivals Australia (Who defeated South Africa in the quarter final which was better off forgotten) in the semifinal 20 - 6 (It was the night after the French flair titans (Who gave England the chop in the quarterfinal) defeated the Welsh (Who had beaten the mighty green throng in the quarters) in the other semifinal in which Sam Warburton got sent off for that famous spear tackle) before we once again took on France in the final, just as it was back in 1987, with the weight of the nation above our shoulders (Although Stephen 'Beaver' Donald was called up in the last minute whilst he was white baiting, YA GOT THAT!! WHITEBAITING), we have won us the CUP!!! HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!! I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEL!!! And yeah, not only that we have ended our Rugby World Cup curse after 24 years of agony and pain, as if, not ONLY we beat France 8 - 7, we have managed to lift the World Cup trophy, not only because it is the greatest moment of my life.) final allowing Beaver to replace him so Donald assumed the kicking duties & kicked the penalty that has won us the Rugby World Cup after 24 years of agony & pain & he was the unlikely hero of the final by redeeming himself despite French captain Thierry Dusautoir being awarded man of the match) had been called up into the All Blacks squad as injury replacement for Colin Slade (He had the same injury as Dan Carter's) during the Rugby World Cup) in order to take part in the Indianapolis/Indy 500 (It was once the most popular motorsport in America before NASCAR took over) but the race went to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel (Germany) who won by beating his Mercedes adversary/rival Lewis Hamilton (Who picked up a 5 second penalty that he overcame to finish 2nd while Hamilton's teammate & pole sitter Valtteri Bottas (Finland) had to settle for 3rd to finish on the podium) in a hard fought thriller in Bahrain with all that 2 stop strategy gamble paid off because the next round of the championship will be in...you guessed it, Russia at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi (Previous host of the Winter Olympics in 2014 (The same year that Brazil had last hosted a FIFA World Cup (Won by Germany (Who demolished the host nation (Who are without the injured star man Neymar) in the semifinal by 7 goals to 1 at the Mineirao in Belo Horizonte) for the 4th time who beat the star studded Argentina (Featuring once the best footballer/soccer player in the world who plays for FC Barcelona, Lionel 'Leo' Messi because his adversary/rival who plays for FC Barcelona's main rival, Real Madrid, Cristiano 'CR7' Ronaldo (Portugal) has now taken over as the best footballer/soccer player in the world) in the final at the Maracana in Rio (Previous host of the Summer Olympics last year in 2016 with the city of Tokyo in Japan (Next host of the 2019 Rugby World Cup with England (Although Wales hosted some games) last hosted it in 2015) will be host of the next Summer Olympics in 2020) as well as the city of Glasgow in Scotland which hosted the last Commonwealth Games) because Pyeongchang in South Korea will host the next Winter Olympics next year in 2018 (The same year as the city of Gold Coast (AKA 'The GC' which is in Queensland) in Australia will host the next Commonwealth Games as well as Russia will host the next FIFA World Cup).
And here's the points standings for both the drivers & constructors but 1st here's the drivers standings:
1st: Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari), 68 points
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes), 61 points
3rd: Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes), 38 points
4th: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari), 34 points
5th: Max Verstappen (The Netherlands, Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer), 25 points
6th: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer), 22 points
7th: Felipe Massa (Brazil, Williams Mercedes), 16 points
8th: Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India Mercedes), 14 points
9th: Carlos Sainz (Spain, Toro Rosso), 10 points
10th: Romain Grosjean (France, Haas Ferrari), 4 points
11th: Kevin Magnussen (Denmark, Haas Ferrari), 4 points
12th: Esteban Ocon (France, Force India Mercedes), 3 points
13th: Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Renault), 2 points
14th: Daniil Kvyat (Russia, Toro Rosso), 2 points
And then the constructors to wrap up the Formula 1 report:
1st: Ferrari (Italy), 102 points
2nd: Mercedes (Germany), 99 points
3rd: Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer (Austria), 47 points
4th: Force India Mercedes (India), 17 points
5th: Williams Mercedes (Great Britain), 16 points
6th: Toro Rosso (Italy), 12 points
7th: Haas Ferrari (USA), 8 points
8th: Renault (France), 2 points
And it is round 8 of Super Rugby that got under way as the Crusaders brushed aside the Sunwolves 50 - 3 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch with Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett breaking Keven Mealamu's record for most capped Super Rugby player with 176 (He was man of the match) as well as the return of All Blacks captain Kieran Read after an injury layoff & Seta Tamanivalu's nephew Manasa Mataele getting a hat-trick of tries but the Reds defeated the Kings to end their 6 game losing streak with Reds openside flanker George Smith celebrating his 150th appearance while the Hurricanes getting the better of the Blues with a 4 point victory at Eden Park in Auckland with a brace by Hurricanes lock Mark Abbott then the Rebels ended a 7 match losing streak with an upset win over the Australian conference leaders the Brumbies (Well that has been a bit of a surprise because the Rebels is 1 of 2 teams along with the Western Force who are in line to be axed or should I say omitted from next year's competition to make them competitive because Australian rugby is in deep trouble or in ruins) while the Chiefs avenged their Cape Town demons (Although their unbeaten run had ended by the hands of the Stormers) with a win against the Cheetahs at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein because the Cheetahs led 24 - 0 at one point until the Chiefs clawed their way back into contention to win 41 - 27 & talk about the pet hate such as fight backs as the Chiefs managed to survive their massive scare before a comical mix-up led to the Chiefs 6th try of the game & with the Cheetahs on defence behind their own goal-line, substitute Fred Zeilinga threw a shocking pass, which Hika Elliot capitalised on, snatching the loose ball to score (I heard Homer Simpson's line (Which is D'oh!) during the Rugby Nation programme on Prime when one of the Cheetahs players knocks the ball on or should I say lost the ball forward in contact allowing Hika Elliot to score an all important bonus point try which is kinda hilarious & player of the game honours went to Chiefs halfback & La Rochelle bound Tawera Kerr-Barlow) but the Stormers unbeaten run ended by the hands of the dominant Lions side at DHL Newlands in Cape Town (Although the Stormers will head into Christchurch, hoping to end the unbeaten run of the Crusaders because the Crusaders is the only team in Super Rugby this year undefeated) & the Bulls return their winning ways against the Jaguares over at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
So that was Round 8 of the 2017 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 9:
Hurricanes Vs Brumbies: McLean Park, Napier
Waratahs Vs Kings: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Lions Vs Jaguares: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Highlanders Vs Sunwolves: Rugby Park, Invercargill
Crusaders Vs Stormers: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Force Vs Chiefs: nib Stadium, Perth
Bulls Vs Cheetahs: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
& the Sharks Vs Rebels at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban to end Round 9 of Super Rugby 2017 (With the Blues & Reds taking a week off to prepare for Round 10).
And finally Valtteri Bottas of Finland in the Mercedes has surprisingly taken pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix for the 1st time in his career (Unbelievable!) after his British teammate Lewis Hamilton (Well, trust me because if Hamilton wins, he will take over the lead of the championship) committed a mistake by running wide during his last qualifying lap to start on the front row ending his hopes of a 7th straight pole position & talk about that important announcement...the decision that McLaren's Fernando Alonso (Spain) made that he announced his intentions to miss the Monaco Grand Prix (The crown jewel in motorsport as Formula 1's premier event & although, 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button is going to take over Alonso's seat at Monaco because he had missed a few calls just like Stephen Donald did way back in 2011 when the 4th choice first five-eighth (1st Dan Carter fell over because of his injured groin allowing Aaron Cruden (Originally not in the original squad) to replace him then Cruden injured his knee during the 2011 Rugby World Cup (And so on in 2011, the All Blacks opened with a win over the kingdom of Tonga (Who hijacked us at the start) at Eden Park in Auckland (41 - 10) followed by Japan at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton 83 - 7 (The night before the mighty green throng of Ireland turned the tables on Australia, causing an upset), then France in Auckland (37 - 17) with captain Richie McCaw becoming the 1st All Black to reach 100 test caps followed by beating Canada at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington 79 - 15 (The day after Tonga providing another upset victory over France as well as Dan Carter, who was ruled out of the tournament altogether with a groin injury), then it is quarter final time as we scraped Argentina 33 - 10 in Auckland (Although Colin Slade suffered an injury similar to Dan Carter's), then finally beating against our traditional Trans Tasman rivals Australia (Who defeated South Africa in the quarter final which was better off forgotten) in the semifinal 20 - 6 (It was the night after the French flair titans (Who gave England the chop in the quarterfinal) defeated the Welsh (Who had beaten the mighty green throng in the quarters) in the other semifinal in which Sam Warburton got sent off for that famous spear tackle) before we once again took on France in the final, just as it was back in 1987, with the weight of the nation above our shoulders (Although Stephen 'Beaver' Donald was called up in the last minute whilst he was white baiting, YA GOT THAT!! WHITEBAITING), we have won us the CUP!!! HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!! I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEL!!! And yeah, not only that we have ended our Rugby World Cup curse after 24 years of agony and pain, as if, not ONLY we beat France 8 - 7, we have managed to lift the World Cup trophy, not only because it is the greatest moment of my life.) final allowing Beaver to replace him so Donald assumed the kicking duties & kicked the penalty that has won us the Rugby World Cup after 24 years of agony & pain & he was the unlikely hero of the final by redeeming himself despite French captain Thierry Dusautoir being awarded man of the match) had been called up into the All Blacks squad as injury replacement for Colin Slade (He had the same injury as Dan Carter's) during the Rugby World Cup) in order to take part in the Indianapolis/Indy 500 (It was once the most popular motorsport in America before NASCAR took over) but the race went to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel (Germany) who won by beating his Mercedes adversary/rival Lewis Hamilton (Who picked up a 5 second penalty that he overcame to finish 2nd while Hamilton's teammate & pole sitter Valtteri Bottas (Finland) had to settle for 3rd to finish on the podium) in a hard fought thriller in Bahrain with all that 2 stop strategy gamble paid off because the next round of the championship will be in...you guessed it, Russia at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi (Previous host of the Winter Olympics in 2014 (The same year that Brazil had last hosted a FIFA World Cup (Won by Germany (Who demolished the host nation (Who are without the injured star man Neymar) in the semifinal by 7 goals to 1 at the Mineirao in Belo Horizonte) for the 4th time who beat the star studded Argentina (Featuring once the best footballer/soccer player in the world who plays for FC Barcelona, Lionel 'Leo' Messi because his adversary/rival who plays for FC Barcelona's main rival, Real Madrid, Cristiano 'CR7' Ronaldo (Portugal) has now taken over as the best footballer/soccer player in the world) in the final at the Maracana in Rio (Previous host of the Summer Olympics last year in 2016 with the city of Tokyo in Japan (Next host of the 2019 Rugby World Cup with England (Although Wales hosted some games) last hosted it in 2015) will be host of the next Summer Olympics in 2020) as well as the city of Glasgow in Scotland which hosted the last Commonwealth Games) because Pyeongchang in South Korea will host the next Winter Olympics next year in 2018 (The same year as the city of Gold Coast (AKA 'The GC' which is in Queensland) in Australia will host the next Commonwealth Games as well as Russia will host the next FIFA World Cup).
And here's the points standings for both the drivers & constructors but 1st here's the drivers standings:
1st: Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari), 68 points
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes), 61 points
3rd: Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes), 38 points
4th: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari), 34 points
5th: Max Verstappen (The Netherlands, Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer), 25 points
6th: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer), 22 points
7th: Felipe Massa (Brazil, Williams Mercedes), 16 points
8th: Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India Mercedes), 14 points
9th: Carlos Sainz (Spain, Toro Rosso), 10 points
10th: Romain Grosjean (France, Haas Ferrari), 4 points
11th: Kevin Magnussen (Denmark, Haas Ferrari), 4 points
12th: Esteban Ocon (France, Force India Mercedes), 3 points
13th: Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Renault), 2 points
14th: Daniil Kvyat (Russia, Toro Rosso), 2 points
And then the constructors to wrap up the Formula 1 report:
1st: Ferrari (Italy), 102 points
2nd: Mercedes (Germany), 99 points
3rd: Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer (Austria), 47 points
4th: Force India Mercedes (India), 17 points
5th: Williams Mercedes (Great Britain), 16 points
6th: Toro Rosso (Italy), 12 points
7th: Haas Ferrari (USA), 8 points
8th: Renault (France), 2 points
So that is my 174th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 94th this year (And it is only 18 days left until Christmas).
