You Stole the Sun From My Heart: My 12th blog of the year 2025

Well, s'up guys, as we welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first, there has been over 45,000 casualties reported during that dreadful war between Israel & Hamas which is still going at the moment which began on October 7th, 2023 in Gaza which is the modern day iteration of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 which happened in America in which the nation was under attack when the US declared the war on terror that lasted where they began to invade countries, such as Afghanistan & Iraq until 2021 with the end of the Afghanistan war in for it was a stark reminder, during that genocide with 250 hostages being kept in captivity with the Israelis currently on a mission to rescue the hostages but why are they always been doing terrible things after the US are spending millions of dollars in their aid package & then they start murdering innocent civilians in war torn zones with Israelis asking every Palestinian in Gaza to evacuate, & I mean, that's literally rubbish, absolute ludicrous but, oh this is terrible stuff going on there, while in Syria that the rebel soldiers are searching for troops who served under the Assad regime that had fallen last year & urged/warned citizens who are civilians to remain at their homes in the aftermath of the 13 year civil war that concluded with the fall of Bashar al-Assad as the leader of the country, & it was in 2011 that popular discontent with the rule of al-Assad triggered large-scale protests & pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region which resulted in a clamp down of pro-democracy stuff in which the civil war began which had 528,500 lost their lives in that cruel struggle.

And what a great year that was last year, especially the sporting success we had such as the Paris Summer Games in which we won a record 10 gold medals as the New Zealand Olympic team broke the previous all-time record set in Los Angeles in 1984 with 8 (But the key highlight for me was Hamish Kerr (One of 3 New Zealand sporting heroes alongside fellow golden boy Finn Butcher & an All White currently playing for an English club of Nottingham Forest competing in the Premier League, Chris Wood) winning the high jump in which he beat American competitor Shelby McEwen who had to settle for the silver, in a jump off to decide the outcome of securing gold & cement an iconic piece of New Zealand sporting history, to say the least), then the America's Cup of course as well with Team New Zealand (The 5 time champions of the Auld Mug (One of the most successful teams in America's Cup history during the modern era (We were late starters in 1986-87 therefore or country's involvement into the America's Cup began, inspired by the Aussie success that they had over the United States in 1983), the most by a non-American syndicate by far who joined the likes of the Black Caps, the White Ferns, women's K4 sprint, women's K2 sprint, Brooke Francis & Lucy Spoors, & the Black Ferns sevens) setting a new record of becoming the first syndicate to win 3 times in a row in modern history, therefore we dominated the last 3 America's Cups starting from Bermuda in 2017, then continuing on in Auckland on home waters in 2021 & now Barcelona last year in which the comment I remember from the current day voice of sailing of Stephen McIvor that we produced a Mediterranean masterclass, & then the Black Caps memorable test series win over India on Indian soil for the first time ever in one of the most test cricket series wins for New Zealand of all-time, & the White Ferns finally becoming champions of the world of women's cricket, in the T20 format in that epic final against South Africa women in Dubai in the UAE with Mellie Kerr (Who joined the likes of fellow successful New Zealand Olympic heroines such as Dame Lisa Carrington, Lydia Ko, Sarah Hirini, Risi Pouri-Lane & Ellesse Andrews) earned a place in sporting history as she was the most standout player of the tournament as well as producing a bit of magic as she was named standout player of the final for her all-round performance needless to say.

And I saw Wendy (Sister of Tania Phillips & one of Pops cuzzies who currently lives in Dunedin in the Otago region for I have not seen her since 2022) & her husband Michael (Whose into the Eagles & Netflix for which I'm always not interested at) at Rutland Arms in which me & Pops turned up late because it was supposed to be half past 8, but I had a great meal there, especially the big breakfast we had but with no bread & hashbrowns, & what a beauty it was (Although we had a bit of banter between the married couple for which I literally enjoyed except that we turned up late as a result, but we had visitors come to Rutland such as Pops old mate from Ardmore Teachers College days such as Val & his wife Shelley on the 13th of January this year).

And finally I had a decent Christmas over there at Dad's place (Compared to 2023 where I was in Northland with Carole & Pops spending time over there at Kathryn's place with her & Ken as well as the 2 dogs of Yodi & Daisy), especially the food that I love as well as the presents (But my main one such as the physical copy of the Rugby Challenge 4 game on the PS4 (Dad told me that it was out of stock here so it was available abroad straight out of the UK) didn't arrive so I'll definitely wait because it takes a week or a fortnight to sort it out)

So that is my 588th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 12th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Ain't No Rest For the Wicked/Ready To Let Go/Social Cues: My 11th blog of the year 2025

Well, what's going on as we welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first, in the cricket (Well, everything is about the cricket here in New Zealand as the rugby season is over already (Except in the Northern Hemisphere where it's still going, especially the Investec Champions Cup, & with the Six Nations due in late January this year) until February starting with the Super Rugby Pacific season with the 1st match of the competition taking place on Valentine's Day between the 2 former champions of Super Rugby, the Crusaders & the Hurricanes (Who'll be without 1 test AB Ruben Love, as he faces his spell in the sidelines for 3 to 4 months with a bad injury that he took during pre-season training) at Apollo Projects Stadium (Which is going to be replaced by One New Zealand Stadium when it opens next year as a replacement venue of the old Lancaster Park which closed its doors as a result of damage sustained by the earthquake back in 2011 (That was the year after the 1st Christchurch earthquake) in which was the most tragic here in New Zealand compared to 9/11 in America way back in 2001 & the July 7th bombings in London in the UK also way back in 2005 after the city had been awarded hosting rights to the Summer Games in 2012) in Christchurch in the Canterbury region) as the Black Caps went on to win the 3rd & final test against England (Who had to win the series as well as the inaugural Crowe-Thorpe trophy (The competition named after both late cricket legends of Martin Crowe (Who passed away in 2016 after a lengthy battle with a terminal illness) & Graham Thorpe (Who tragically passed away last year as a result of taking his own life when he got fatally run over by a train in the UK (And he had depression according to his family) after dominating the 1st 2 tests in both Christchurch & Wellington in which the Black Caps are out of the picture of reaching the World Test Championship final at Lord's) at Seddon Park in Hamilton in Tim Southee's farewell test as former captain Kane Williamson posted a ton in the 2nd innings, meanwhile Australia (Who had been a global superpower in world cricket since 2023 when they completed a treble such as the WTC, the Ashes & the men's Cricket World Cup) have levelled the BGT series against India at Adelaide 1 - 1 before the 3rd test in Brisbane had ended in a draw (With both Travis Head & Steve Smith posting tons respectively) meaning that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is still locked up at 1 apiece going into the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.

And in motor racing related news such as Liam Lawson has departed Racing Bulls (Who'll have Algerian-Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Who narrowly missed out on claiming the F2 title to Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto whose with KICK Sauber F1 Team now alongside German Nico Huelkenberg) replacing Lawson to pair up with Japan's Yuki Tsunoda) meaning that he's in to replace Mexican Sergio Perez at Red Bull when he pairs alongside his new teammate of the 4 time defending Formula One world champion, Dutchman Max Verstappen in a bid of regaining constructors championship glory after McLaren ended Red Bull's 2 year reign on top of the constructors championship summit last year with the season opening race locked in on the 16th of March this year with Australia hosting round 1 of the world championship since 2019 (Then a year later in 2020 (That was the year after the Christchurch mosque shooting massacre which was tragic along with a pair of shootings in Dayton & El Paso in the United States that was inspired by the tragic events in Christchurch, & the White Island eruption which resulted in severe casualties + there was protests in Hong Kong, China where there is a ban on political freedom in the region due to China's imposition of a controversial national security law in the country & the bushfires in Australia had taken place from 2019 until 2020, right before COVID came along) where they thought they're going to open the F1 season, but called off immediately due to COVID), but in news related to the Supercars Championship (Which will open the season at Sydney Motorsport Park for the first time since 2022 on the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of February, compared to IndyCar hosting the season opener at St Pete in Florida in the United States of America on the 2nd of March (That's a fortnight before F1 begins their new season on March 16th down under at the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit at Albert Park in the city of Melbourne which hosts the Australian Grand Prix) that Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell could potentially host another New Zealand round of the championship next year (But the Supercars Championship has never hosted a round in the South Island of New Zealand, but it's mainly the North Island of NZ mainly hosts it on that occasion (First it was Pukekohe, before that it was Hamilton, then Pukekohe again, & it's Taupo now) to join alongside Taupo International Motorsport Park which is contracted to run until also next year.

And the nominees are in for the 62nd Halberg Sports awards sponsored by ISPS Handa with New Zealand's most successful Olympian of Dame Lisa Carrington (Who had an ultra successful year at the Paris Summer Games as she brought home 3 golds (Including being part of the women's K4 sprint kayak with Olivia Brett, Alicia Hoskin & Tara Vaughan, women's K2 sprint kayak with Hoskin, & on her own in the women's K1 sprint kayak) during the summer Olympics) leading the way in terms of sports nominations such as Sportswoman of the Year (The other nominees are Ellesse Andrews, Sarah Hirini, Amelia 'Mellie' Kerr, Lydia Ko & Risi Pouri-Lane are among the contenders/front runners of claiming sportswoman of the year) & Team of the Year (Along with the Black Caps, Black Ferns sevens, Brooke Francis & Lucy Spoors, Emirates Team New Zealand (Who dominated the last 3 America's Cups in Bermuda 2017 then Auckland 2021, & Barcelona last year) & the White Ferns) as part of the women's K2 sprint kayak, & the women's K4 sprint kayak as well (While both Finn Butcher & Hamish Kerr battle it out for the Sportsman of the Year awards along with 5 others including All White Chris Wood).

And finally Carole is off to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to see her family there during Christmas time (And last year me, Pops & Carole were in Northland for which would be my last holiday since I'm retiring from going on trips (I thought me & Pops were going to see Cathey, Paige & Norah in Wellington this year in January, but I decided to drop out of it citing fears of Pops old age & travel costs regarding to inflation mainly due to the dreadful war that has still been going since 2022 (And I've made my decision to move on from the 3 of them until further notice, & for the foreseeable future but I'm still going to meet them one day) like that according to the previous blogs that I did) such as her bro Zaki, Zaki's wife Aisha, Zaki's son Yasser & Zaki's grandson & Yasser's son Kace, but I miss her now & I'll be seeing her on the 2nd of January next year when she comes back from Dubai on a long flight, but me & Pops will be at Dad's place on Christmas day last year on the 25th of December (And I've got a present including the physical copy of the Rugby Challenge 4 game on the PS4, but I'm giving it to Dad so that he can update the players & teams which is a bit tricky since I got the digital copy that I bought since 2020).

So that is my 587th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 11th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Bobby Sox/Routines In the Night: My 10th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first here in New Zealand that there will be a crack down on greyhound racing with regards to animal cruelty according to the announcement from wily old politician Winston Peters (Ex-National) from the NZ First Party, but Pops told me that the reason why that they gonna prohibit them under the anti-greyhound racing legislation is that greyhound dogs are getting starved because they don't eat much by getting themselves fit to race meaning that they had some problems to the racing dogs recently.

Meanwhile that there was a rugby related story about the late great All Black Jerry Collins during his time with the Ospreys in Wales that he turned up at some place in the valleys & asked the bartender if he could watch television, but the reply came that the television was in the corner, & it was a little one so JC supposedly went across to the local Tesco as he bought a 50 inch one & took it back to the pub saying to the bartender "Plug that one in, mate", & then in all of a sudden "He then watched what he wanted to watch & left the television there", & it ended with "He was a very generous man", but continuing on to the rugby news such as All Black Jordie Barrett made much of an impression when he made his debut for Leinster as he scored a try during the Investec Champions Cup encounter against the Bristol Bears.

And I've started having the Man Shake when I saw on a TV advert that I got at Woolworths (Formerly Countdown) so I can go down to 100kg in order to lose weight but now I'm down to 119 kilos (I originally weighed in at 124kg before I got on the Man Shake diet, but now I'm on Complan (Which is the cheaper alternative to the Man Shake) since the Man Shake has got a bit expensive, but I used to have Complan since it got dear) as of today but I go off it every weekend but I always have foods that are 3 & a half stars or above & have a zero alcohol beer every time I have dinner, while in gaming related stuff that the reason why I've bought that 2TB Xbox Series X console is before the 2nd Trump presidency is about to commence on Inauguration Day next year, & that's why that I made my decision to save money from now on, but my main focus is getting the new Rugby 25 game digitally on both the PS4 & PS5 versions once it comes out possibly next year (And I'll be getting the physical copy of the PS5 version for my Dad), meanwhile the new Virtua Fighter game has been confirmed & also the PC version of the game is due to come out in late January next year dubbed as Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. which is the first Virtua Fighter release on PC in 28 years (And I have got both Virtua Fighter games such as Final Showdown on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Series X console & Ultimate Showdown on the PS4 via PS5 Pro console respectively).

And finally in news related to motor racing in the Formula One as Lando Norris claims victory in the season finale in Abu Dhabi in the UAE (The country that Carole is heading to see her rugby following bro Zaki until she comes back here on the 2nd of January this year) as he helped McLaren win their first constructors championship since 1998, & the first time that the global racing icon had won the constructors crown during the 21st century (They needed to outscore & outshone Ferrari to become the new constructors champion of the world, & they did, they successfully did during the constructors championship decider where it was the first time that Verstappen won the world championship, but his team he races for of Red Bull failed to win the constructors crown since 2021 in which Mercedes-AMG won (In which was controversial where the race director got fired for allegedly botching a safety car period & lapped cars procedure in which the result hadn't been changed meaning that it stood, compared to last year where it was less controversial), but Hamilton had failed to become the drivers world champion because it went to Max) as he sends a statement to his rivals that he is a clear favourite to win the world championship this year in which the Grand Prix was marred by the 4 time defending world champion Max Verstappen who picked up a timed penalty for deliberately taking out Aussie Oscar Piastri (Norris's teammate & wingman) in the opening lap of the race in what was to be the last race for Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes before he heads to Ferrari to replace the Williams bound Carlos Sainz.

So that is my 586th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 10th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Any Colour You Like/Eclipse: My 9th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everybody, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first in Formula One with the newly crowned 4 time world champion Max Verstappen who was denied pole due to a 1 place grid penalty for blatantly or should I say, deliberately slowing George Russell (Who was later declared the polesitter after Verstappen's pole winning time had been overturned as a result of a penalty) down during qualifying, went on to win in Qatar for his 9th win of the season (In which he his victory wasn't denied but counted as his win in Qatar had to stand), but the constructors championship will be decided in Abu Dhabi (Which hosts the last race of the season which will be the final race of Lewis Hamilton for the constructor he races for of Mercedes-AMG in which he won 6 world championships with since he joined the team in 2013 as a replacement for Michael Schumacher before he heads to Ferrari next year to team up with Charles Leclerc & it'll be the debut Grand Prix for young Aussie Jack Doohan as he takes over Frenchman Esteban Ocon's race seat as Ocon is preparing to go to Haas next year to team up with a young Brit of Ollie Bearman) between McLaren & Ferrari in the aftermath of Lando Norris who got pinged with a stop & go penalty for 10 seconds due to going too fast when the yellow flags were waved so that's why there was an infringement handed out against Norris therefore denying McLaren's chances to wrap it up even though with Red Bull out of the picture of retaining the constructors championship, & also that they should've triggered a yellow flag due to Alex Albon's Williams mirror had come off with Kick Sauber's Valtteri Bottas running over it which caused flatties to both Hamilton (The multiple world champion who drives for Mercedes-AMG would later pick up a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane) & Carlos Sainz (The Williams bound Ferrari driver).

And the latest in America as US president elect Donald Trump names his cabinet being announced including Marco Rubio (Who is sanctioned by China in 2020) as secretary of state & Kash Patel becoming the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation once he takes office as he declares war on both immigration (In which military personnel are being sent for a mass deportation is being required in which immigrants are being sent home to their home country/country of birth even though with the military being given orders to them) & the tariff stuff (In which gaming stuff such as PlayStation are expected to be expensive once Trump is sworn in yet again on Inauguration Day this year) which has been going on there, but the latest as there is a ceasefire between Israel & Hezbollah in Lebanon which has been confirmed, but why has the Israelis continue to invade Gaza? Come on! And meanwhile that there is a civil war going on there in Syria as rebels take control of the 2nd largest city in the country of Aleppo, so that's why the civil war began in 2011 due to a clamp down on pro-democracy protests according to the president Bashir al-Assad (Who had to flee to Russia to get away from the Rebels with Syria now entering the post al-Assad family rule (First it was Bashar's dad Hafez (Who passed away in 2000 at the age of 69 due to a cardiac arrest) & then, Bashar himself took over before the rebels storm in to take over Syria as he fled to a different country).

And onto the rugby stuff as Wallace Sititi (Who I label him as New Zealand rugby's equivalent of cricket's Rachin Ravindra with Sititi being rocketed to stardom by following his famous dad Semo's footsteps of becoming a pro) has been crowned the World Rugby breakthrough player of the year at the awards which took place in Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco following his impressive season he had for both the Chiefs in the Super Rugby Pacific season & the All Blacks during the test season, but disaster for our defending Olympic champions the Black Ferns sevens (Who were riding high after retaining the gold in Paris against Canada during the gold medal match at the Summer Games in Paris) as we fell short in the Dubai women's 7's final against the Wallaroos sevens who had a disappointing Olympics, but now on the recovery mode to take the lead in the standings after the Aussies start their Olympic cycle by claiming the Dubai women's sevens championship with their star player Maddison Levi (The women's sevens player of the year) who scored the winning try off an intercept which was the turning point that the Australians needed before the Black Ferns sevens (Who had young Jorja Miller as our rugby player of the year at the NZ rugby awards) had a fantastic turnaround in Cape Town to win the South African leg of the women's cup when we defeated the United States in the final.

And finally in the Premier League in England as league leaders Liverpool (Who are leading by 9 ahead of Arsenal but can they chase Liverpool down? I hope not from Leon Benbaruk's point of view) defeated the defending champions Man City (Who need to regroup by getting a bunch of good players with the January transfer window fast approaching, while their coach Pep Guardiola signalling 6 to the Liverpool crowd which the Liverpool fans didn't like it by booing Guardiola which indicates the continuation of the invincibility of Manchester City's utter dominance) by 2 goals to nil (The goal scorers for Liverpool are young Dutchman Cody Gakpo & the star Egyptian Mo Salah) to maintain their lead in the standings before a late goal by Newcastle United off Swiss player who plays for the club, Fabian Schaer, has denied Liverpool a certain win as they snatched a draw which was the game changer inspired by Maddie Levi's try that sink the Black Fern's sevens quest of winning in Dubai in the women's 7's cup final, meaning that their lead in the Premier League has been cut to possibly 7 or 8 after Arsenal's win against Man United while Chelsea close the gap on the league leaders Liverpool who had their Merseyside derby game against Everton postponed due to Storm Darragh.

So that is my 584th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 8th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Simple Kind of Life/Déjà vu/Special Ones/Come a Little Closer: My 8th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first in rugby as the AB's (Who now have 7 players part of the casualty ward such as Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali'i, Sam Darry as well as new additions to the injury list (IL) such as Jordie Barrett (Knee), Samipeni Finau (Concussion) & Tamaiti Williams (Neck) who are withdrawn due to injuries while the AB's await the return of Sam Cane & Mark Tele'a who are both healthy again after missing the previous test against France which was ruined by poor officiating from Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli that derailed our chances for victory in which we had a tough game to start with, even though we were defeated by a single point according to the comment I heard from Dad during our phone conversation on the 22nd of November last year) name our team to play in our final test match of the year against Italy (But can we finish off the test season with a win? Well, I really think so but our most recent meeting between the 2 sides was in 2023 at the Rugby World Cup where the All Blacks (Who always keep getting penalized under the new legislation interpretations such as the escort law in which chasers are keep getting taken out by the defence which results in a penalty for a shepherd (As the refs always ask for clear access, even if a player needed to get out of the way from a pursuing opposition player who is attempting to get the ball off from an up & under/garryowen kick) in which rugby have turned into Aussie Rules just like last year that rugby has turned into a mini-NFL in order to speed up the game) had a comprehensive but emphatic win over the Italians to be on track for qualification to the quarters) at Allianz Stadium Torino, in which we have never played at that ground where it is the home of the most successful football club in Italy of Juventus FC, so here's the starting lineup according to Razor:

STARTING XV

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

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

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

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

SECOND ROW

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

5 (No.5 lock): Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues/Auckland)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)

7 (Open side flanker): Sam Cane (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)

8 (Number 8): Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika/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): Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs/Waikato)

13 (Centre): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Mark Tele'a (Blues/North Harbour)

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

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS

16 (Reserve hooker): Asafo Aumua

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ofa Tu'ungafasi

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Who returns to the fold to replace Pasilio Tosi at reserve tight head prop position)

19 (Reserve lock): Tupou Vaa'i (Who is dropped to the pine with Patrick Tuipulotu elevated to the run-on team as the starting lock)

20 (Reserve loose forward): Peter Lakai

21 (Reserve half-back): TJ Perenara (Who returns to replace Cortez Ratima to play his final ever All Blacks test before heading overseas to play for a Japanese club competing in the Japanese Rugby League One competition)

22 (Reserve midfielder): David Havili (Who replaces Anton Lienert-Brown to cover at the reserve midfielder position with Lienert-Brown elevated to the starting lineup to replace Jordie Barrett who is injured again)

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie

And there has been an update in the rugby as the All Blacks return to winning ways with a not so convincing win over the improved Italy (Who beat Scotland & Wales then had a draw against France in last year's Six Nations championship season, & were fierce by giving New Zealand a sniff) side at Allianz Stadium Torino in what was the last games for both Sam Cane & TJ Perenara who both bowed out in style in the All Black jersey as Cane & Perenara head off to Japan to play for their respective clubs (But the test was disappointing, despite that we won of course which was our first most disappointing rugby match of the year according to our All Black standards since our home test defeat against Los Pumas of Argentina (Who was one of the 3 sides to beat the AB's after the defending world champions Springboks of South Africa (Whose main challenger at the next Rugby World Cup in Australia 2027 is both Argentina & Ireland) twice, & les Bleus of France, & these 3 sides that beat us could even be New Zealand's main challengers at the next RWC in Australia 2027, but I fear it might be a France - South Africa final, just like both sides have met at both the 1995 & 2023 Rugby World Cups in the semi & quarters respectively which had gone in the Boks way) in Wellington during the Rugby Championship opener), so let's relive the last 10 minutes of the test according to NZ Herald:

70TH MINUTE, TRY ALL BLACKS (M. TELE'A): TELE'A BAGS THE ALL BLACKS THIRD! Another advantage came out the scrum, with the All Blacks looping left. After a couple of loose passes, it found its way to Barrett, who floated over the head of Tele'a. He plucked it out the sky well though, finding his way into the left corner.

72ND MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION ALL BLACKS (B. BARRETT): Barrett nails it from the left sideline.

SCRUM FEED ITALY: Vaa'i is hoisted, and fittingly spills the restart. No advantage as the Azzuri loses 30m, so we'll go back for the scrum.

73RD MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER): Italy come inside off the scrum, seeing it spit out on the All Blacks side! They transferred left, where McKenzie toed downfield. It settled for the Italians, allowing Garbisi to eventually find touch 35m from the line.

74TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), SCRUM FEED ITALY: It is messy in broken play for the All Blacks, and eventually, Savea slipped a pass forwards. Scrum Italy just outside the 22.

75TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), PENALTY ITALY (ILLEGAL WHEELING): The scrum wheels, and this time the penalty goes the way of the Italians. Touch found 30m from the line.

76TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ITALY (T. MENONCELLO): REWARD FOR ITALY! The ball falls on the side of the All Blacks, so naturally after a couple of scrappy phases Barrett goes to an aimless cross-kick which nobody chased. Garbisi cross-kicked back across to the right edge, where Tele'a couldn't gather cleanly. Zanon scooped it up, charging to the 22m line, linking out to Menoncello on the right sideline! He put his head down, flying over in the corner!

78TH MINUTE (2 MINUTES LATER), CONVERSION MISS ITALY (P. GARBISI): Garbisi hooks it away to the right from the right sideline.

Italy holds it just outside the 22, before going to a box kick, but Garbisi sends it out on the full! Lineout just outside the 22 to come.

79TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), TRY ALL BLACKS (B. BARRETT): ALL TOO EASY! The All Blacks rumbled into the 22, charging up through Lakai. They eventually looped left where another Barrett grubber was off-target, rolling into touch. Italy elected to go quickly, chipping and chasing from their own line! Barrett gathered on the 22m line, and the whole chase line overran it, leaving Barrett to trot it in down the left sideline!

80TH MINUTE (1 MINUTE LATER), CONVERSION MISS ALL BLACKS (B. BARRETT): Barrett pushes it away to the right.

Italy bat the ball back at the kickoff, but then cough it up themselves. That will put us all out of our misery.

FULL-TIME: 11 - 29

A horror test comes to an end, with the All Blacks crawling to a scrappy victory. Credit must go to the Italians, who upset the visitors rhythm, with spirited defence, and even managed to pinch a late try, one which was very much deserved. Outside of a dominant scrum, it was shocking from the All Blacks, who were sloppy, and were not up to their own standards. They knocked it on, kicked it away, and just generally lacked any sort of accuracy. They will be very disappointed.

Italy will be thrilled with that. They came into this test on the back of two fairly poor performances, but they clearly channelled that to put in a much-improved performance this evening in the freezing temperatures. They spoiled the breakdown well, and forced several attacking errors out of the visitors, who just were not up to their usual standards. Ange Capuozzo was very strong throughout, making several breaks with his elusive running game. Federico Ruzza was also very strong in the carry. They will be pleased heading towards the Six Nations.

That was not the performance the All Blacks wanted to have to finish the season. It was a long season, and the conditions were below freezing, but that would be of real disappointment, as they looked to send off Sam Cane and TJ Perenara on a high. Perhaps in many ways that shows the issue with this test, too much focus on sentimentality, and not enough on picking the best players for this job. They largely looked disinterested, and the execution was just terrible. Wallace Sititi, Ethan de Groot and Asafo Aumua were all fairly good, but outside of that it was grim.

That rounds things off from Turin, where the All Blacks have crawled to victory.

And onto the political stuff in the United States as many of the left wing news channels such as CNN are turning on & betraying president elect Donald Trump (Who is currently announcing his personnel to be named under his new cabinet) & his election win as well as his anti-immigration & tariff policies that he is dealing with once he takes office on Inauguration Day as I heard a comment that I literally remember from Carole (And I mean she is a lovely lady since she first met Pops secretly on an dating site for older people since Nan passed away, but my life living under Dad was great, compared to my life living under Pops would be the most excellent (And what if Pops passes away mainly due to old age? Is that I might move back in with Dad (Who along with Carole as our loved ones of our whanau (Although I live with Pops as my most loved one of our family) since Ben Blain left to go to the Philippines for a job there) during the time that she watched the AB's - Italy rugby test with us.

And now in rock related news as I've decided to become a Linkin Park (Who recently released their comeback album called From Zero on the 15th of November last year featuring 4 singles from the album being released by the band such as 'The Emptiness Machine', 'Heavy is the Crown', 'Over Each Other', & the latest which is 'Two Faced') follower again since Emily Armstrong had already joined the band as the band's female vocalist at that moment that she replaced the likes of the late Chester Bennington (Who already passed away in July 2017, 2 months after one of his great friends of Chris Cornell of both Audioslave & Soundgarden fame), compared to founding member Mike Shinoda (Who is still the rhythm guitarist) being the designated male vocalist of the band as well as me being a fanatic to these women in rock such as Alanis Morissette (I've still got one of her albums called Jagged Little Pill in my bedroom as well as her song Thank U that I downloaded off the internet via the MP3 downloader website), Avril Lavigne (The first time I heard Lavigne was in 2002 with her number 1 hit song here in our country called 'Complicated'), Evanescence (The first time I heard that band was also their hit song 'Bring Me To Life' that came out in 2003 on the radio) & Michelle Branch (One of my faves is 'Are You Happy Now?', but I like 'All You Wanted', 'Breathe' & 'Everywhere' as the other songs, & I didn't know that one of my fave radio stations of Brian FM play Michelle Branch, along with Evanescence, Lavigne, Linkin Park & Morissette).

And finally that in the gaming department such as I'm starting to now play the 2023 version of Forza Motorsport (Along with GTA IV (Xbox 360 via Xbox Series X console), Grand Turismo 7 (PS5), Tekken 8 (PS5) & SoulCalibur VI (PS4 via PS5 Pro console that I've still got) that I currently play as of today) but I'm currently want to reach 33 million credits which is my main objective so I can buy the racing cars that I love in the game, but I'm currently 9 million credits at the moment (As of November 24th last year) by doing the money method races many times with both the 1986 Lotus & 1990 Ferrari Formula One race cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval (The reward is 75,200 credits (74,900 if you fail to get the majority of the clean laps), but the latest in Formula One as George Russell wins the most expensive race in history at the Las Vegas Grand Prix under the lights as he finishes ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure a Mercedes 1-2, but a 5th place finish for Red Bull's Max Verstappen guarantees him of clinching his 4th straight Formula One World Championship for Holland's most successful racing car driver in history (And champions were to be crowned last year in motor racing such as Spain's Alex Palou in Indycar, Australia's Will Brown in the Supercars Championship, then American Joey Logano in the NASCAR Cup Series as well as Belgian Thierry Neuville in the WRC (In which he became the first Belgian in history to do so), & now Verstappen from the Netherlands in F1 most recently as he joins the likes of both Frenchman Alain Prost & German Sebastian Vettel as the other 4 time Formula One world champions as Max moves past the late Niki Lauda, the late great Ayrton Senna & Sir Jackie Stewart, & he is even one behind the late Argentinian of Juan Manuel Fangio who has got 5 to his name (He is 2 behind both Michael Schumacher & Lewis Hamilton who have both got 7 world championships respectively to their name) after one of his title rivals of Lando Norris (McLaren) couldn't even score enough sufficent championship points & make gains towards Verstappen to keep him in the title fight meaning that his quest for a maiden world championship is over (I wonder what the headlines would say: VERSTAPPEN NOW BECOMES A 4 TIME WORLD CHAMPION, or more likely: RUSSELL WINS IN LAS VEGAS, MAX STILL REMAINS THE CHAMP, or especially: LANDO DOWN & OUT AFTER MAX VERSTAPPEN CLINCHES TITLE (And I mean what a disappointing end for Lando Norris (Who would bag in the bonus point for setting the quickest lap of the race to keep McLaren in the constructors championship fight against Ferrari, but they're getting rid of the fastest lap bonus point starting from this year meaning that it is so unfair), what a race for our viewers right around the world, it's all happening) although Norris has taken over as the favourite to win the world championship this year in terms of his form, & there has been an update as Cadillac owned by US car giant General Motors minus involvement from former Andretti Global team owner Michael Andretti will join Formula One in 2026 as the 11th team on the grid therefore joining the likes of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Team Enstone, RB, Williams, Audi & Haas with Michael's dad, 1978 Formula One world champion Mario Andretti (Who was involved in a huge wreck during a private practice session for the 2003 Indy 500, 9 years after retiring from full time competition in which he walked away unscathed that I remember now) set to take over as managing director & ambassador of the new constructor (And that's the first time since 2016 where 22 cars will lineup on the grid while this year's Formula One world championship will be the last to feature 20 cars on the grid where they had that since 2017 following the demise of Manor (Formerly Virgin & Marussia that joined on the F1 grid in 2010 alongside HRT (The constructor was defunct in 2012) & Lotus (Who would later become Caterham in 2012 until it folded in 2014).

So that is my 584th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 8th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Two Faced/Heavy/Pretty Noose: My 7th blog of the year 2025

Well, hey guys & girls, welcome to all our audience here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo, & you're tuning in to my Kiwiavenger blog, but first in the rugby that the All Blacks have missed out on a win against France led by the best rugby player in the world of Antoine Dupont (A Summer Games gold medalist in rugby sevens for his country at their home games as they ended the reign of Fiji who dominated the first 2 Olympics in both Rio & Tokyo in the gold medal match) by a single point at the Stade de France in Paris, & that's not the way my goodness but, where was the consistency? And I mean what went wrong to suffer a test defeat against the French? (And our first since against the world champions South Africa in Cape Town due to that yellow card against starting All Black prop Tyrel Lomax for taking Cheslin Kolbe out off the ball which allowed reserve Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx to go in for the kill & score the winning try which was shades of Grant Williams scoring that winning try in Joburg after All Black reserve prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi had to spend 10 minutes in the bin for deliberately pulling down a maul) Is that we did not get it right as we led at halftime but we managed to slip during the 2nd half as we fell short by the barest of margins in which France pulled off moment inspired by Donald Trump's US election win, but Carole told me after the game that it's not as we lost by a whisker, but I'm totally devastated & gutted about the result (That was disappointing I have to say that it was a tiny bit unlucky, & that's what's happened) but our next test is against Italy (One of 2 tier 1 sides along with Scotland to have never have won against the AB's) at Allianz Stadium Torino in which we hope that we get back to winning ways to end the test year last year.

And finally that there was flooding in Spain that occurred such as the areas of Valencia & Barcelona after last year's America's Cup was held which resulted in 216 casualties as nearly half of the flood victims in Valencia where over 70 figures show due to floods & torrential rain have not gone away & residents hail stories of heroism as the clean-up continues as when the flash floods swept through Valencia, there was the destruction of pricless family mementoes as the waters were engulfed the ground floor flat of Marilo Grandoli in the worst storm in history, unlike in Dunedin in which they experienced severe flooding in which the city suffered the wettest day in history as heavy rain causes significant flooding in Dunedin that took place in early to mid October last year (And there was storm Darragh that ravaged across the UK & Ireland also last year which postponed a Merseyside derby game between Everton & league leaders Liverpool, then there was Storm Eowyn which bursted towards Northern Ireland & parts of Scotland on the 23rd of January as they brought in strong winds, heavy rain & snow with the worst of the weather forecast for Friday, & then in 2023, there was storm Minerva which ravaged parts of Italy in which residents told to evacuate which resulted the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola which is near Bologna had to be called off due to severe rain (And just like in 2019 that Typhoon Hagibis had ravaged most parts of Japan which cancelled Saturday qualifying during the Japanese Grand Prix that has been moved to Sunday while a Rugby World Cup Pool B match between Italy & the All Blacks had been cancelled as a result of the typhoon along with the cancellation of the Pool C clash between England & France & another Pool B match had been called off between Canada & Namibia in Kamaishi (The site of Uruguay's historic upset win over Fiji during the 2019 tournament).

And news in the motor racing department such as Will Brown (A former teammate of the most recent Bathurst 1000 winning driver of Brodie Kostecki (Who was the champion in 2023) during the Erebus Motorsport days) has been crowned the new Supercars champion after he finished 2nd in the penultimate race of the season at the season finale in Adelaide which was worthy enough to clinch the title after one of his title rivals & team mates in the Red Bull Ampol Racing stable of Broc Feeney who failed to impress as he didn't get enough sufficent points to keep his title quest alive.

And finally in our news regarding to our whanau that I'll still have Paige as my honorary sister, because of my intentions of meeting her again along with Cathey & Norah which is listed as one day as Dad alluded to me on the phone on the 15th of November last year since I have called off the proposed Wellington trip altogether as a result of Wellington being too far from here in Whanganui, & of Pops old age & mainly inflation because everything is still dear at the moment (But we'll go if we want to but only if the weather is decent).

So that is my 583rd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 7th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

A Symptom of Being Human/No Apologies/My Michelle: My 6th blog of the year 2025

Well, what's up guys & girls, welcome to all our audience here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo, & you're tuning in to my Kiwiavenger blog, but first in the rugby as the AB's (Who still have 6 players part of the casualty ward such as Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali'i & now Sam Darry as well as new additions to the injury list (IL) such as Sam Cane (Concussion) & Mark Tele'a (Broken hand) who are withdrawn due to injuries + Ethan de Groot who is still missing after sitting out the previous test again against Ireland but is likely to miss the rest of the Northern tour) name our team to play against France (Led by the mercurial Summer Games gold medalist in sevens rugby of Antoine Dupont in which the French have played against Japan recently with a comprehensive win, but we haven't beaten the French since back in 2018 in Dunedin in the 3rd test, but it's been 30 years since against France had last beaten New Zealand at Eden Park as well as the city of Auckland, & it was in 1994 which was during the amateur era at Eden Park courtesy from the try from the end of the world by one of the French players of Jean-Luc Sardouny that famously took victory in the test as well as the series that etched into French rugby folklore according to the previous blogs that I did) at the Stade de France in Paris (Our most recent meeting between the 2 sides was in 2023 at the Rugby World Cup where France managed to ease past the All Blacks to open their account & become the first side to end the All Blacks unbeaten streak in pool play at the RWC (Including that yellow card against Will Jordan for taking a player out like Thomas Ramos in the air that thwarted our chances of remaining unbeaten in pool play at the Rugby World Cup, but I remember a comment on TV by Ardie Savea following our loss against France that defeat sucks, just like Kamala Harris did when she narrowly missed out & fell short on becoming the new President of the United States against the overwhelmingly dominant Donald Trump (Who was the one who was brought back from the abyss as well as surviving a certain assassination attempt, to snatch & seize his chance of resurrecting his political career of successfully returning to the White House (And I reacted about Trump's win in the election that I was like: "America sucks! America sucks!") according to the popular vote during the US election as Aunty Tan alluded to me on the phone on the 12th of November, but Trump is getting tough as he declares war on immigration once he takes office (In a news headline that probably says: ALIENS OUT, AMERICANS ONLY), with the military being sent in therefore triggering a mass deportation of immigrants in New York who are being taken to Texas in order to be sent home to Mexico following Trump's win in the election (And the statement made the Trump (The ex-Apprentice host who hails from Queens in New York, & has both British & German roots) that he wants crazy foreigners, especially Mexicans that they want them out of his country (Just like our own PM Christopher Luxon in the aftermath of his win in the election in 2023 that he was asking that they want gangs out in public places as our country is coming down hard on crime in an effort to keep it safe) according to the comment that I heard from Pops on the 20th of November last year), but we haven't played at that ground since also in 2023 in which we were heartbroken after losing to South Africa led by 'The Bear' of global sporting icon Siya Kolisi (Who is one of by far, my fave rugby players throughout the South African team compared to Pops who used to love Faf de Klerk as one of his favorite South African rugby players) who went on to retain the Rugby World Cup, in that controversial final marred by Sam Cane (Who was the AB's captain at the time before Scott Barrett took over since last year (2024) who got red carded for deliberately taking out Jesse Kriel high in a blatant, malicious but egregious way which was unprovoked in what would be a serious case of foul play (And it was the South Africans were laughing about it, saying that there was justice for Dean Greyling taking out the New Zealand captain at the time of Richie McCaw (A country boy from a small town called Kurow who was once the cult figure of rugby across the globe, as well as our country's favourite sons who would conquer the world once again in 2015 one last time of becoming the first & only All Blacks skipper to win back to back Rugby World Cups) for that infamous cheap shot during an AB's-Springboks test in Dunedin back in 2012 for what I thought was a red card nowadays (Or at least it's a card under review before being upgraded it to red if it's either a Super Rugby Pacific, or an international test match like the Six Nations or the Rugby Championship as of today's legislation interpretations in the game of rugby regarding to the prohibited head contact counter measure review process being always automated) which resulted in a sin binning offence instead, although Greyling would later serve a suspension for a fortnight therefore destroying his international rugby career) that derailed our quest of regaining the William Webb Ellis Cup as well as the 3 yellows, both Springbok players of Kolisi & Cheslin Kolbe for reckless high tackles that was reviewed by the bunker which wasn't upgraded as it stayed that way, & an All Black player of Shannon Frizell for a dangerous clean out to the limb area that injured Bongi Mbonambi similar to Wallaby D'Arcy Swain did on an All Blacks player of Quinn Tupaea during a Bledisloe test a year earlier) in another one of the most difficult, but demanding as well as the toughest rugby test match of our lives since the Ireland test in Dublin on the 8th of November (November 9th back in New Zealand), so here's the starting lineup according to Razor:

STARTING XV

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams (Crusaders/Canterbury)

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

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

SECOND ROW

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

5 (No.5 lock): Tupou Vaa'i (Chiefs/Taranaki)

LOOSE FORWARDS

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

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

8 (Number 8): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)

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): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

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

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

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS

16 (Reserve hooker): Asafo Aumua (Who is dropped to the pine to replace George Bell as the starting hooker)

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Ofa Tu'ungafasi

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve lock): Patrick Tuipulotu

20 (Reserve loose forward): Peter Lakai (Who is in line for his 2nd test cap as he replaces Samipeni Finau who is elevated to the run-on team at blindside flanker)

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima (Who is dropped to the bench as he makes way for Cam Roigard as he is elevated to the starting lineup to play in the halfback position)

22 (Reserve midfielder): Anton Lienert-Brown

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie (Who is also dropped to the pine to replace Stephen Perofeta who didn't feature against Ireland to cover at the reserve back position)

And Dad once alluded to me on the phone that I'll be seeing Cathey, Paige & Norah one day instead which is on an unknown date (And I mean, what is that? That these things takes place just prior to me dying that I get the chance to see them before I die. I don't get it, I don't believe it) since that it's a shame that I had to cancel the proposed Wellington holiday trip altogether.

And news straight out of the motor racing department in Formula One where Kick Sauber have confirmed a race seat for Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (As he joins the 3 other rookies such as Aussie Jack Doohan, Brit Ollie Bearman & Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Bortoleto becomes the first Brazilian to compete in Formula One since Pietro Fittipaldi in 2020) for this year pairing up with a German of Nico Hulkenberg as the pair replace Valtteri Bottas & Zhou Guanyu who will both leave the constructor at the end of this season, but RB haven't decided whether our own New Zealander Liam Lawson or an Argentinian who drives for Williams of Franco Colapinto (The one who replaced the accident prone American Logan Sargeant (Who will sit out this year after missing out on an available Indycar race seat) since the Italian Grand Prix) to team up with Yuki Tsunoda also for this year, but there is a lot to ponder after this situation unfolds during the driver market silly season.

And finally in cricket that Pakistan finally at long last, have won an ODI series in Australia against Australia (Who dominated in Melbourne in the 1st One Day International before Pakistan had to dominate the last two in both Adelaide & Perth before later winning the T20 series against the Pakistanis, but the Aussies have rested their frontline players such as captain Pat Cummins & their usual suspects of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, & Josh Hazlewood to prepare for the 5 match Border - Gavaskar test series (AKA the AB - Sunny Trophy) against India (In which the 1st test was won by the Indians who had their stand in captain for Rohit Sharma (Who missed the 1st test to witness the birth of his child) of Jasprit Bumrah who got 8 wickets in the match as well as Yashasvi Jaiswal bagging in his maiden test ton, then the most followed cricketer in India of Virat Kohli who had his form restored when he scored an unbeaten ton when India declared their 2nd innings) for the 1st time in 22 years (And it's been since 2019 that the Aussies had last been defeated in an ODI series, & it was against India) way back in 2002 during the 3rd & deciding ODI at Perth Stadium in Perth.

So that is my 582nd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 6th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.