I was at Dan's funeral earlier today, along with about six hundred to seven hundred others. It was really tough going saying goodbye to someone so young and who had his life all planned out and was making real good progress toward achieving those goals. A number of speakers spoke of the Dan they knew and loved, relating what a good all round, committed, loyal and hardworking guy they have grown up with. It captured all that I had experienced and come to love in my too short involvement in his life.

Dan was taken away from the service to a beautiful rendition of the song Daniel (don't think it was Elton John's version) which proved too much for many to handle. There certainly were not many dry eyes around where I was.

Dan was accorded a stirring rendition of the Wellington Football Club's Haka, E Toki, by those that had played alongside him as he was carried to the waiting hearse to leave the place he enjoyed so much for the final time.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/92877119/huge-turnout-for-funeral-of-wellington-rugby-player-daniel-baldwin

Gone but never will be forgotten

Daniel Nils Baldwin
20th November 1997 - 17th May 2017

@Stockcar86 said in AB's v Samoa:

Congrats @Higgins on Fifita making his AB debut

Thanks. I elected to watch the match up in the Isherwood Lounge at the Wellington Football Club along with the best part of 180 other Axemen, the place where it all began for Vaea. Managed to find a nice corner to myself where I was able to sit back and quietly contemplate and reminisce in solitude on the long and tough five year journey to get this far rather than get caught up in the general excitement of Vaea becoming the Axemen's 17th All Black (and first since Dion Waller back in 2001).

The unofficial Hawkes Bay Chinese Checkers Championships concluded late this morning with the Hurricanes A contestant (yours truly) proving too strong for the Waratahs Development Representative in the final. Bronze went to the Melbourne Rebels player after a lengthy battle with the Hurricanes Development rep almost came to blows after the latter upended the board. The ruling has just come through from the MCC head office at Lords to uphold the decision to disqualify the guilty player by the innocent player's Nana!
Next up appears to be Cribbage after the Venue Manager has placed a one week ban on the playing of Chinese Checkers! It will probably also conclude in some sort of dispute............…
Ah the joys of board games turning up in Christmas Stockings. The competitiveness of games not lessening in the forty five odd years since the last time we dared risk playing any!

@booboo said in France 2023:

When do tickets go on sale?

Mrs Boo reckons we're going.

Will make sure we're there for the pool matches ... and see how flexible we can be during the knockouts ...

Collective thoughts on tours, touring parties, independent travel etc appreciated.

(Yes I'm deflecting, I don't want to dwell on the aftermath.)

Never mind that, when is the squad named?

The combination of Crotty/Crotty functioned impressively when it was tried for a short period.

Can I be the first to congratulate Australia for winning the netball silver medal? Well done you lot.

I was at the game last night, one of very few that braved the chilly wind. It was an interesting match to view as a neutral with an equal dislike for both sides. The rugby on display was quite satisfying with the home side seeming to try to play at a higher pace than Tasman, something which did not always come off. Tasman looked to be well drilled and coached and seldom risked anything likely to cause defensive problems ie weighing up the options and taking the least risky one. Finlay Christie takes a fair bit of scorn on here but to me he looked to be an industrious guy last night always being behind his pack early ready to make the next move well in advance of the ball being made available to him. He also made a couple of jinky semi breaks, committing an extra tackler thus opening up a bit more space for Mitchell Scott. His pass and clearance times though could still do with a bit more speed. He looked quite a different player to the one I saw a couple of times turning out for Poneke during the club season.
David Havili looked to be a useful player at second five, once firing out a pass so quick it almost resulted in a sonic boom, well done to his centre for catching it. He seemed to have the ability to judge the pce of his pass and adjusted it nicely according to the situation. Eventually finished the match at fullback after his side suffered from a large number of injury changes (blood HIA etc). Disappointed the full back Will Jordan did not get much chance to show of his undoubted skills for me to witness first hand, he eventually went off with some sort of leg injury midway through the second half. Tasman seemed to have rather tallish players in most positions, something which I had not noticed in the past watching them on Sky. All their players looked to do their core roles without too much fanfare and seldom looked like making errors. Their scrum pulverized the Wellington one a few times which would have had Grumpy Muir wringing his hands if he was sitting in the stands wearing his Wellington hat but nodding admiringly if he was wearing his scrumming coaching hat.
Having said that I was quite impressed with Xavier Numia almost always being the first forward to reach the restart area be it scrums or lineout, running to get there rather than just ambling like a lot of others do. Without knowing exactly what the problem was he was part of an embarrassed scrum so obviously a bit of work to do to get a more stable scrum setting together with the remainder of his forwards.
I wish I could have got onto the field to kick Isaia Walker-Leawere to get him really angry and rark him up as a guy that size would be unstoppable if he was in that sort of mood, he was not last night. That could well have been because of solid tackling by Tasman, but the thought of him running at full speed and power must be really scary if you are lined up as the only one available to tackle him.
Not sure what was happening to the Wellington defensive line in the inner midfield inside and outside where the first five would be but Tasman did rip through there a couple of times to telling effect. Whether it was JGB or recent 5 year Hurricanes contracted Billy Procter, a lack of cover by loose forwards, a combination of those or something else it must be concerning to the Wellington coaching staff.
Ben Lam had a quiet match at fullback and that might not be his best position if last night was anything to go by. Malo Tuitama looked to be nicely skilled with a nice step and hip swerve but whether he has the overall size to make it to the next level is a big question. He arrived on the opposite wing in cover defence a few times which earned him a big tick from me. I like the way he plays.
Te Ariki Ben-Nicholas also looked to be a competent player that might be capable of stepping up to the next level. Not a headline grabbing type of player but did the basics well and seldom makes errors if last nights display is anything to go by. Took the right options at the right time, last night anyway. Also liked the way Tasman hooker Makalio hit the defensive line with good aggression always putting great pressure on the tackle to pull off a solid tackle or risk injury if they didn't!
All in all an enjoyable night.

@mariner4life Some of us are still struggling to get over Cardiff Arms Park in 1905!

@booboo said in NZ Politics:

@Billy-Tell said in NZ Politics:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/24/new-zealands-first-mexican-born-mp-says-adopted-country-has-many-blind-spots

This guy sounds like a ball of fun.

Chooses to live in NZ but hates the culture.

Fuck off back to Mexico and see how that country cares for unqualified drop outs.

It is staggering that this person could possibly have met the requirements for a work permit after flunking their studies let alone meeting the minimum requirements for Permanent Residence and maybe even, horror upon horror, Citizenship.

@Stargazer said in club rugby:

Wellington 19-year-old rugby player dies after suffering serious injury during match

Really sad.

http://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/rugby/wellington-19-year-old-rugby-player-dies-after-suffering-serious-injury-during-match

I am an active member of Dan's club and believe me the last week has been very difficult to get through. The mood has been sombre all week and quite frankly the boys had great difficulty in getting through todays games, their minds and thoughts were understandably elsewhere.

Dan's team had yet to record a victory this season but they paid the ultimate tribute in breaking that duck with a 26 - 03 win today. The aftermatch function and speeches were truly emotional and had many present struggling to fight back the tears.
.
Dan was the second active playing member we have lost recently and it is no easier the second time round. I sincerely hope that no one has to go through what we have had to this past week. The outgoing support we at the Axemen (Wellington Football Club) have received from too many people to mention this week has been heartwarming.

One wonders how much influence Dan had from above in fellow Axemen Vaea Fifita's first try for the Hurricanes in 2017 tonight. A few members definitely benefitting from the $31.00 odds for Vaea being the first try scorer, say no more.

Remember we might have our differences from time to time but we are all members of the big family we call NZ Rugby. Never ever let that be forgotten.

@snollygoster For one giddy moment I thought The Steamers had snaffled the Barracuda as yet another invitation player after looking at the player featured on the team sheet. I gave it a closer look and thankfully found it is not so, The Barracuda would never prostitute himself that low!

Still in joyous celebration mode after smacking Tasman last weekend and ensuring we increase our lead over the fourth most successful team in the history of the Ranfurly Shield by one more win!!!! Winning that game also meant we were never in danger of defeat in the Tipping Competition from then on, even though the BoP guys must have been so confident of knocking us off that they fronted up a couple of tippers short. We will have to be on guard this time out with that banana skin game down in Christchurch likely to have a big bearing on how we go against the well performed South Island mob who were running in second on the table until last week (a spot now held by ourselves no less!) and who are bound to take Canterbury en-masse in the tipping. Anyway tips in and good luck as we fight to defend our lofty position.
Tips in by 7.04pm tonight please https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping-submit

Good luck guys!

@stargazer said in Highlanders 2022:

@canes4life Quite a statement. Do you have any other examples of Hawke's Bay players who weren't signed by the Canes because they couldn't "push their case" due to injury (during NPC)? McClutchie isn't one of them; Fakatava wasn't. Mikaele-Tu'u wasn't. Makene wasn't. Falcon wasn't.

Neither was Israel Dagg

@bovidae said in NH International Rugby:

Liaki Moli must be getting a bit long in the tooth now.

My lack of contribution to this thread has simply been because I wanted to be seen as a gracious winner and did not want to be seen to be condescending toward the defeated team. I am yet to get even close to those marks so will leave it at that!!!!! The hangover and recovery time would have won the gold medal at the Olympic Games.

I see one of the schoolboy superstar s signed by Wellington a couple of years ago is now turning out as the halfback for Thames Valley this weekend. Darren Larsen is certainly earning his paycheck!

@stargazer said in 2021 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:

Hi @Higgins, I saw your post in the Magpies v Tasman match thread about the Hawke's Bay Saracens game.

Where did you find, or how did you get, the team line-up for the Saracens? And can you, please, post it here?

https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2021/10/08/final-weekend-of-15s-community-rugby-competitions/

Hawke’s Bay Saracens:

1. Jayden Walker

2. Dom Devine

3. Johnny Faleiva

4. Will Gunson

5. Josh Greening

6. Josh Gimblett

7. Nathan Tweedy (c)

8. Emil Crichton

9. Trent Hape

10. Tianua Poto (vc)

11. Anthony Wilson

12. Jimi Harris

13. Zach Simpson

14. Dennon Robinson

15. Paoraian Manuel

16. James Holbrook

17. Pulea Faleiva

18. TBC

19. Amos Roddick

20. Will Tremain

21. Humphrey Shield

22. Jonty Stewart

23. Andrew Hayward

Wellington Centurions:

No. Player
1 Ha’amea Ahio – Johnsonville
2 Penieli Poasa – Ories
3 PJ Sheck – Tawa
4 Hugo Plummer – Tawa
5 Akira Ieremia – Tawa
6 Josh To’omaga – Marist St Pats
7 Hauwai McGahan (CC) – Poneke
8 Iona Apineru – Petone
9 Campbell Woodmass (CC) – Norths
10 Callum Harkin – OBU
11 Ethan Webster-Nonu – Ories
12 Brandyn Laursen – HOBM
13 Losi Filipo – Norths
14 Joseph Faleafaga – Norths
15 Sam Reid – OBU
16 Kaleb Sinclair – Petone
17 James Coburn – Wellington
18 Brett Manaia – HOBM
19 Bruce Kauika-Petersen – Norths
20 Luca Rees – Norths
21 Kyle Preston – OBU
22 Pakai Turia – Poneke
23 TBC

Righto I got my duty done for the week and expect we will either win easily (HB retaining the Shield) or lose big time (HB doing the unthinkable and losing the Shield) to the pesky BoP Tipping Team. Thankfully we are in third place on the [points table but it is still close run thing to making the play offs or not. We have a couple of tough fixtures remaining against the equally pesky Wairarapa-Bush mob and the well performed South Island Team remaining so wins this time of the competition are to be treasured.

Tips in guys, a minimum of a home 1-7 in the4 second game of the week is the most palatable selection there!!!! https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping-submit Tips in by 1905hrs please.

@stockcar86 said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

Good news this morning for speedway fans in L2 areas with most racing due to kick off around Labour weekend. Sport NZ has released this statement this morning

“In the new Alert Level 2 rules, there is no restrictions to the number of spectators that can attend a sporting event, for example a speedway track – as long as everyone can safely stay 1 metre apart. If you are organising an event, make sure everyone records their visit.” 

Oh dear, the 1 metre separation will put paid to the interesting discussions between aggrieved drivers in the pits immediately after races. Will also prove difficult when allotting viewing space to interested spectators to said discussions! When does Meeanee kick off?

@stargazer E. Enari is not that great as a halfback and if he goes down injured and needs replacing then a makeshift (presumable L. McClutchie) is not going to be that far behind him in performance. At least I hope he is not!
Incidentally Humphrey Shield is on the bench (Trent Hapi is the starter) for the Saracens team that is playing in Porirua tomorrow afternoon. Granddaughter is playing for one of the many Wgtn teams on the No. 2 field up there as well so clearly I will have to give huge amounts of attention to the match being played on the Jerry Collins Field (12.30pm kickoff) if I get up there! Interesting to note Lions squad member Bruce Kauika-Peterson can only make the bench for the home team.