GO THE MIGHTY LIONS
Wellington Lions last Sunday may very well have achieved the finest performance from a Wellington rugby side ever.
Ok Wellington are the NPC champs from 2022 and are the proud holders of the new-look Ranfurly Shield from outstanding performances in 2022, but the team that took the field against Canterbury was not anywhere near the team that had triumphed in 2022 or even a few days earlier in 2023.
Everyone knows Canterbury and the Crusaders and everyone knows how utterly hard either team is to beat on their own home turf.
But a Wellington squad that had defended the Shield twice in four days (including against the strong Tasman side) and now had to play a champion Crusaders-filled Canterbury only four days later were up against it. So much so that in recognition that defeat was almost certain with the Shield not at stake, the team selected were almost all from outside the top 15 starters and many from the fringes of the large playing squad. And it had an untested new captain.
So the young Lions side thoroughly deserved their win even if it took a brilliant try in the last couple of minutes to separate the teams. For instance, the co-commentator said as the teams lined up for the start, that the Canterbury pack was going to rein mayhem upon the Wellington pack presenting them with unrelenting problems at scrum and lineout times. It just didn't happen.
So after its flurry of 3 championship games in 8 days, Wellington Lions are the only unbeaten side in the 14-team comp with 5 from 5. And the coaches are left with the task of just who to select for the next game with at least 30 players putting up their hands.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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63.3% Summer
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35.4% Winter
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1.3% Other - I'll share below
EMPIRE BUILDING TRUMP
So Donald Trump does not want to start any wars and is a peace maker.
And yet he is seriously seeking to annex the world's largest island, Greenland from Denmark, take over the Panama Canal from the sovereign country of Panama who have owned it since 1977 and even forthrightly suggesting that Canada ceases being a nation and become a state or series of states of the USA.
Greenland above everything else, harbours minerals vital for todays and tomorrows world and that is what probably attracts Trump most. His son is looking things over in Greenland as this thread is being produced. Climate change is also changing Greenland which despite its name is currently mainly covered in ice and snow all year round. Greenland has a population of 55,000.
Panama's major asset after tourism and services is the canal with a current revenue of $5 billion. It operates its shipping charges through an international organisation so that the USA gets an unbias deal for its ships etc that use the canal. Panama is a poor country on the improve and has a population of 4.5 million.
Denmark is a member of NATO. But Trump has threatened many times for the USA to pull out of this Europe-USA defence alliance and Greenland may be the straw that finally breaks the pact.
Canada is surrounded by the USA but it is so much unlike the USA and much more akin to Australia and NZ. In contrast to the USA, Canada is one of the happiest countries in the world and in total land area is the world's second largest.
NZ is going to come under the scrutiny of Trump and his henchmen/women. He will probably look to cut NZ away from its free trade arrangements with China with some kind of ultimatum.
New Year, New Questions You Won’t Solve!
I get smaller every time I take a bath.
What am I?
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