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.

@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.

A scoreless draw is a bit unimaginative. It is England afterall, surely it should be scored a three all draw as they would certainly have kicked a penalty or a droppie somewhere along the way!

Don't wish for too much as presumably Sky own all the outside broadcast equipment and technical facilities. There is no guarantee that they will subcontract their services to any new broadcaster should they lose the contract.

We are spoilt at the moment getting to see every single Super Rugby and Mitre 10 Cup match live. To match the quality of coverage (commentary excepted) would be a massive undertaking and expense for any newcomer to even get near to let alone better.

@Stargazer said in Taranaki v Otago (RS):

Congrats to Otago, The Shield is yours for a week.
Magpies getting the next challenge!

Who do we have waiting in line as challengers in our first defence?

I was extremely magnanimous in victory last night, congratulating every Canterbury supporter in the clubrooms on their well deserved bonus point. Well not quite all as one turned out to confess later on that he was born in Hastings. That detail did not stop him demonstrating total support to Canterbury throughout. Thought seriously about aiming incorrectly when running into him in the urinal! The hangover is improving.

Can I be given extra points in the Supporters Award for wearing a Magpies jersey with what looks like to be some beer stains on a couple of the white hoops? Don't recall spilling any before during or after the smacking of Counties last Sunday but the evidence is undisputable. Still I suspect there might be a few more added to those already there sometime later today. The fridge is stocked so I can accomplish my pre match warm up in traditional style before departing to my club down here's prizegiving. Fortunately we have a contingent of about ten or a dozen HB supporters here so will not be left to soldier on solo like I dutifiably did in the very same clubrooms that I will be watching the game from tonight that famous day when Nemia Tialata went to sleep on the playing field .

@Number-10 I was there too and distinctly remember Billy doing a brown eye to the crowd as he got heckled whilst he was marching to the deadball line. My memory seems to think that it might have been as he was heading down to the deadball line at the scoreboard end of the ground but will defer to you on that minor technicality.

@mikey07 And Axed Avalon so badly that they never even showed up! A very well celebrated 13th position if I say so myself.

@Canes4life said in Wellington v BOP:

@Machpants poor decision making from JGB tonight.

Good to see that he is holding his usual form then!

@Canes4life Missing Fidow from the scrums would actually strengthen the Wellington scrum. Need I remind you of the absolute towling BoP gave Wellington at scrum time in Tauranga last year?

The referee might have invoked the mercy rule before she gets the chance to get on though!

@Stargazer
Are you suggesting HB start with 16, 17 or 18 on the field if Ms. Palu is to get the chance to show her bulldozing technique to the fullest extent!

Annoyed the bejezus out of me with all those very narrow not out calls going his way on runout appeals before the introduction of TMO slow motion replays. Having said that he sure was very quick between the wickets.