CHAAAAMPIONS!!!!!

The most important game in New Zealand Rugby history was about to begin. The game that would really show who was the the real number one team in the world. The All blacks were in the final showdown with the very fortunate French side. The All Blacks were heavy favourites with undeafeated streak, while France had already lost two pool games against New Zealand and Tonga!

I was watching the event on tv. The atmosphere was huge! Even I was getting nervous just watching the crowd build! The crowd roared before and throughout the game. The game was about to begin. The two teams were about to jogg onto the field. They came onto the field and sang their national athems (I stood up and sang it too!). The All Blacks performed their fearsome haka and the match was about to begin.

France came out flying quickly getting the ball into their possesion. Suprisingly the French were not kicking the ball away as they normally did intheir recent games. Instead they were using the ball spreading it quickly around the park trying to counter the might of the All Blacks defence. France were on the front foot in the first 20 minutes, dominating the set pieces with strong scrums and decisive line outs.

The All Blacks needed to establish themselves as the dominate team in this game. So they capitilized on a chance close to the Frech try line with a beautiful set piece move ending up with the prop Tony Woodcock cashing in for the first points. This was a big kick coming up, Weepu was given several chances to take the lead for the All Blacks but was denied both times. This kick would give the All Blacks a bit of breathing space but unfortunately Piri Weepu failed to convert. They went to halftime with the lead being 5-0.

The All Blacks were struck with yet another injury to young gun Aaron Cruden forcing Stephen Donald to come on and make his debut in the World Cup! Fortunatley Donald stepped up to the challenge and converted what would be the winning penalty! I was ready to faint in the dying minutes of the game with the clock ticking and the French behind by 1 but having the ball inside the All Blacks half. I nervously watched on as the clock ticked....... YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The All Blacks were given a penalty, all they needed to do was win the line and hold onto the ball. YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! THE PLAGUE IS FINALLY OVER!!!!!! 24 YEARS OF WAITING HAVE FINALLY COME TO AN END!!!!!!!!!

Manu Samoa Did Us Proud

Though Samoa did not make the Quarter finals they did us proud by putting on a magnificent against the Mighty South Africans. They played with a lot of heart and dignity to keep the score board low. They showed that they should of had another chance by keeping the South Africans to one try.

The Samoans finished in 3rd place in pool D winning 2 games and losing 2. They were determined to make a statement that they were one of the better teams in the world. And though they didn't show it by making the qualifying, they showed with it by people wanting more of them in the World Cup. Congratulations for putting an enormous amount of effort into their performances. Our love and support will always be with you. MANU SAMOA!!!!

Manu Samoa Keep Their Cup Dreams Alive......

A decisive victory today has given Samoa the points that they needed to stay in the competition. Samoa played a very structured game today using penalty's very wisely with Tusi Pisi and his super boot cashing in 15 points. The Samoans look the most likely to score the first try but struggled to present continuous plays by creating errors.

Thankfully Samoa were able to back up those mistakes with some very impressive defence by keeping them scoreless in the opening half and one try in the whole game. Samoa scored to deserved tries two star halfback Khan Fotuali'i and the hard man George Stowers. The Fijians were given opportunities but could not capitalise also making mistakes.

The cool thing was that when the gave was over the two teams came together kneeled down in a circle and prayed to God, that was the highlight of the game! Fiji showed good sportsmanship and finished off the game with a thoroughly deserved try. Samoa are still in second place now with ten points. They would be helped a lot if the Namibians could pull off a miracle against a determined Wales side. COME ON SAMOA!!!! (WARRIORS ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!)

My Favourite Samoan Sportsman....

Alesana Tuilagi is one of many feared Samoans, currently playing for Manu Samoa in this years World Cup. So far he has scored 3 trys from two games in the World Cup and will certainly be looking to add more to his tally. He is also my favourite Samoan because he is a man of God,he commonly after scoring trys does the sign of the crucifix on his chest and face which is a real inspiration to me. He is a beast of a man who tips the scale at 111kgs and plays in the position of Winger, (You don't usually see wingers his size!)

In the Sunday news it says that his diet when he was little was biscuits and Fanta. It wasn't surprising seeing how big he is. He currently plays for the Leicester Tigers who always do well in the English premiership competition. He is a superstar on YouTube, with most of his highlights showing him steamroll his opponents!

He is a cult hero for Manu Samoa and will need to shine for them if they want to have a decent shot at this years tournament. They need to beat Fiji to tomorrow to keep their hopes alive and well. Samoa are currently are in 2nd place in their pool and will need to stay in that position to keep their World Cup dreams alive.

Alesana Tuilagi has five other damaging brothers. They have all played at international and are probably the best sporting brothers around. To be honest I think that Samoa are good enough to make the semis if they play to their potential. With a mix of strength and skill they could possibly be major contenders. Samoa will play another Island in Fiji. This will a battle worth while, similar in the way with they play this should be a good match but I am hoping that Samoa can have the edge in this game.

I am hoping Samoa can leave a mark on this years World Cup. COME SAMMMOOOAAAA!!!!!!

Tauranga Journey Of A life Time

Just wondering how to start this story, it is so hard to explain how I felt and how much I loved being there. Well I will start off, the greatest experience of my life began when I arrived in Tauranga on Monday last week. Why you asked? Well our school sevens team coach Ms. Va’afusuaga thought that we had enough talent and skills to head down to one of the most anticipated events for schools around New Zealand, the New Zealand Aims Games Competition.

The thing was that I was supposed to head down with the sevens team on Sunday, but I was sick so I had to head down the next day. I was happy to know that I managed to stay awake the whole ride down from Auckland to Tauranga. And seeing the boys again really got me happy again. When we arrived I saw a nice big Marae which we were going to sleep in for the week. We were offered nice cozy mattresses by the Marae which ensured we would fall into nice deep sleeps!
After unpacking my things we headed down to the fields to see what kind of fields we would be playing on. We looked around and then headed off to different club grounds and started training. We were pretty sharp with our game p,an and trained well. We covered what we wanted to and then headed back to the Marae. We then ha showers and relaxed for a while.

After a while we had a delicious dinner of roasted chicken with potato, kumara and vegetables. Everyone enjoyed the meal which was cooked by Miss V’s sister Annie who was helping us out when we were down there. After our lovely meal we relaxed in the Marae.

Moments later we were told we were going to be doing some group games and activities. So later on in the night we started our games and activities. We were asked to name our groups and my group called themselves, “The Wackers”. We had a lot of fun that night playing all sorts of funny outrageous games. We then were told to go bed we did and were cozy on our mattresses!

Below is a movie that introduces our seven's team. I hope to bring you more footage from this amazing week!

National Seven's Champions 2011 - AIMS games from SchoolTV on Vimeo.

Manu Samoa shock the Wallabies

Not so long ago I was playing video games and then my dad frantically yelled,”Quickly change it to the news!”. I wondered what was the big news was pushing the numbers as fast as I could. Breaking News, “Manu Samoa are now celebrating their biggest victory in the modern era winning against the world No.2 in Rugby the Wallabies 23-32. Watching the highlights again I was stunned watching Samoa score tries which carried them to victory. Samoa scoring through beastly winger Tuilagi, Pesi,Thompson and Williams all tries that they worked hard for.

Australia will certainly be disappointed in their efforts especially if they have just started there preparation for the World Cup and the Tri Nations. With the Australian team the Queensland Reds coming off a Super 15 Grand Final win Australia would've’e been looking to carry that hype onto the footy field but were unfortunately outclassed by Samoa.

Samoans from all over the world are surely proud of their country are hoping they can have as much heart as they did today when they prepare for the big one (The Rugby World Cup). What a proud moment for Samoans around the world, Samoa making world history beating Australia for the first time ever. CONGRATULATIONS TO SAMOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!