The wait to reach the Super 14 final has been far too long for the Waikato Chiefs.
In the early rounds it looked as though the season would once again finish without them even making the semi-finals, a stage they had graced just once before.
They began with three straight defeats. You could hear the "hear we go again" cries of distress and damnation from supporters and opponents.
But three months later the Chiefs are on the doorstep of history. They have seen off the best in New Zealand and Australia and are on the verge of history as they challenge the Pretoria Bulls today for the Super 14 title in Pretoria.
It has been a superb graduation for the Chiefs, a side with a swag of talent in the looseforwards and backline, but a motley pack of forwards. At least they were at the start of the campaign.
They were no-names, cast-offs, ring-ins and draft players. That collection, intoned most observers, would balance against any amounts of brilliance the Chiefs could squeeze out of their brilliant backs. They were facing another year of disappointment.
It was not possible, the criticism continued, for a Rolls Royce backline to perform effectively on an engine with oily and limited spark plugs. Fast forward through the agony of a difficult start and the Chiefs are one win away from claiming a crown which has only been nabbed by four sides, the Canterbury Crusaders, Auckland Blues, CA Brumbies and the Bulls, since the professional rugby series started in 1996.
The transformation has been a credit to the coaching staff led by Ian Foster, the tactics and adventure, the massive team spirit and the advances made by the tight five. These are the men with the small numbers on their back, the grunt and groan merchants who have to sweat away at the technically demanding set-pieces of scrums and lineouts which govern a substantial part of a team's success in modern rugby.
Even then the Chiefs resources were stretched as Ben May, one of their improving props, twisted his knee and was gone from the play-offs. It may be stretching it to believe any of the tight five will graduate to All Black colours when that initial squad is named tomorrow. However they should make it into the Junior All Blacks who are also heading off to play a series in the Pacific Islands.
Hooker Aled de Malmanche has been a bustling ball of energy, a trifle erratic with his lineout throws, but a prototype for the modern hooker in his damaging ball carries about the park.
The props Arizona Taumalolo and James McGougan have been revelations in their first season of rugby at this level, lock Kevin O'Neill has shown that his one cap for the All Blacks was no fluke when they were missing players, while Craig Clarke, a draft player overlooked by two previous franchises, has been a great toiler.
It has been a mix that has worked. It was difficult to believe it would survive the season or even the semi-final against the Wellington Hurricanes who were laden with All Black scrummagers.
Sometimes it creaked, but it somehow held as the Chiefs won 14-10.
But this is a different scenario for Waikato. Travelling halfway round the globe for a final, at lung-busting altitude, against a Bulls pack with behemoths like Bakkies Botha, a lineout master in Victor Matfield and looseforwards like Pierre Spies, who has the pace of a wing and the strength of a prop. It is a fearsome challenge for the Chiefs.
Centre Richard Kahui, who has boosted confidence with his return froma calf injury, admits the Chiefs have self-belief.
"Every time we step on to the field we feel like we know we are going to win. It's been like that the last few weeks," he said.
It has been like that for much longer. The Chiefs have lost just one game in the last 11 as they have stormed to the final.
That solitary defeat came against the Bulls at Loftus Versfled, the scene of this winner-take-all rematch where the hosts have been unbeaten all season.
wgray@thenational.ae
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Saeed%20Teebi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20256%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%C2%A0House%20of%20Anansi%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950