Thanks Richie

All Black captain Richie McCaw has announced his retirement from rugby.

The All Blacks’ website  lists 12 key dates in his career:

August 18, 2000

Debuted for Canterbury against North Harbour when coming off the bench for his only 18 minutes of first-class play that season. . . .

November 17 2001

Made his All Blacks debut at Lansdowne Road in Dublin against Ireland. New Zealand won 40-29 after being down 7-16 at halftime. . . 

August 10, 2002

In hindsight, this was possibly the first moment where it was identified that McCaw brought a little more to rugby than his openside flanker skills. . . 

May 28, 2005 

With the added responsibility of captaining the Crusaders, McCaw’s portfolio was widening and he led the side to the Super Rugby title when beating the Waratahs 35-25. . .

October 6, 2007 

If there was a low point in McCaw’s career this had to be it. A quarter-final exit at the hands of France in Cardiff, beaten 18-20. . .

August 16, 2008 

So often McCaw’s play has been encapsulated in the performance of his team. In 2008, after losses at home to South Africa (28-30) and away to Australia (19-34) when he didn’t appear in either, he returned to inspire New Zealand a week later to reverse the score against Australia 39-10 and then another fortnight later he went one better when the All Blacks held South Africa scoreless 0-19 at Cape Town, the first time South Africa hadn’t scored at in 105 years.  . . .

May 1, 2010 

McCaw completed 100 Super Rugby games when playing the Stormers in Cape Town, unfortunately not able to celebrate with a win. But it proved a year of performance milestones as he and fullback/centre Mils Muliaina completed their 93rd Tests to become the most capped All Blacks and became New Zealand’s most capped Test leader with 52 Tests, supplanting Sean Fitzpatrick’s record.  . . .

October 23, 2011

When McCaw, feeling no pain from a broken foot that threatened to derail his chances of playing the final, or the semi-final or the quarter-final, held the Webb Ellis Trophy aloft after an 8-7 win over France in the Rugby World Cup final, it was a signature moment in New Zealand’s rugby history first and foremost, but for McCaw and those players who had been involved in Cardiff four years earlier, it was a weight-lifting exercise.  . .

August 15, 2015

The unprecedented scenes after about 62 minutes of the Bledisloe Cup decider against Australia at Eden Park, when New Zealand claimed a 41-13 victory will live long in the memory, longer even than the events of the Test match itself.  What happened when McCaw was substituted from the field was a spontaneous outbreak of respect, affection and acknowledgement for one of the great contributions to not just the All Blacks but to New Zealand rugby . . .

November 1, 2015 

History has its own way of acknowledging those who have had an impact on their area of speciality. That happened at Twickenham when McCaw, regarded as one of the finest to have played the game anywhere in the world, held the Webb Ellis Trophy aloft after beating Australia 34-17 in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.  . . .

There is no doubt about his skill and accomplishments as a player and captain.

What also makes him stand out is his character.

He has lived with intense scrutiny on and off the playing field and many a lesser man would have let the adulation and attention get the better of him.

Instead, he has always come across as modest, grounded and unaffected by the trappings of fame. Friends who know him say this is not just a show.

His parents, Don and Margaret, can take credit for the values instilled in him as a child.

That and his country upbringing gave him a strong foundation on which he built to become a great All Black, a truly good man and a New Zealander of whom we can all be proud.

Thanks Richie.

 

Word of the day

Fluffle – a group of hares or rabbits.

Rural round-up

Feds president leads by example – Amanda Vaisigano:

Bronwyn Muir’s measurement of success is that her influence moves the farming industry towards a more collaborative, sustainable, profitable, and optimistic future.

The Taranaki Provincial President, dairy farmer and Director of OnFarmSafety New Zealand has spent a lifetime in farming and is passionate about supporting the rural industry.

The success of her business OnFarmSafety NZ has seen her win and be nominated for a number of awards, including most recently at the 2015 Taranaki Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. . .

Estimates for Fonterra’s farmer payout tumble amid weak dairy prices – Tina Morrison:

(BusinessDesk) – Forecasts for Fonterra Cooperative Group’s payout to New Zealand farmers this season have tumbled below the company’s estimate following the third consecutive decline in prices on the GlobalDairyTrade platform.

Four of six analysts surveyed by BusinessDesk pulled back their estimates for the payout today, after whole milk powder prices declined 11 percent at last night’s GDT auction, taking the total decline over the past three sessions to 22 percent. Estimates for the payout now range between $4.25-$4.60 per kilogram of milk solids, pulling the top end of the range down from $5.30/kgMS. Fonterra is set to review its current forecast of $4.60/kgMS in early December. . . 

Freedom Foods sells remaining stake in milk marketer a2 Milk for A$64 mln – Fiona Rotherham:

(BusinessDesk) – A2 Milk Co’s cornerstone shareholder, Freedom Foods Group, has sold its remaining 10.4 percent stake in the milk marketing company for A$64 million, taking advantage of a surge in the share price.

Sydney-based Freedom Foods sold its remaining shares for 85 Australian cents apiece and will reinvest the proceeds in other investments including a buy-out of oat-based cereal and snack manufacturer Popina and construction of a new UHT processing facility. . . 

How now, New Zealand cow?:

New Zealand’s five million milking cows are doing a great job of efficiently producing milk, according to the latest 2014-15 dairy statistics  released today.

New Zealand cows are producing more milk with more milksolids than 10 years ago.

A cow’s annual average production contained 377 kilograms of milksolids (8.9%) in 2014-15, which is what New Zealand’s dairy farmers are paid for, compared to 308 kilograms (8.6%) in 2004-05.

Cows from North Canterbury are the highest producers. On average each produced 4,706 litres of milk in 2014-15 with 416 kilograms of milksolids. . .

Forestry crown research institute Scion first to apply for drone beyond-line-of-sight flying – Fiona Rotherham:

(BusinessDesk) – Scion, the forestry crown research institute, will become the first organisation in New Zealand to fly drones beyond line of sight when it seeks approval under new Civil Aviation Authority rules to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for forest monitoring.

Scion has been conducting publicly and privately funded trials of UAVs for the past three months, including flying along the edge of forests to evaluate tree harvesting and using a UAV with interchangeable remote sensing technology to transmit information on tree health and pests in North and South Island forests.

A Callaghan Innovation-commissioned report last year estimated flying drones out of the operator’s line of sight could provide economic gains of up to $190 million annually to New Zealand’s farming, forestry and energy sectors. More than 440 commercial UAV users are registered on New Zealand’s Airshare website while the consumer drone market is booming.  . .

Strengthening Spring Rural Market:

Summary

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (“REINZ”) shows there were 12 more farm sales (+3.5%) for the three months ended October 2015 than for the three months ended October 2014. Overall, there were 358 farm sales in the three months ended October 2015, compared to 337 farm sales for the three months ended September 2015 (+6.2%), and 346 farm sales for the three months ended October 2014. 1,731 farms were sold in the year to October 2015, 9.9% fewer than were sold in the year to October 2014.

The median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to October 2015 was $27,579 compared to $27,547 recorded for three months ended October 2014 (+0.1%). The median price per hectare rose 6.0% compared to September. . . 

Potatoes New Zealand Inc. appoints new Chief Executive Officer:

Potatoes New Zealand has appointed Chris Claridge as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Potatoes New Zealand Inc. Chairman Stuart Wright said he was delighted to welcome Mr Claridge to the organisation, which has a target of doubling New Zealand fresh and processed potato exports by 2025.

“Chris brings a wealth of horticultural, business, leadership and marketing experience to the role,” said Mr Wright. “That will prove invaluable in building on the very good work that has already been done towards achieving our goals of boosting productivity in the sector for the benefit of growers and the New Zealand economy.” . . 

Thursday’s quiz

While I’m blogging lighter you’re welcome to pose the questions with no need to follow the five-question formula I used.

Anyone who stumps us all will win a virtual jelly sponge.

Quote of the day

Martyrdom does not end something, it only a beginning. Indira Gandhi  who was born on this day in 1917.

November 19 in history

1095 – The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, began.

1493 – Christopher Columbus went ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He named it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).

1600 King Charles I of England was born (d. 1649).

1794 – The United States and Great Britain signed Jay’s Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.

1805 Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and Suez Canal engineer, was born (d. 1894).

1816 – Warsaw University was established.

1847 – The Montreal and Lachine Railway, was opened.

1863 – American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered theGettysburg Address at the dedication of the military cemetery ceremony at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

1881 – A meteorite landed near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.

1905 Tommy Dorsey, American bandleader, was born (d. 1956).

1916 – Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn established Goldwyn Pictures.

1917 Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India was born (d. 1984).

1930 – Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow committed their first of a large series of robberies and other criminal acts.

1933 Larry King, American TV personality, was born.

1941 – World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sank each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.

1942 – World War II: Battle of Stalingrad – Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launched the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR’s favor.

1943 – Holocaust: Nazis liquidated Janowska concentration camp in Lemberg (Lviv), western Ukraine, murdering at least 6,000 Jews after a failed uprising and mass escape attempt.

1944 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling $14 billion USD in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.

1950 – US General Dwight D. Eisenhower became supreme commander ofNATO-Europe.

1954 – Télé Monte Carlo, Europe’s oldest private television channel, was launched by Prince Rainier III.

1955 – National Review published its first issue.

1959 – The Ford Motor Company announced the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.

1961 Meg Ryan, American actress, was born.

1962 Jodie Foster, American actress, was born.

1967 – The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.

1969 – Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed at Oceanus Procellarum (the “Ocean of Storms”) and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.

1969 – Football player Pelé scored his 1,000th goal.

1977 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel.

1977 – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses Boeing 727 crashed in Madeira Islands, killing 130.

1979 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.

1984 – San Juanico Disaster: A series of explosions at the PEMEX petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City started a major fire and killed about 500 people.

1985 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time.

1985 – Pennzoil won a $10.53 billion USD judgment against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in the history of the United States, stemming from Texaco executing a contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.

1988 – Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic publicly declared that Serbia was under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovoas well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.

1990 – Pop group Milli Vanilli was stripped of its Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It’s True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.

1992 The Fred Hollows Foundation was established in New Zealand.

1994 – In Great Britain, the first National Lottery draw was held. A £1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.

1996 – Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrived in Africa to lead a multi-national policing force in Zaire.

1998 – Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.

1998 – Vincent van Gogh‘s Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for $US71.5 million.

1999 – Shenzhou 1: China launched its first Shenzhou spacecraft.

2010 – An explosion in the Pike River mine killed 29 men.

2013  – A double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut killed 23 people and injures 160 others.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia