Tall Blacks Haka before their match with Turkey

Saturday in Istanbul, where would we find a TV to see the All Black v Wallabies match? Well as luck would have it we were standing waiting for the tram when I spotted a pub advertising lots of sporting fixtures and there was the notice that made Alan's day.

New Zealand All Blacks verses Australia rugby 10.30am, Saturday.

Alan was happy and I was very happy we didnt have to trail around in the heat trying to find the match.
We watched the All Blacks win with a small group of Nzers, no Aussies although one aussie supporting englishman sat next to me. After the match we got talking with the other Kiwis and were asked if we wanted to go and watch the Tall Blacks basketball team play Turkey that night, free tickets.
So we found ourselves in the brand new basketball stadium, ( World Cup in 2 weeks) a small group of 6 Kiwis, a couple of NZ flags proudly watching the Tall Blacks. The Turks were too good and too physical for our team and we all thought the refs were extra players for the Turks. Everytime the Kiwis stood their ground against the physicality of their opposition the Kiwis were the ones penalised. Perhaps we were a little one eyed too but overall the Tall Blacks were outplayed.
The big surprise of the evening was the cheer squad of pretty, scantily clad dancers during the breaks. Quite risque for a muslim country.