My wife Delma has constantly been surprised at how quickly such taxi driver's open their lives to me as they have been so engaged in the hockey conversation, but more so that someone would show and interest in their sub-continent hockey and in them personally.
Whenever I write about hockey (an author of 5 books on hockey) I'm mindful of who might be reading it and how might such a hockey report engage them in conversation that might lead somewhere more eternal.
It is in this light therefore, that I report (as promised on Wednesday) that the Hockeyroos are in the hunt for a semi-final place when they face up to their arch rivals Germany tonight in Argentina at the Women's Hockey World Cup.
This situation arose in Pool A when the Netherlands put paid to the Germans in Round 4 with a solid 2-1 victory and Australia defeating New Zealand 4-1, however such a score line was an injustice to the Kiwi women as Christchurch in their homeland suffered an earth quake.
The result of those fixtures has both the Hockeyroos and the German girls with only one loss each and that to the Netherlands who will scoop the pool. The competition draw therefore has these two teams vying for 2nd place in Pool A and therefore a semi-final place.
Pool B semi-final; berths have already been decided with four wins each by host nation Argentina and arch rival England who clash to determine first or second. Second place plays the Netherlands in the semi-finals, not the most pleasant of experiences due to their fine form.
So there you have it – Germany plays the Hockeyroos tonight to determine whether they reach the semi-finals.
In the Hockeyroos Round 4 clash against the Kiwi women it was the New Zealanders who scored first in the 5th minute, the Australian girls equalised seven minutes later with a penalty corner followed by three field goals in the second half.