All eyes will be on the form of Dunedin's Nude Blacks as they tackle six Spanish senoritas and a senor in an unofficial Rugby World Cup curtain-raiser.
After winning an international video competition and the chance to play on a West Coast glacier earlier this week, the Barcelona-based rugby players will compete at Kettle Park, Dunedin at 12.30pm on Saturday.
The team - dubbed the Spanish Conquistadores - won the $50,000 Glacier Country competition with a video of them playing rugby in their swimsuits on a Barcelona beach (above).
Organiser Ralph Davies, of Headfirst Travel, said while the Nude Blacks would be in their traditional absence of kit he was unsure if their counterparts would fully embrace the occasion.
"Our expectations are they won't be fully nude, but we haven't had a chance to fully brief them yet.''
The match popularity was expected to rival the 1500 who watched the game at Middle Beach before the Lions v All Blacks test match, he said.
The rugby was likely to be a seven-aside match, and had already attracted interest from international media in Dunedin for the England Argentina match later that night.
Millions of views across Germanic speaking countries tuned in to see the Nude Blacks taking on a Fijian invitational team in July.
Mr Davies said more matches were likely before Dunedin's other World Cup games, and the Nude Blacks were training for their biggest season yet.
The team had also secured a major sponsor - Air New Zealand's Grabaseat, he said.
Little was known about the latest opponents, other than they played for the Santboiana rugby club and would be attending the World Cup match later that evening, he said.
"It'll be one thing playing rugby on the ice but we wonder if they will keep their eyes on the ball when they front up against the Nude Blacks.''
The Spanish Conquistadores join a long line of memorable Nude Blacks opponents, including the Nude Poms, Le Coqs, and Welsh Leeks.
Check out the Nude Blacks' hilarious video shot in the Dunedin snow (below).
