No-one stayed upright for very long, in what was meant to be a game of zorb football organised to promote the Fifa U-20 World Cup.
It quickly turned into a game of ''zorb every man for himself'', with little to no attention given to the football.
Team blue zorb versus team yellow zorb no longer seemed to matter as competitors ''zorbed'' their team-mates in the back and then did the same to the front.
University of Otago students Sam Sharma, True Wilson and Damon Willis came panting off the field after their battle.
''It's much more tiring than it looks,'' Miss Wilson said, while the others nodded in unison.
The game was organised by Mike McGarry, manager of the Fifa U-20 World Cup in Dunedin, to get more students to come along to matches.
''We're here to get the info out there - uni students will be an important part of the atmosphere of the cup''.
Mr McGarry said tickets for the first game in Dunedin - a double-header of Mexico v Mali and Uruguay v Serbia on May 31 - had sold well among students.
