The Late Show With Stephen Colbert host was given a crash course in New Zealand's national game by former All Black Piri Weepu, former All Blacks Sevens captain DJ Forbes and NZME's Laura McGoldrick.
First, the three experts ran him through the rules of rugby, including all the complex positions.
"Okay, I didn't get all that..." Colbert joked after the explanation.
Then he attempted to tackle Forbes, which despite early confidence - where the talk-show host exclaimed "You wanna call your mommy before this?" - didn't go to plan.
Colbert is dedicating a section of his show - which he's calling The Newest Zealander - to his trip to Aotearoa every day this week.
It was pretty intense - so intense, that he had to be carried from the field at the end of the training session.
First up was the team's name, which comes from their all black kit.
"We have a team in the United States called the 'all whites', and it's the Republican party," quipped the talk show host.
But Colbert amazed everyone - including himself - when he nailed kicking a conversion from right in front of the posts.
The week-long series, dubbed "New Zealand Week", chronicles Colbert's Kiwi adventures and features an interview with Ardern, rugby lessons with "legends from the All Blacks" and a tour of Wellington with comedian Bret McKenzie.
In his opening of the show, Colbert explained why he was dedicating a whole week of his shows to New Zealand.
"Trump's impeachment is really heating up - it's gearing up, it's ramping up," he said.
"The fate of our nation hangs in the balance. That is why all week we will have complete coverage of my amazing trip to New Zealand."