Boys and Their Balls - Part 16

 NZ Nude Blacks vs. Fiji, 2011

Each time New Zealand's international rugby team, the All Blacks, play in the stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, the local lads hold a naked pre-game game of their own, featuring their team, the Nude Blacks.  One of the All Blacks games in 2011 was against Fiji, so the pre-game pitted the Nude Blacks against a "Fiji invitational" team, clothed in blue sulus, a kilt-like garment.  I suspect the "Fiji invitational" team also consisted of local Dunedin lads.

The games always begin with a haka, above, which is a traditional Maori chant preceding a battle in which the warriors taunt and insult the other side.  Note their tongues sticking out.

Here's a video of the haka.

The haka was led by team captain Devon Jay Latoa IV.

The game featured a blind referee, a local woman who is actually blind.  She had an assistant to guide her around the field and give her hints when to blow the whistle.  Here she is starting the game.

Here's Devon Latoa getting tackled.

And another Nude Blacks player suffering the same fate.

In rugby, if the ball goes "into touch" (out of bounds), both teams line up for a "line out", in which the team that didn't send the ball out of bounds tries to throw it back to their team, and the other team tries to block it.  Both teams are allowed to hoist a "jumper" into the air to try to catch the ball.

Here's a short video of a line out in this game.  Neither team caught the ball, which was then up for grabs.

As has happened at other Nude Blacks games, a clothed "streaker" was caught and removed by a naked "policeman."

At the end, the Nude Blacks won.  Here they're posing with their trophy, which looks suspiciously like a toilet seat.