Mason Pearce (25) was watching the All Blacks v France match with friends when they heard ''a massive bang'', outside his Taieri Rd property at 9.20pm.
''We thought it was someone slamming a door but ran out and saw a car on the neighbour's fence ... and two bodies on the pavement.''
A male - believed to be the driver of the vehicle - was thrown more than 10m from the crashed vehicle and the female passenger was found at the end of his driveway, he said.
The group rang emergency services and assisted the pair, including moving the woman into a recovery position, he said.
The male driver was declared dead at the scene. His 40-year-old partner was taken to Dunedin Hospital with moderate injuries, Acting Sergeant Dean Pearce said.
Police were not in a position to release the name until all next of kin had been notified, he said.
He confirmed the victim had recently moved to the city.
It appeared the vehicle had been travelling at excessive speed west on Taieri Rd when it went out of control in wet conditions and crashed into a parked car and lamppost, before ending up on a concrete wall and wooden fence.
Both the driver and passenger were thrown from the vehicle, and early indications were they were not wearing seat belts.
Alcohol was also believed to be a factor, Sgt Pearce said.
The matter has been referred to the coroner and a postmortem is expected to be completed today.
He thanked members of the public for their assistance and motorists for their patience with road closures.
However police were disappointed by one ''opportunistic thief'' who stole a ''road closed'' sign from the scene, causing some motorists to drive through the cordon.
''They are there for everyone's safety and for the respect of the deceased, we have these things in place, only to have some little so-and-so nick the signs.''
The crash was a reminder for motorists to drive to the conditions, wear their seat belts and not consume alcohol if they were going to drive, he said.
