The mutual respect between fans of the All Blacks and the Welsh is not just skin deep.
And the proof of that was in the Octagon yesterday, as Maurie Alderslade, of Lyttelton, and rugby-loving men and women from Cardiff gathered for pre-match celebrations before today's test at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Several of the tour group were carrying a large framed All Blacks jersey signed by the All Blacks squad from last year's test against Argentina in Christchurch, along with other past All Blacks.
The jersey is Mr Alderslade's way of returning the support his old team-mates gave to his province after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The friendship goes back 36 years, to Mr Alderslade's decision to follow the All Blacks on the Welsh centenary tour in 1980. He went from London, where he had a job lined up, to Cardiff for the test match against Wales.
He soon fell in with some Welsh fans who "adopted'' him and he never went back to London, instead staying on in Cardiff for a year playing rugby and working.
"I was treated like a king and they were fantastic. After 36 years, we've always kept in touch,'' Mr Alderslade said.
The camaraderie really shone through after tragedy struck Christchurch over five years ago.
The Cardiff Blues Supporters Club raised £10,000 ($NZ$19,153).
The New Zealand Red Cross received 70% of the funds and the rest went to earthquake survivor Stacey Herbert, who had both legs amputated above the knee after she was crushed in the February 22 earthquake.
She is raising money for computerised legs.
Mr Alderslade's response is the jersey, which will be auctioned off to raise money for former Welsh centre Owen Williams, who suffered a serious spinal injury at the 2014 Singapore 10s tournament.
"When the earthquakes happened, they were there for us,'' Mr Alderslade said.
"Even though they're 12,000 miles away, they're my brothers - and sisters - from another mother.
"The New Zealanders and the Welsh are just interlinked between the sheep, the beer and the rugby.''
One of the touring party is Cardiff and Districts Rugby Union president Gareth Thomas, who played with Mr Alderslade in Cardiff.
Mr Thomas said the banter had been steady since Mr Alderslade joined the group in Wellington.
"We get a bit of banter, but that's rugby isn't it? It's like the game: you hit seven bells out of each other on the pitch, and then you've got your arm around the guy having a beer, and that's just the way it is.''
