Dunedin-Clutha police area commander Inspector Dave Campbell confirmed the Dunedin and Invercargill Public Order Teams (formerly known as Team Policing) trained in the city last week.
It is understood members of the Otago rugby team - armed with wooden sticks - helped simulate riot conditions against police at the Kensington Army Hall on Thursday.
While police would not confirm details of their training, Insp Campbell said: "The Invercargill team was brought up to Dunedin as a precaution, as the weekend just gone was the historical Undie 500 weekend".
Police were pelted with bricks and bottles, and dozens arrested after the annual student car rally between Christchurch and Dunedin descended into disorder between 2006 and 2009.
In 2006, the event attracted riot police, arrests and fires - scenes which were repeated over the next three years despite the official Undie 500 being called off in 2008.
Asked if Dunedin police's handling of previous Undie 500 events was serving as a template for the Rugby World Cup, Insp Campbell maintained the event was not "the template for training for public disorder events".
However information from the event, along with recent New Year's Eve gatherings, was shared among police to "improve best practice".
"I do not expect mass disorder during the RWC in Dunedin and therefore I don't expect there will be a need for our Public Order Teams to be deployed as such.
"As with all aspects of policing, these teams train regularly and information is shared both nationally and internationally to ensure best practice."
To disperse previous Undie 500 crowds and hangers-on, Dunedin police donned full body armour, protective helmets, shields and batons and formed a line while slowly pushing participants back.
In the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup, police districts have been issued with black lightweight protective equipment, which they will don in the event of mass public disorder.
Insp Campbell said the Dunedin Public Order Team was issued with new equipment in 2009.
Earlier this year, national operations manager Superintendent Barry Taylor, of Wellington, said the armour would help police prepare for public disorder, but did not "anticipate it being used or seen during the Rugby World Cup".
