They come from all corners of New Zealand to wear the blue and gold and now these youngsters are going the next step and donning the black jersey.
In this day and age of professional rugby, the link between tertiary study in Dunedin and its ability to attract top rugby talent south was believed to be on the wane.
But the selection of five players from Otago in this year's New Zealand under-20 side shows the city and province still draw players to the South to combine study and sport.
Selected for the 28-strong national squad to play in the world junior championships in France next month are midfield backs Michael Collins, Teihorangi Walden, and Faasiu Fuatai, lock Jackson Hemopo and flanker Hadleigh May.
It is the most the province has had selected in the age-group side since 2000.
All are aged 19, and play premier rugby for five different clubs in Dunedin. Collins played for Otago last season, as did Hemopo late in the season, and all five said they were attracted to Dunedin to combine study and rugby careers.
Walden went to Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth and was good enough to make the Hurricanes schools side.
But with an older brother and sister at the University of Otago he also headed south last year and is studying for a Bachelor of Science in geography and Maori.
''I finished school and had a look around at what I could do. Tim Colling [Otago player development manager] had a bit of a chat and I thought I might as well,'' Walden said.
He said it had worked out well and he was really thrilled to make the Colts side, having only started playing premier rugby this season.
Collins went to Wakatipu High School and then spent his last three years at Otago Boys' High School, where he captained the first XV.
He is studying marketing and management at the University of Otago. He has picked up a small fracture in his jaw last month but should be right for the trip to France.
He will meet up with players who were team-mates in the 2011 New Zealand schools side in which he was selected.
Hemopo is an old boy of Palmerston North Boys' High School, and came down to Dunedin last year, securing a building apprenticeship with GJ Gardner Homes.
He made the same Hurricanes schools team as Walden in 2011 and said he was enjoying life in Dunedin and his rugby.
Fuatai appeared destined to head south for study.
''My mum and dad both studied here, my sister graduated the year before I came down so I was always going to come here really.''
His mother and sister are lawyers while his father is a doctor.
Educated at King's College in Auckland, where he played for the Blues under-18 team, Fuatai managed to score high enough marks to get into second-year law, and was now juggling papers with rugby training.
''It is fun that you can play a bit of code, combined with your study, and these sort of opportunities open up for you,'' Fuatai said.
May is studying construction management and quantity surveying at Otago Polytechnic.
He hails from the small Waikato town of Tirau, and attended St Paul's Collegiate in Hamilton, where he made the Chiefs under-18 side.
He came to Dunedin last year, and immediately played for the Harbour side in premier ranks.
