The Diary - part one: Highlanders man up for the camera

Highlanders (from left) Ben Smith, Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa in their gumboots with Rambo the ram. Photo / Instagram

No undies in sight for farmwear promotion.

Dan Carter poses in his Jockeys but rugby stars of the Deep South go for more rugged man attire.

Highlanders Aaron Smith, Ben Smith and Malakai Fekitoa donned RedBand gumboots and shepherd's crooks for a modelling shoot this week for Farmlands, a rural services co-operative and commercial partner of the Highlanders rugby team.

Rambo the ram played scene-stealing prop.

"It was a promotional shoot for Farmlands," Highlanders media manager Amanda Gould told The Diary. "The guys had a lot of fun ... They posed with Rambo."

They certainly enjoyed the fashion job, going by the number of social media pics they posted.

"Crack-up photo shoot today," wrote Aaron of a behind-the-scenes pic of him with a crook around teammate Ben's neck.

This week, it was announced Farmlands and Southern Field Days are backing a promotional pre-season match in February between the Highlanders and the Crusaders on a freshly sown paddock owned by farmer Fred Booth.

The Highlanders will be hoping it won't be flooded like the field they trained on on Wednesday ahead of their big game against the Hurricanes tonight in Napier.

Dunedin was drenched and there was severe flooding throughout the region. It wasn't so much puddles but ponds the players had to deal with.

"We still trained in all that water," Gould said, adding some players had to look for temporary accommodation, worried their homes might be flooded.

The Highlanders' home field, Forsyth Barr stadium, hosted the Fifa U-20 matches between Mexico and Uruguay, and Serbia and Mali.

Rach proud of covergirl

The daughter of former supermodel Rachel Hunter has proven the apple does not fall far from the tree as the 23-year-old plays covergirl on Hello! Fashion Monthly.

Renee Stewart, the daughter of Hunter and British singer Rod Stewart, is a student at the London Contemporary Dance School. This week she appeared in a multi-page shoot for the British magazine, and earned the praise of her famous mum. "Proud of you, love you," Hunter wrote on Instagram, plugging the publication.

Quizzed in the interview on which of her parents she goes to for advice, Renee reveals she turns to mum Rachel. "She's always told me to give your all to something."