Rugby: North and South prepare to battle

Luke Braid. Photo / Getty Images.

The captain of the North side has been given a quiet word in his ear from a relative over just how important today's inter-island fixture is.

Interest has been barely noticeable in the North-South fixture that doubles as an Otago rugby fundraiser with less than 10,000 tickets pre-sold.

But Luke Braid's had it drilled into him how important it really is.

"I think the older generation would love to see another North-South battle. My old man called me up and had a rant about what it meant to him, and probably the older generation," he says.

Players and organisers will be hoping for a good walk up crowd for this afternoon's game.

Braid says the match probably doesn't resonate so much with the students, who aren't aware of its history.

"I think a lot of it's that our generation didn't really grow up with it all that much. I mean there was one game in '95, I was only a young tyke back then."

The match kicks off at 2.05.