New Zealand will forever be associated with Lord of the Rings and with less than a day to go to the HSBC Wellington Sevens spectacular, the 16 captains channelled their inner Gandalf as preparations were finalised for the third round of the series.
Weta Workshop, which manufactured more than 48,000 props for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, hosted the captains as they posed for the media with props and famous statues from the movies.
The trilogy was shot in many locations around New Zealand, including Wellington.
All Blacks Sevens captain Scott Curry was more than happy to pose for photos with Gandalf, Gollum and others.
"I'm a fan of Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson (director) has done great work for New Zealand on the world stage," said Curry.
"I'm always excited for Wellington as obviously it's our only chance to play at home in front of family and friends. We've had some pretty good wins here and won the last three in a row, so we're hoping for a fourth.
"Obviously it's a bit of an interesting time for us, with a changing of the guard in terms of the coaching and a bit of a fresh start for us as a team. We're learning plenty of new stuff so hopefully we can improve on what we've done so far."
England’s Tom Mitchell, still buoyant from his side’s win in Cape Town in December, said his side are ready for a tough weekend at the Westpac Stadium.
"It's obviously a long break between Cape Town and Wellington so we tried to utilise that time to focus on the detail around attack and defence.
"Now the guys are excited to try to put that out on the field and get some results here in Wellington."
South Africa are top of the standings heading into Wellington, however the Blitzboks are still smarting from their 19-17 Cape Town final defeat at the hands of England in December.
But they're not looking backwards and captain Philip Snyman is focused on the goals that he wants to achieve in 2017.
"We made it clear this year that we don't want any excuses and that we want to win the series.
"We played fantastic rugby in Dubai and in Cape Town but Wellington has always been difficult for us. But the guys are looking nice and sharp so hopefully if we can build on our momentum we'll have a good week here."
The games will be broadcast live on Sky Pacific/Digicel Play from tomorrow (Saturday).