For New Zealand rugby player Hoskins Sotutu, there’s one thing that surprised him the most while watching the Crows’ main training session on Wednesday.

“Just the athletes - all of them have an average height of probably 6 '3,” Sotutu said.

“There’s a lot of big boys here - and talking to the strength and conditioning coach, they’re all real strong boys as well.

“Some of us are tall but we’ve got lots of smaller guys in our teams as well.”

Sotutu visited the Crows’ West Lakes headquarters on Wednesday, alongside fellow New Zealand rugby players AJ Lam, Kurt Eklund and Joshua Fusitu’a.

The quartet are in SA after being named in the AUNZ Invitational squad, which is set to take on the British and Irish Lions at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

Sotutu, who has played 14 tests for the All Blacks and is a key player for the Blues in the Super Rugby League, says cross-code collaboration can enhance performance and bring fresh perspectives.

“It was a good opportunity to have a look around at the facilities and get a bit of an insight on AFL,” Sotutu said.

“We don’t really watch Aussie Rules over in NZ so it was good to come over and have a look.

“I have seen AFL on TV a couple of times, but don’t know too much about it, so I’ve been asking a few questions about the rules and learning on the go.

“The whole environment is really professional, you can tell the boys are really intentional with what they are training and how they run things around here. That’s probably what I will take back to NZ.”

The AUNZ International squad is made up of Australian and New Zealand rugby players.

The team will take on the British and Irish Lions - a side formed with the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

It will mark the first time in 36 years that Australia and New Zealand have joined forces, with the last time being in 1989 for the final game of the Lions’ tour of Australia that year.

The game is being hosted at Adelaide Oval on Saturday at 7:15pm.

Crows Members can get tickets for just $25 with access to a special, non-public ticket offer, here.