We still have weeks to go before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in New Zealand, but chef Jared Ingersoll has decided to get the trans-Tasman rivalry started early. Next week, he’s holding a one-off World Cup dinner, where he’s pitting his Aussie kitchen crew against their Kiwi counterparts.

It’s going to be a Green-and-Gold vs All Blacks cooking smackdown ­– or is that, snackdown? – held at Ingersoll’s ethical and sustainable Surry Hills restaurant, Cotton Duck. And instead of rugby balls and scrums, the battleground will be fought with native ingredients and treasured national dishes. Which begs the question: who gets to make the pavlova?

As it turns out, it’s the Kiwis who get to make the pav – fighting words, if you ask us – no doubt slathered in kiwifruit and served up with a cloying, passionfruit-bomb glass of Marlborough sav blanc. Well, possibly; the Cotton Duck wine list is a bit more suphustucated than that, so maybe they’ll break out some of that Vinoptima gewurztraminer from Gisborne. Mind you, all of their good dessert wines seem to come from Oz, but who’s keeping score?

Truth is that Ingersoll himself is a native from that hobbit shire across the pond, so it’s up to half the kitchen crew and some Aussie patrons to keep the odds in check. Either way, the event may bring about one of the rare instances of a hangi in a Sydney fine-dining establishment, something we’d like to witness. How do you produce a makeshift fire pit in Surry Hills, we wonder.

So if you’re feeling some national pride, come watch, munch and sip as the kitchen staff gets split into opposing sides, and the knives are drawn for some friendly competition. We recommend not using the cleavers for a rugby pass.

Where: 50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, NSW
When: Wed 24 Aug
Price: $75 for four courses ($100 including matching wines)
Bookings: reservations@cottonduck.com.au
Details: cottonduck.com.au