All Black, except for the red nose

Picture / Greg Bowker

During some down time at a cake-off, All Black Ben Smith was fitted with a red nose by Eva Mitchell.

The 5-year-old is one of the Starship's stars and has spent all her life in hospital after being born with a huge hole in her diaphragm.

It was touch and go for a long time and doctors didn't expect her to survive, but the little fighter has come through more operations than her mother can remember.

Eva was one of those watching the cake decorating challenge yesterday, held to support Cure Kids, New Zealand Rugby's official charity, and was hosted by AIG New Zealand.

Nine AIG staff members were broken into three teams with All Blacks Ma'a Nonu, Rene Ranger and Smith as their leaders, and after a quick lesson in cake decorating from New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker host Colin Mathura-Jeffree the challenge began.

The teams had 20 minutes to decorate a cake before the sweet treats were auctioned back to AIG staff. Ranger's cake was judged to be the best and raised $260 at auction for Cure Kids. The event ended up raising more than $600.

The aim of the event is to encourage businesses to sign up for the Red Nose Day Business Challenge. The Red Nose Day activity will run from August 1-24.

Businesses can register their interest now at curekids.org.nz.