Nicholas Packer will provide some gold amid the Auckland 'blackout' © Getty Images

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Have you ever signed up to a tipping competition with so much promise only to find yourself mid-table and wondering whether to throw in the towel after two ordinary rounds?

Meet rugby fanatic Nicholas Packer, an Air Force Commission Officer from New South Wales.

Thanks to ESPN Footytips, Nicholas has proven that you don't need to be a tipping genius to win big after he was crowned Super Rugby's participation prize winner to score a trip to Bledisloe II in Auckland.

Despite his obvious excitement, he wasn't sure what to make of the news at first.

"To be completely honest I initially thought it was an online scam," Packer told ESPN. "But I quickly realised that it wasn't and that it was all real.

"I've always been interested in rugby and have followed it closely. It's a great sport to watch and play, and a great way to stay fit."

The news came as even more of a shock after Packer admitted to getting off to a shaky start.

"I dropped a couple of games early on at the start of the season, but managed to recover and overall tipped pretty well," he said.

Now that Super Rugby has wrapped up for 2014, Packer - still craving his rugby fix - has cast his eyes onto the inaugural season of the National Rugby Championship.

"I'm looking forward to the National Rugby Championship season," he said. "It will be great to see new rules that the fans want trialled. It should be an interesting and exciting season.

ESPN's Head of Product, Valerio Veo, who oversees the day-to-day operations at footytips central, says it's great to share unique sport experiences with extremely devoted fans.

"We love sharing our passion for sport with our fans and we are so happy to share this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to send Nicholas to Auckland to cheer on the Wallabies," Veo said.

Footytips is Australia's largest online tipping website with tipping competitions in more than 20 different sports. The tipping website is currently running a Rugby Championship competition before gearing up again for the 2015 Super Rugby season. With footytips now equipped with a heap of prizes including overseas sporting holidays and cold hard cash, there has never been a better time to join the tipping revolution.

But for an eager Packer, it's time to prepare for what will be his first trip over the Tasman Sea "I've never been to Auckland," he said.

"It was difficult to get time off work but now that's all sorted I'm really looking forward to getting over there for the game," he said. "It should be a great experience."