Late in his career Murray Pierce and his family travelled to South Africa for another stint of rugby with the Sharks.
Pierce had visited the country as a lock with the Cavaliers and enjoyed it so much that four years later, when he was offered a contract to play in Durban he did not hesitate.
"I wanted to go back and as I was finishing as an All Black I thought it was a good time to have another look," he said. "I resigned from the police force and we went for about eight months when I played for Natal and sold Toyota cars for a job.
"It was a great place and I've been back a number of times since with tours."
Pierce played a handful of games for Natal but mainly as a flanker because he could not compete for size with the local locks. After his brief stint, Pierce returned to New Zealand, clicked over his 100 games for Wellington and was picked for the All Blacks tour to France in 1990.
"By then Ian Jones had taken my place and I had a family to feed and I decided to retire."
Pierce was first picked against England in 1985 and several years later was an automatic selection at lock throughout the '87 World Cup as one of the hardcore driving members of the squad in the exhilarating final triumph against France.
He was on the money as a sharp ball winner at the front of the lineout and these days does the same as a financial adviser who specializes in insurance and income protection.
Statistics
Date of birth: 1 November 1957
Position: Lock
Test debut: 1 June 1985 v England at Christchurch
Final test: 18 November 1989 v Ireland at Dublin
Matches: 54
Tests: 26
Province: Wellington
Test tries: 0
Test points: 0