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.
