Former All Black lock Murray Pierce knew the value of protecting the ball in test rugby, and in his post-playing days, he continues to safeguard assets.
Pierce works as a financial adviser, specialising in helping people structure their financial risk and insurance requirements.
"If you're buying a house, I'll goand see you and say, 'these are the things you need to protect yourself against'," he says.
Pierce, who played 26 tests for the All Blacks during 1985-89, came to financial advisory work after a 13-year career in the police, a job he maintained throughout his rugby-playing days.
"I spent a fair bit of time on team policing. Back then, [it] was really good fun because the Black Power and Mongrel Mob were playing up. There was a group of cops similar in size to myself. Our fitness levels were quite high and that dovetailed beautifully into my rugby career."
Towards the end of his playing days, Pierce had a stint playing provincial rugby in South Africa, and part of the deal was that he worked as a car salesman in Durban. He enjoyed the job and found he had a knack for sales. When he came back to New Zealand, he got a job with AMP and hasn't looked back.
Murray Pierce, former All Black and now and Authorised Financial Adviser. Photo / Supplied
Pierce was part of the New Zealand side that won the inaugural World Cup in 1987. It was one of the best All Blacks teams ever and the Wellingtonian was in the thick of it.
"When I made the All Blacks, I thought, 'that's one goal achieved, now I want to be part of a successful team'.
"At that time, we had a change of the guard that brought in [the likes of] David Kirk, Michael Jones and Sean Fitzpatrick. To be part of that starting line-up was definitely one of the most memorable events of my career."
Pierce says there were similarities between the 1987 World Cup and the New Zealand cricket team's recent campaign, in that the public's support seemed to snowball with each win.
"To ride the wave of public support was fantastic. [Before] the final, I'll never forget leaving the Poenamo Hotel where we used to stay. The place was packed and we struggled to get on to the coach because of the support."
Pierce played at a time when being an All Black didn't come with the financial privileges of today. He was reliant on his police pay to support his young family.
"I was fortunate because the salary coming in was a bonus compared to the poor, old self- employed farmers or business people who missed out on income. It's a complete contrast to the situation today."
Pierce does not begrudge modern players earning serious money but admits getting paid regularly would have been nice.
"When I was in the All Blacks, we had it better than our pre-decessors, so that's just life.
"We used to come away from Eden Park battered and bruised [having] entertained 40,000 people each paying X amount per ticket, thinking, 'someone's made a lot of money out of that'.
"It was a sticky point but not a major roadblock because to play for your country is the ultimate."
