Grand Slam tour gave Oliver impetus to stay playing rugby

Anton Oliver

Anton Oliver's longer-term interest in rugby was provoked when the All Blacks confirmed they would attempt a Grand Slam tour.

But the hooker was uncertain whether he would be part of that international landscape and therefore unsure whether he should extend his New Zealand Rugby Union contract.

"I thought a Grand Slam trip would be pretty attractive because I had never been part of one of those," he said yesterday.

"I asked for a bit of advice whether I should ask Graham Henry or not because I thought that was pretty presumptuous to question if I was part of his plans.

"I had a good talk to Tana [Umaga] midway through the Super 12 and he said, 'Just ask him'.

"I thought, yeah, good onya, Tana. Mind you, I would have said the same thing to him if the positions had been reversed," Oliver chortled.

"So I asked Henry and he said he was looking at me in terms of long-term structure to the World Cup and that really blew me away. I was not expecting that at all and that is when I reassessed everything."

After his subsequent severe calf injury took him out of the Lions visit, Oliver retreated to his Central Otago bolthole to mull over his options. Eventually he signed on until the end of the 2007 World Cup.

Despite the experienced Oliver not being able to play for the All Blacks, Henry invited him to stay with the squad throughout the test campaign against the Lions.

"I wanted to stay but told Henry I was a player and couldn't make a meaningful contribution."

Henry reiterated his offer.

"Had that not happened I might not have decided to sign on but all the things the All Blacks triumvirate is trying to do are very exciting," Oliver said.

"When Henry asked me during the Super 12 I thought, bugger it, I want to be part of that. I am encouraged by the way the guys are encouraged to be themselves and that they are on the right path."

After the third Lions test Oliver's calf reacted badly again and he was placed in a boot, with his Tri-Nations prospects also gone.

"By then time was also starting to run out for the NPC," he said.

"It may still have run out. It takes a long time to get back into it. It is enjoyable but it is just like getting involved in pre-season."

Oliver had decided to quit rugby after last year's NPC until he got a call from Henry asking him to be part of the All Blacks' trip to Europe.

"I had not had any enjoyment in rugby for three or four years and I thought, who am I kidding.

"In many ways that phone call changed my life. I wouldn't be here having this conversation. I don't think I would have stayed on and played football.

"I think at that stage I was going to get myself a Kombi van and go round the country and check out places in Aotearoa that I had never been to."

Now Oliver is contemplating prolonging his career to the sixth World Cup in France.

"If I look towards 2007 it looks an impossibly long time away and I start thinking, why the hell did I make that decision," he said.

"But if I just think about the upcoming games and focus on the present and enjoying what my next task is going to be, then it helps.

"I stayed in New Zealand rugby because there are a lot of personal goals I want to achieve because in the last few years I have sort of lost my way a bit ...

"Now I play with greater acuity. I have a better perspective. Rugby is exceedingly important at the time but it is not the be-all and end-all."