Oliver explains nude pose

All Blacks and Otago rugby hooker Anton Oliver has quelled speculation about the extent of his involvement in posing naked for a Dunedin artist.

Speaking for the first time publicly about it, he said the facts were different to what had been portrayed by the media.

"The artist, who I had known for some time and from whom I had bought a painting, was interested in figure studies and asked me if I would pose for him on the grounds that my body was more bulky, shall we say, than those of most male subjects," he said in a statement.

"Initially I refused, but then said I would on condition that it would be in total anonymity and that I would be portrayed from the back only. The artist agreed to this and that's what happened."

The painting shows Oliver from the back.

"Far from being self-indulgent or courting publicity, my insistence on anonymity would have meant no one would have known who the subject was. It is unfortunate that the painting's subject has now been made public, for that is not what was intended."

- NZPA