Otago fans salute as Hoeft bows out

Carl Hoeft

Two Otago rugby greats leaned back in the changing room at Carisbrook and reflected on a decade of memories.

Otago had beaten Taranaki 26-10 to farewell Carl Hoeft, the veteran prop who leaves today to join French club Castres, and celebrate the return of All Blacks hooker Anton Oliver.

Oliver marked his return from a serious leg injury with two tries and a robust performance, but he typically deflected the attention on to Hoeft.

"Hoefty likes to be under the radar. But he's been a tremendous senior player and he's been a rock for [former captain] Taine Randell and for me," Oliver said.

"The biggest credit I can give Hoefty is to say that he knows what to do in the dark places."

Otago attracted their biggest crowd of the season, about 6500, and Oliver was in no doubt the opportunity to send Hoeft off - and the cheap beer and chips - had been major contributing factors.

"Otago people should be given a bouquet for turning out. The union did a fantastic job with reducing things to $1, and we saw a reversal of the national trend of people not turning up.

"We saw a good old crowd of Otago folk turn up and be proud of their team and, in particular, one of their players."

Hoeft left the field less than two minutes before the final whistle, cheered by the thousands of people wearing imitation Hoeft headbands.

With young son Noah, he accepted a gift from the Otago Rugby Football Union, addressed the crowd, and walked down the tunnel one last time.

"It's great to go out with a win. That's the main thing," Hoeft said.

There was just the suggestion of moisture at the edges of Hoeft's eyes, but the big prop said he refused to feel sad about leaving Otago.

"Oh, I'm not too bad. You take these things in your stride. I'm not going to bust out crying or anything.

"It's been a special time for me."

- NZPA