From the time he captained the national under 19 and secondary school sides in 1993, as a pupil of Marlborough Boys’ College, Anton Oliver seemed to be marked for rugby greatness. It was inevitable that an early spotlight should fall on him as he was the son of Frank, an All Black local in 17 tests between 1976 and 1981 and captain in the Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies in 1978.

Frank’s early influence on Anton’s rugby was not significant, but it was on his recommendation that the son switched to hooking in his teenaged years rather than his early preferred position in the loose forwards.

After one game for Marlborough in 1993, Anton Oliver, having gone to Dunedin to study, soon after became a regular in Otago representative sides and by 1995, having played in the previous two seasons for the New Zealand Colts, he was quickly on the fringe of national honours.

He was not yet 20 when he was called in to act as a reserve for the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup test of 1995 in Sydney when Norman Hewitt was ruled out with the injury. That test coincided with the attempted hijacking of international rugby by the World Rugby Corporation, an experience which must have jolted the youngster for it was played in an atmosphere almost without precedent.

Oliver became an All Black in 1996 on the tour of South Africa, but he played only a couple of midweek games and was ranked behind Sean Fitzpatrick and Hewitt. He also made the tour of Britain and Ireland late in 1997, again behind Fitzpatrick and Hewitt.

But by then Fitzpatrick was struggling with the injury which forced his retirement and in 1998 Oliver jumped over Hewitt to become the All Blacks’ first choice hooker. He retained that role through to 2001, including the 1999 World Cup, and was installed as captain in 2001, holding the position under the coaching of Wayne Smith and then John Mitchell.

Oliver had had extensive captaincy experience, starting with youth teams and including occasional stints with Otago at provincial level and the Highlanders in the Super 14. But the 2001 season was beset by an apparent lack of confidence in the All Black camp, particularly arising from two back to back defeats to the Wallabies in Dunedin and Sydney.

Oliver’s leadership came in for some questioning, particularly the Dunedin defeat when a late decision was made to go for a try when all that could have been achieved was a bonus point, which would have come more easily from a penalty goal attempt.

Injury in the 2002 Super 12 removed Oliver from All Black consideration for that season and for the next two or three seasons his national involvement was very much off and on. It seemed that in 2004 his career was winding down to a close when excellent form for a struggling Otago side saw him recalled for the 2004 end of season tour of Europe.

Another injury hampered his 2005 season, but he returned in time to make the end of year tour and in 2006-07 he returned as a first choice again, the new coaching regime of Graham Henry having him in a dual role with Keven Mealamu, the pair alternating depending of whether Oliver’s scrummaging power was needed or Mealamu’s mobility in the loose.

Oliver was seen as something of a rarity among All Blacks and some of his contemporaries who had known only the modern, professional game. Oliver was an intellectual, interested in art, literature and the environment, especially that of Central Otago. He had an independent streak and that put him at odds, almost to the cost of his playing future, with some coaching disciplinarians such as Laurie Mains when he returned in the early 2000s to coach the Highlanders. Generally, though, Oliver was widely admired for his ability to think on issues beyond rugby.

It was typical of his thoughtfulness, for instance, that in the latter part of his career he affiliated himself with an Otago country club, Toko, for whom he made occasional appearances.

At the end of 2007, after playing in his second World Cup, Oliver left New Zealand for an overseas contract. His 298 first class appearances included 85 provincial games 127 for the Highlanders and 59 tests.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

Anton David Oliver

BORN

Tuesday, 9 September 1975 in Invercargill

AGE

34

PHYSICAL

1.84m, 111kg

POSITION

Hooker

LAST SCHOOL

Marlborough College

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Otago University

PROVINCE

Otago

SUPER 14 TEAM

Highlanders

RUGBY NICKNAME

Hatch

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Tuesday, 13 August 1996
v Eastern Province at Port Elizabeth
aged 20 years, 339 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 14 June 1997
v Fiji at Albany
aged 21 years, 278 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 6 October 2007
v France at Cardiff
aged 32 years, 27 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

59 (10 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

8 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

67 (10 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

15pts (3t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

10pts (2t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

25pts (5t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

960

The All Black Games that Oliver played.
(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

1996

 13 Aug vs Eastern Province at Port Elizabeth 31-23  

 20 Aug vs Western Transvaal at Potchefstroom 31-0 (+) 

1997

 14 Jun vs Fiji at Albany 71-5 (+) 

 11 Nov vs Wales 'A' at Pontypridd 51-8  

 18 Nov vs Emerging England at Huddersfield 59-22  

 25 Nov vs English Rugby Partnership XV at Bristol 18-11 (-) 

 2 Dec vs England 'A' at Leicester 30-19  

1998

 20 Jun vs England at Dunedin 64-22  

 27 Jun vs England at Auckland 40-10 (-) 

 11 Jul vs Australia at Melbourne 16-24  

 25 Jul vs South Africa at Wellington 3-13  

 1 Aug vs Australia at Christchurch 23-27  

 15 Aug vs South Africa at Durban 23-24  

 29 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 14-19  

1999

 11 Jun vs New Zealand 'A' at Christchurch 22-11 (-) 

 18 Jun vs Samoa at Albany 71-13  

 26 Jun vs France at Wellington 54-7  

 10 Jul vs South Africa at Dunedin 28-0  

 24 Jul vs Australia at Auckland 34-15  

 7 Aug vs South Africa at Pretoria 34-18  

 28 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 7-28  

 3 Oct vs Tonga at Bristol 45-9  

 9 Oct vs England at London 30-16  

 24 Oct vs Scotland at Edinburgh 30-18 (-) 

 31 Oct vs France at London 31-43  

 4 Nov vs South Africa at Cardiff 18-22 (+) 

2000

 16 Jun vs Tonga at Albany 102-0 (+) 

 24 Jun vs Scotland at Dunedin 69-20 (-) 

 1 Jul vs Scotland at Auckland 48-14 (-) 

 15 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 39-35 (-) 

 22 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 25-12 (-) 

 5 Aug vs Australia at Wellington 23-24 (-) 

 19 Aug vs South Africa at Johannesburg 40-46 (-) 

 11 Nov vs France at Paris 39-26  

 18 Nov vs France at Marseille 33-42 (-) 

 25 Nov vs Italy at Genova 56-19 (-) 

2001

 16 Jun vs Samoa at Albany 50-6  (Captain)

 23 Jun vs Argentina at Christchurch 67-19  (Captain)

 30 Jun vs France at Wellington 37-12  (Captain)

 21 Jul vs South Africa at Cape Town 12-3  (Captain)

 11 Aug vs Australia at Dunedin 15-23  (Captain)

 25 Aug vs South Africa at Auckland 26-15  (Captain)

 1 Sep vs Australia at Sydney 26-29  (Captain)

 17 Nov vs Ireland at Dublin 40-29  (Captain)

 24 Nov vs Scotland at Edinburgh 37-6  (Captain)

 1 Dec vs Argentina at Buenos Aires 24-20  (Captain)

2003

 14 Jun vs England at Wellington 13-15 (-) 

 28 Jun vs France at Christchurch 31-23 (-) 

2004

 13 Nov vs Italy at Rome 59-10 (-) 

 27 Nov vs France at Paris 45-6 (-) 

 4 Dec vs Barbarians at London 47-19 (+) 

2005

 5 Nov vs Wales at Cardiff 41-3 (-) 

 26 Nov vs Scotland at Edinburgh 29-10 (-) 

2006

 24 Jun vs Argentina at Buenos Aires 25-19 (-) 

 22 Jul vs South Africa at Wellington 35-17 (-) 

 26 Aug vs South Africa at Pretoria 45-26 (-) 

 2 Sep vs South Africa at Rustenberg 20-21 (+) 

 11 Nov vs France at Lyon 47-3 (-) 

 25 Nov vs Wales at Cardiff 45-10 (-) 

2007

 9 Jun vs France at Wellington 61-10 (-) 

 23 Jun vs South Africa at Durban 26-21 (-) 

 30 Jun vs Australia at Melbourne 15-20 (-) 

 21 Jul vs Australia at Auckland 26-12 (-) 

 8 Sep vs Italy at Marseille 76-14 (+) 

 15 Sep vs Portugal at Lyon 108-13 (+) 

 23 Sep vs Scotland at Edinburgh 40-0 (-) 

 6 Oct vs France at Cardiff 18-20 (-) 

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs Wales 'A', 11 Nov 1997

1

-

-

-

5

vs England 'A', 2 Dec 1997

1

-

-

-

5

vs Scotland, 24 Jun 2000

2

-

-

-

10

vs France, 9 Jun 2007

1

-

-

-

5

Totals

5

0

0

0

25

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Argentina

3

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Australia

11

3

-

8

-

-

-

-

-

England

4

3

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

Fiji

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

France

10

7

-

3

1

-

-

-

5

Ireland

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Italy

3

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Portugal

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Samoa

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Scotland

6

6

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

South Africa

13

8

-

5

-

-

-

-

-

Tonga

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Wales

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

59

42

0

17

3

0

0

0

15