Anton Oliver

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Anton David Oliver (born 9 September 1975 in Invercargill) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He plays as a hooker. He has been an All Black since 1996.

He plays for the Highlanders in the Super 14 and for Otago in the National Provincial Championship.

Oliver was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, and attended Marlborough Boys College. He made his provinical debut for Marlborough against Nelson Bays in 1993. He made his All Blacks debut age 21, versus Fiji in 1997. He has currently scored a total of 10 test points (2 tries).

Oliver created the first father and son captain combination when he was appointed as All Blacks captain in 2001. Father Frank captained the All Blacks in 1978.

He is a "thinking man's rugby player" and spoke openly on the excessive drinking that once took place in the All Blacks camp in his book "Anton Oliver, inside" (2005). In this book he speaks unashamedly of how a young fan's letter to him made him rethink his loutish behaviour and praises Wayne Smith and Andrew Martin for getting the All Black ethos back to where it belongs. He is erudite and is always worth listening to if involved in a post-match interview - no trite "all credit to the opposition" comments to be expected from him.

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