Oliver reveals All Blacks misery

ANTON OLIVER has given a graphic account of the desolation felt in the All Black dressing-room as the shock of their World Cup quarter-final defeat against France hit home.

Seeking to articulate his team-mates’ collective reaction to being knocked out in Cardiff, the New Zealand hooker was moved to evoke comparisons with scenes from the trenches of the First World War.

“I have just finished reading ‘Massacre at Passchendale’ and also ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’.

“The feeling in the sheds was like no man’s land, like it’s described in those books. That is what it feels like — no man’s land — and it’s not a nice place to be. There will be lots of people at home who are sharing that as well.”

The defeat was a miserable way for Oliver to end an All Black career that has spanned a decade, but the 32-year-old was not the only player to be overcome with emotion.

He said: “After the game I didn’t want to take my jersey off; I didn’t want to leave it. It’s very, very difficult for me. No one wants to finish their career like this. We’ve bled so much for the country, and the team had such high hopes.

“I’m just trying to get through the next wee while. There are different, varying bits of emotion in the team. “People are taking it differently. Some people have already let it out — others are taking their time. It is going to be a long, exhausting process.

“There has been a lot of people crying, which is not something that you see very often — so it is quite powerful to witness it.”