Why former All Black Oliver is now firmly in green corner

IT is conceivable that Anton Oliver could have been packing down in the New Zealand front row this evening at the Aviva Stadium rather than watching from the stands.

The former All Blacks captain and hooker is still only 35, three years younger than Ireland replacement prop John Hayes, yet even attending today’s game is an exception rather than the rule.

And having turned his back on rugby and a lucrative contract with Toulon two years ago, the exiled Kiwi is getting on with the rest of his life, as he explained from his City of London office.