Anton Oliver
Playing for Oxford
|
|||||||||||||
| Full name | Anton David Oliver | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Hatch | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 9 September 1975 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Invercargill, New Zealand | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 111 kg (17.5 st) | ||||||||||||
| School | Marlborough Boys' College | ||||||||||||
| University |
University of Otago Worcester College, Oxford |
||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Frank Oliver | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Hooker | ||||||||||||
| New Zealand No. | 960 | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1994-2007 1993 |
Otago Marlborough |
84 1 |
(95) (0) |
| Super Rugby | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1996–2007 |
 Highlanders
|
127 | (45) |
| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1996–2001, 2003–2007 |
New Zealand
|
59 | (15) |
Anton David Oliver (born 9 September 1975) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Previously, he played as a hooker for Marlborough (one of the predecessors to today's Tasman side) and Otago in the National Provincial Championship and Air New Zealand Cup, and spent twelve seasons with the Highlanders in Super Rugby. He earned 59 caps for his country and for a period was All Blacks captain.
Oliver was born 9 September 1975 in Invercargill and spent the early years of his life in several small towns in the deep south of NZ. When he was seven he moved to Blenheim where he went on to be Head Boy of Marlborough Boys' College in 1993. During this time, Anton made all of the possible New Zealand age group rugby teams – Under17, Under19, Under21, and the NZ Secondary Schools Team – captaining them all.
He initially played at number 8 for the NZ under 17s. The following year he changed positions to hooker and made his provincial debut for Marlborough against Nelson Bays in when he was sixteen. He also represented NZ Secondary schools and 19s in 1993 – captaining both teams. In 1994, he represented NZ Under 19s (again the captain) and NZ Under 21s, and represented the Under 21s for the next two years – captaining the team in his last year.
Anton then went Dunedin in 1994 to study at the University of Otago and ended up spending his next 14 years there. He made his debut for the Otago first team in 1994 and played for Otago for 13 years. Oliver also played for the Highlanders rugby team and holds the record for the most games for the Highlanders at 127. Oliver captained both teams. He also completed degrees in Commerce (Finance) and Physical Education while being a full professional rugby player.
Anton's father Frank Oliver was also an All Blacks captain, making them the first and only father-son All Black captains in history.
Oliver first made the All Blacks as a reserve for a Bledisloe cup test match in 1995 aged 19. He was drafted directly from the NZ U21s team. He played his first game for the All Blacks the following year against Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Remarkably, almost twenty years to the day after his father played his first game for the All Blacks on the same ground against the same opposition. Oliver played his first test match against Fiji 1997.
...
Wikipedia