KEY POINTS:
From the torrid battle at the bottom of a ruck to the dreaming spires of academia, former All Black hooker Anton Oliver is taking his rugby career "full circle".
Oliver is trading his All Black jersey for the all-blue colours of Oxford University, where he will also be hitting the books.
The loquacious 59-test veteran, nude art model and patron of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust will leave French club Toulon at the end of the season to study for an MSc in biodiversity, environment and management at Oxford University.
Oliver will pull on the university's famous strip and join the likes of former Brumbies and Australian rugby star Joe Roff.
For Oliver, who first played representative rugby for Otago in 1994 when the game was still amateur, the 127th match against traditional rivals Cambridge in December is almost a return to his roots.
"To come back to the amateur game after all that I have experienced and learned is a lovely example of the full circle metaphor," he said.
"The chance to play in the varsity match is also very exciting and I see it as a natural way for me to finish my playing career."
An outspoken environmentalist, Oliver last year presented a 75-minute, 21-page submission against a 176-turbine wind farm in Otago.
Known as the "thinking man's rugby player" with verbose statements that often had journalists reaching for dictionaries, the double-degree holder said exhibitions of art and sculpture at the Musee D'Orsay and Musee Rodin were on his to-do list when the All Blacks played in France in 2004.
"I just love the form, the three-dimensional aspect of sculpture, and it is so tactile," Oliver said.
His cerebral pursuits in England were a clear indication of where his life was heading. "I see my time at Oxford as a clear demarcation in my life, leaving behind a life as a professional sportsperson for one of academic rigour and thought," he said.
"I first played representative rugby for Otago in 1994 when the game was still amateur ... I'm finishing back where I started."
Oxford's director of rugby, Steve Hill, said: "To have someone of his calibre and experience in the heart of our forward pack will be invaluable for our 2008 varsity campaign."
