Oliver feels heat of captaincy
June 29, 2001

The weight of All Blacks captaincy is bearing down on Anton Oliver's rugby preparations, he said on Friday.

Leading the side into their biggest Test so far this season against France in Wellington on Saturday, Oliver said a lack of time had denied him some of his personal preparations midweek. But he said he was learning to cope.

Captaincy has meant more time fulfilling sponsors' obligations, an increasing amount of charity work, promotional appearances and media commitments besides the leadership of the team on and off the field.

``It's something new, I haven't done a lot of these things before, so it's just a matter of trying to deal with them,'' he told NZPA on Friday.

``I think the hardest thing is to find space for the individual preparations during the week. For the last three weeks it's been a real battle for me because I'm constantly worried about how the team's preparing and so forth.

``If I can find a bit more time to think about my own game that would be a bit better. But I'm a young captain, I just have to find a way to do it, and ask for advice.''

Oliver, 25, said the Test against France was important to him because the Dave Gallaher Trophy, which they won in Paris last year, was at stake.

Oliver and the All Blacks visited the grave of New Zealanders who died on the Western front during World War 1 when the team toured France last year.

Gallaher, captain of the 1905 Original All Blacks, was killed during the 1914-18 conflict.

Oliver expects his father Frank, a former All Blacks captain, to watch him lead the side on Saturday.

Oliver snr, coach of the Blues Super 12 side this season, missed his son's first two Tests as captain for various reasons, including a flight cancellation. - Sapa-NZPA

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