Former New Zealand hooker Anton Oliver and ex-Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman will again find themselves on opposite sides in Thursday's 127th Varsity Match at Twickenham.
Oliver will be in the Oxford University front-row for their annual match against a Cambridge University team boasting the services of Vickerman -an opponent well-known to the Kiwi through Super and Test rugby.
The past few years have seen Australia star Joe Roff donning the dark blue shirt of Oxford.
And with talented players wary of taking time out at what could be a formative stage of their professional careers, it seems more former rather than future, as was the case, internationals are set to appear in the Varsity Match.
Oliver played his 59th and final Test for New Zealand during last year's shock World Cup quarter-final loss to France in Cardiff.
In common with several All Blacks, he subsequently joined a wealthy European club, in his case Toulon, then in France's second division.
After promotion, they offered him 250,000 euros to stay for another season. "My mother is a nurse and I worked out that she would have to work for several years to earn that kind of income," Oliver told last month's International Rugby News.
But the only reason he could find for staying in France was the money -and that was not reason enough, leaving with scathing words about the standard of play and the level of aggression in the French Second Division.
Then he received a letter confirming he'd been accepted on a one-year MSc course to read bio-diversity, conservation and management at Oxford.
"I hadn't enjoyed my time at Toulon at all. In fact, it had been thoroughly unpleasant until I suddenly got that message from Oxford and then all the clouds went away," Oliver said.
Now the 33-year-old insists: "I can't remember being this happy for God knows how long. You can't put a price on your happiness."
And part of that for Oliver, who already has degrees in finance and physical education, is the prospect of playing in the Varsity Match: "It will be a wonderful experience, a game that has a lot of history."
For the 29-year-old Vickerman, who appeared in the last of his 54 Tests during the Wallabies' 27-15 win over South Africa in August, there was still much to be gained from both the match and the student life that went with it.
"I spoke to a lot of guys," the second-row, who completed a finance degree while a professional player, said after last week's team announcement.
"Joe Roff went to Oxford. I had a few friends who went to Cambridge.
They were all really helpful.
"They swore by the fact it was a great experience. They got a lot out of it and it has been no different for me so far," the land economy student added.
Oliver and Vickerman won't be the only Test players on show this Thursday.
Oxford will field Canada flanker Stan McKeen while Cambridge's team includes former New Zealand centre Mark Ranby and United States scrum-half Doug Rowe.
Cambridge, who have won the last three encounters, lead the series 60-52 with 14 draws.
Yet for Oliver, winning is no longer the most important thing.
Sapa-AFP - Rugbyweek.com
