Oliver and Matfield turn their back on French bonanza

Two of rugby’s top stars have turned their backs on huge pay bonanzas with a leading French club, it has emerged.

Former All Blacks hooker Anton Oliver has revealed in this month’s ‘International Rugby News’ magazine that he rejected a near Euros 300,000 salary for an additional season with Top 14 club Toulon. "My mother is a nurse and I worked out that she would have to work for several years to earn that kind of income" he tells the magazine.

Oliver is the second leading overseas star to reject Toulon’s advances. Earlier this year, South African lock Victor Matfield turned down a reputed Euros 500,000 a year to stay with Toulon after his 6-month stint with the club beside the Mediterranean.

With Toulon currently languishing in 12th place in the French Championship Top 14, locked on 15 points with Bourgoin who are in the second relegation position, the club must be regretting the loss of two such experienced players as Matfield and Oliver.

But Oliver, who is now at Oxford University on a 1-year course to do an MSc in bio domestic conservation management at Worcester College, opened the lid on his life at Toulon. What he said was far from complimentary about the club.

Oliver says he loathed life at Toulon. The club was a shambles, the standard of rugby was poor (Toulon were still in Division 2 at that time) and he alleges, even to this day, the club still owes him a few thousand Euros in unpaid salary. He admits "I was desperately unhappy.

"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 saying I had been accepted and then all the clouds went away."