New Zealand rugby, which prefers its top players to be stoic and reserved, has been shaken by news former All Blacks captain Anton Oliver has posed nude for an oil portrait.
Oliver, 31, a hooker and member of the New Zealand squad preparing for next year's World Cup, confirmed on Tuesday he had posed for Dunedin artist Simon Richardson, but only after assurances the resulting work would be tasteful.
Richardson's painting of Oliver, a forward with the hulking physical presence of a typical rugby front-rower, will be displayed at a gallery in the trendy Auckland suburb of Parnell in November.
But his decision to pose for the painting, which reportedly depicts him standing with his back to the artist, facing a wall, has riled All Blacks legend Colin Meads.
Meads, who was seen to epitomize the All Blacks' standard of strong, silent behavior, said New Zealand rugby players were "not bloody film people doing ridiculous things."
"We're meant to be salt-of-the-earth, grassroots, bloody good guys," Meads said. "You don't pose nude or get a painting of yourself in the nude ... he must think he's pretty good."
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