Whether it's throwing rugby balls or keeping his thoughts in check, All Blacks hooker Anton Oliver admits the lessons keep coming as he prepares to raise his test half-century in Lyon on Sunday morning (NZT).
Former skipper Oliver will become the 23rd player and the second hooker after the legendary Sean Fitzpatrick to play 50 tests when he runs onto Stade de Gerland to face France.
The milestone meant little to the 31-year-old, who captained his country in all 10 tests of 2001 and whose only two test tries remain from the same test, against Scotland the year before.
Oliver's mind was doubtless on Sunday's forward challenge and outwitting an aggressive French lineout.
Critics say his lineout throwing has suffered since he switched from a side-on to a front-on technique midway through this year.
Oliver disagrees, noting that fellow-All Blacks rakes Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore were both switching to the same technique on this tour to suit the All Blacks' new approach to lineouts.
"All of us are standing with our feet square and having the ball cocked ready so the reaction time to read what we're doing is less," Oliver revealed.
The biggest difficulty for the throwers is that there is no room for a step in to get momentum. More "grunt" is needed for a deep throw.
A big benefit is that they now need worry about one flight of throw, rather than the 10 variations previously used.
Forwards coach Steve Hansen has called for more simplicity but done at greater speed than before, clearly taking a leaf out of the combination forged between South African hooker John Smit and their outstanding jumper Victor Matfield.
"If things are going wrong, you look at who's good at this. It's straight out plagiarising," Oliver said.
"The improvements seem pretty good and Steve Hansen should take all the credit. He was under the gun there at the end of the Tri-Nations and he worked really hard for seven or eight weeks trying to come up with some solutions."
It is Oliver's scrummaging prowess that has won him selection over first-choice No 2 Mealamu this weekend.
He was part of the front row that smashed their French counterparts in the 45-6 win at Paris two years ago, a match that carries fond memories because the All Blacks were written off leading in.
"A lot was said what was going to happen to us, not what we were going to do," Oliver said.
"When you look at what we've gone on to achieve since then, that was the start, that was the catalyst of the juggernaut we've become."
Oliver was delighted merely to be part of that 2004, having been set to retire before coach Graham Henry came calling.
He reflected on the outstanding improvement in All Blacks forward play of late, particularly when compared to the lopsided style of the late 1990s.
"Our strengths then were in the backs, we had fantastic ball-running backs.
"We thought we could just give it to them, the Cullens, the Lomus, the Wilsons, but you had to do the work first."
Off the field, Oliver has developed into an outspoken figure on all manner of subjects.
However, he said he regretted his comments reported early in the tour in which he described the Twickenham crowd as "ignorant and arrogant".
"In hindsight it wasn't probably the smartest thing to have said," he said.
"It was probably a good lesson for me. I've had those kind of lessons before but I've obviously forgotten it.
"It wasn't meant to be inflammatory ... it was merely a personal account of what I thought. I didn't mean to inflame anything, it wasn't a tactic."
Teammate Aaron Mauger then "got a big tub of fuel and threw it on", in Oliver's words, when the second five-eighth revealed the same crowd had racially abused the All Blacks last year.
NZPA