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Mils Muliaina's stint as All Blacks captain may be over but he won't change his approach to the team.

Muliaina took over the captaincy of the All Blacks for the June tests while Richie McCaw was recovering from a knee injury.

McCaw was back in the squad yesterday for the Tri Nations.

But the 28-year-old Muliaina says he'll be just as committed playing against South Africa and Australia as he was leading the team against France and Italy.

"It's going to be no different," Muliaina told Sunday News.

"The last thing I want to be doing is sitting back.

"With Richie back it's just the same old job, helping him as best I can and helping lead the side."

Even when he was captain, Muliaina broke with tradition. The captain usually sits up the front of the team bus.

Muliaina usually occupies the back seat of the bus along with Keven Mealamu and that's where he chose to remain with McCaw in front even when he was named captain.

"It's pretty weird I suppose, obviously with just filling in while Richie has been injured," Muliaina said.

"I was on the back seat last year and it wouldn't make sense sitting anywhere else with Richie still there.

"It feels a bit different but we've got a good group of guys at the back."

Reflecting on his time as skipper, Muliaina said captaining in the All Blacks was different to taking charge of the Chiefs.

"With the Chiefs there were a lot of things I wanted to try," he said.

"I came in (as captain) and created a lot of stuff that I wanted done.

"But in the All Blacks environment that's already been done.

"So my role as All Blacks captain was to get the best out of the players and make sure the other experienced guys were actually leading the team.

"With the structures that were in place in the Super 14, you had a better idea of what you wanted because you had more time.

"Whereas in the All Blacks we're straight into camp and everything has to work like clockwork."

Muliaina got a new insight into the way the All Blacks coaches operate during his time working closer to them, saying he found them approachable.

"You don't want to be a yes man or the guy who's always confronting the coach," the 71-test fullback said.

"The key thing for us in this environment is that the coaches are really open to feedback.

"I felt that if there was something bothering me, I could speak my mind."

- © Fairfax NZ News