Muliaina rediscovers All Blacks rugby hunger

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All Blacks prop Owen Franks shows off an eye injured at training ahead of the test against England at Twickenham.

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Even the great ones feel the pressures sometimes. And evergreen All Black fullback Mils Muliaina has lifted the lid on a dose of mid-year burnout that saw him questioning his motivation for the game.

It will be a special day for a special player at Twickenham this weekend when Muliaina becomes the second most capped All Black of all time, passing the mark previously held by halfback Justin Marshall.

But the 29-year old Waikato and Chiefs fullback says he'll be treating his 81st test cap like any other international – which is to say he'll be treasuring the occasion and not looking beyond the challenge of getting through 80 gruelling minutes.

Muliaina opened up as he spoke with the New Zealand media in the leadup to the match against England, the fourth test of this end-of-year tour and potentially the toughest so far.

He conceded that he'd struggled with the demands of the All Blacks captaincy on top of a sapping Super 14 season with the Chiefs and he'd hit the wall mid-season, round about the time things started to unravel in the Tri-Nations.

But he also confirmed he was over the hump now, had rediscovered his hunger and felt as fresh as he had in a while. He could also sense a good one brewing as he runs out for his ninth appearance against an England side that usually rises to the challenge of playing the men in black.

Muliana said he'd used his pre-tour break for some evaluation, and came up with some frank conclusions.

"I perhaps thought too hard about the long-term plan and trying to get myself right for 2011," he said. "Now I've come back and taken it one test at a time, and I'm feeling really good."

Muliaina spoke about how by the time the games against South Africa rolled around in this year's Tri-Nations he'd become "stale" and had lost his way. "So I've gone away and really thought about where I'm at and what I want to do on this tour, and I feel really excited about it again."

It turned out the long haul to South Africa for the twin away games against the Boks was a trip too far for the jaded Muliaina who'd already made the journey twice with the Chiefs. Mentally, he was shot.

"I'd probably had enough of travel," he said at the All Blacks hotel in Kensington. "It had been a big season for the Chiefs, something I'd never experienced before. Having taken on the captaincy, it was a lot of work, and I came away from that and took on the All Black captaincy while Richie was away.

"That was massive and it drained me a bit. It's something you've got to learn about. I hoped it would go away and it didn't… but you only have to look at Richie. He's done it year in year out, and he's still performed the way he has."

Muliaina said he learnt a lot through his challenging year, and feels much better equipped to handle such a scenario if it crops up again.

In the meantime he's pretty sure the All Blacks will have plenty to handle in the form of a highly motivated England side on Saturday (early Sunday, NZ time).

"It's probably the first time we've played them where they've been under a bit of heat really. Their own media is getting into them. It's going to be a massive game, they're under the pump, and you just hope you're not the team they come right against."

Muliaina expects the usual from the English, despite their highly touted lack of form. In other words big bodies coming at you, asking some pretty serious questions.

"It's always been physical playing at Twickenham. They love to get into us and there's going to be extra sting to their attack because they've been under the pump."

Muliaina also hinted that the All Blacks could look to lift the tempo against a massive English side not expected to be too light on their feet. "We've been a little frustrated at the way we've gone this year and hopefully this weekend we can really nail it."

That would be a fine way indeed to celebrate a very special occasion.

- © Fairfax NZ News