Mils Muliaina finds form for 'the big one'

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EVERYTHING: Mils Muliaina says the All Blacks will throw everything at the French.

All Blacks v England

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The All Blacks perform the haka before the test against England at Twickenham.

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Mils Muliaina, now the second most capped All Black of all time, looks over at team-mate Zac Guildford and sees himself a hundred years ago. It invigorates him, and you can tell.

The classy Waikato fullback has well and truly shaken off his dose of the mid-year blues, and is finding that autumn in the north suits him. As evidenced by an outstanding all-round display at Twickenham, with the All Blacks making it four-from-four on the tour, Muliaina is, well, the Muliaina of old.

The 29-year-old joined Justin Marshall as second on the all-time list of test appearances with his 81st cap as the predictable physical English challenge was eventually worn down by the All Blacks on Saturday, Jimmy Cowan's second-half try enough to ease the tourists to a 19-6 victory.  

Muliaina, part of an impressive back three that appears to have finally found a balance between the return kick and the counter via ball in hand, said the occasion inspired and invigorated him. It was a special day out in south-west London, and the veteran back was damned if he wasn't going to enjoy it.

"I've just been feeling really good, just being excited to get out there again. Hopefully next week I'll get another opportunity to get out there and be excited again," he said.

Though there's an element of frustration that the All Black attacking game isn't matching their fabulous defensive one, Mulaina admits it's hard not to enjoy the presence of someone with as much potential as 20-year-old Hawke's Bay sensation Zac Guildford.

"He's really enthusiastic, chasing every ball with enthusiasm. He wants to get ball in hand as many times as he can. Seeing him win his second cap reminds me a bit of when I first started.

"He's very talented," added the fullback who was a hair's breadth away from notching his 25th test try. He admitted to being "gutted" about that, but was over the moon with his new back-three partner.

"For a guy so young, he seems to read the game really well defensively, and that gives me confidence to do my job. He's got a massive future. I've seen some really good wingers and certainly Zac Guildford's name is going to be hanging around for a while."

Muliaina spoke also about the mixed feelings in the dressing-shed -- satisfaction that they're continuing to dominate these northern sides in their own backyard, yet frustration that the complete game still eludes them.

"We know we're just about there. Our defence was outstanding, and that's giving us confidence to move the ball. But there's still those little things... that gives you encouragement to say next week let's go out and do those things better."

Of course France looms on the horizon, with storylines for Africa. Revenge, redemption, call it what you will, the All Blacks owe Les Bleus one. Also this is very much for the heavyweight title of the hemispheres - the two form sides of November's skirmishes.

"The way they played against the South Africans, it's going to be really physical,  Marseille is going to be pretty hostile... It's going to be a big week. We were disappointed the way we played against them earlier in the season, so now there's an opportunity for us to really get our game on."

A defining sort of clash then? One on which a season's success or failure hangs in the balance.

"This is the big one," he said. "We're going to throw everything at this French team. We've been a little bit unstuck with the French before, as we all know."

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