It’s unlikely that Mils Muliaina ever thought he would end up playing rugby in Ireland. But the former All-Black and World Cup winner surprised everyone by signing for Connaught earlier in the year.
He spoke to Off the Ball about adjusting to Ireland and a different style of rugby.
“It’s a long way away from what I’ve seen in the past. If I’m to be honest, I didn’t know where Connaught was.
“I’ve been to Japan and done a season there and thought why not come to Ireland.”
The 34 year-old Muliaina has been impressed with the Connaught set up since he was introduced:
“I got to see how they operate and how hard they word. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve noticed, they’re great athletes.”
He spoke about his days in the All-Blacks, where in the 2005/6 period there was an increased focus on lighter and more agile forwards, which has continued to this day:
“The forwards were training as if they were backs. The game changed a little bit and the focus was on being more explosive.”
Though pushing on in years, Muliaina says that he’s still “feeling relatively pretty good.”
Having played the past few years in Japan, where a foreigner quota restricted his minutes to about 20 to 40, he reckons he’ll remain sharp:
“Mentally I’m really refreshed and excited to keep playing rugby.”
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