Mils Muliaina made it.....just. Fullstop. 100 caps for the All Blacks, neat and tidy. That summarized his work which came with the honour of being the first back and second player to accumulate a century of test caps before injury knocked him out of the 2011 World Cup.
He was being challenged hard for his position with Israel Dagg and Isaia Toeava offering the cutting edge which Muliaina had until he was dulled by damage and time in the game.
His battles through life and rugby were to be admired as he overcame those obstacles to take his place in the All Black hall of fame.
The All Blacks were scratching for the best fullback solution in the post Cullen era and the high performance low-level mistake rate Muliaina brought to his rugby, commended him to the position.
Once he got a start against Wales in 2003, Muliaina was a soaring success in the No 15 jersey where his pace and positional play offered an even greater attacking thrust through the All Black threequarters.