All Blacks: Muliaina handles the heat

Mils Muliaina's All Black spot is under threat from Israel Dagg. Photo / Getty Images

It wasn't easy for Mils Muliaina to enjoy the first All Blacks test of 2010.

The Chiefs fullback had played first five-eighth for his club earlier in the day, before driving back to New Plymouth with Richard Kahui to watch the test.

Muliaina wasn't in the best frame of mind. He was only cautiously optimistic his niggling calf injury had come right and he felt he was still a long way off returning to test action.

His mood was hardly lightened when Israel Dagg produced an entirely convincing test debut in the 66-28 hammering of Ireland.

"I always knew that it would be hard," says Muliaina of watching others push for his jersey. "Even during Super 14, watching other guys starting to perform and knowing [because of my broken thumb] I couldn't get out there was tough.

"Then when Izzy [Israel] had a blinder against the Irish, it hit home even harder. It does hit home when guys play well and it's not over yet. Izzy is pushing for a starting spot and I have to make sure I am on the job."

Muliaina was last night. Now that he has regained match fitness, he says the pressure is a welcome addition. Since breaking into the All Blacks in 2003, Muliaina has been one of the most consistent performers and has taken on one of the heaviest workloads.

For much of his early years in the team, he had to fend off Leon MacDonald. He relished that challenge - the quality of MacDonald was always a threat, something of which he had to be mindful.

Once MacDonald signed off in 2007, the position has pretty much been Muliaina's. No one else has been such a consistent and obvious threat to the No 15 jersey.

Isaia Toeava has been bounced around the jerseys and preferred more at centre, while Cory Jane has been viewed as a wing rather than a fullback by the All Black selectors. The emergence of Dagg is the first genuine threat Muliaina has faced for two seasons and it has given him an edge.

He's not the only senior All Black feeling the heat, either. There might not be the same depth of talent across the squad as there has been in the past but there are definitely some keen battles in specific positions.

As well as Muliaina, Tony Woodcock has had to be at his best to earn his starting place.

The Blues prop had a quiet Super 14, suffering from niggling injuries and a lack of rest on the back of the end of year tour. His form never materialised and whispers began that his time was up - that he was in permanent rather than temporary decline.

Those thoughts were all too easy as the Franks brothers - Ben and Owen - were the most impressive scrummaging duo throughout Super 14.

It was Ben Franks who was putting the pressure on Woodcock and, when Franks won the starting spot in New Plymouth, Woodcock knew he was in a scrap.

It brought the best out of the 29-year-old loosehead. He came off the bench in the final half hour in the first test against the Welsh and was back to his world-class best. The scrum improved immediately. Franks had never looked comfortable but Woodcock had the Welsh in trouble while he also showed up strongly all over the field.

"I think there has always been competition throughout my time," says Woodcock. "I'm not sure that it changes much. You focus on your game, what you can do and then try to put it all together out on the track."

With 62 tests behind him, Woodcock can avoid focusing on the threat posed by the younger man. He's been around for long enough to know that worrying about others is a recipe for disaster. The pressure, in his view, is always there to perform.

That's much the same view taken by Conrad Smith, who has been delighted by the return to form of Richard Kahui. While Smith doesn't need the presence of Kahui to bring out the best in himself, he does like the edge it creates. He likes competition - it makes the experience seem more real; makes it feel that it is as big as they like to think it is.

"I am happy for him," Smith says. "He's a good player and a good guy. There was talk a few weeks ago that we lacked depth in midfield and look where we are now.

"We have a number of guys putting their hands up. That's what happens. When you give good players the opportunity, they take it and show why they should be here."