KEY POINTS:
Three weeks on tour has been just about enough for Mils Muliaina. With the Grand Slam completed against England, the All Black fullback confessed he was out of gas and ready to return home.
Some of that pull, naturally, was to see his wife and his new son, who needs an operation to mend a hole in the heart, but he also felt exhausted by the demands of a long tour.
Despite Muliaina missing the bulk of the provincial championship because of the All Blacks' stand-down periods and Waikato's lack of progress, the season has taken a toll. He was exhausted, weary after three weeks of combat against Ireland, Wales and England. The physical onslaught had taken its toll, the team generally felt a little flat and many felt they had not played near the top of their ability.
Fortunately Muliaina had enough sting left in his little finger to ankle tap England No 8 Nick Easter, who had busted through early in the second half and was heading for the All Blacks' tryline and their first international concession on this tour.
"I closed my eyes to be honest and just hoped and dived, so I was just lucky enough that he didn't score because the guys definitely D'd [defended well] up for about two minutes after that and we were pretty stoked," he said.
That danger averted, the All Black line was scarcely challenged again, no test tries conceded in the UK and Ireland.
"That's an outstanding stat I think," Muliaina said. "That is credit to our defence in a way that we did not really infringe either and backed our defensive systems. It is a really pleasing stat and just another great thing to be able to go home and celebrate about."
Most importantly, the Grand Slam, which had been won by previous New Zealand teams in 1978 and 2005, had been repeated with England beaten 32-6 at Twickenham. Graham Henry's All Blacks had claimed their second.
Henry's post-match comments were all about character and backbone, ingredients his side displayed in bulk as they battled their way through an arduous Slam campaign which had been preceded by the physical demands of the money-spinner against the Wallabies in Hong Kong.
Yesterday was a "special day" at Twickenham when the repeat Slam was claimed, a task Henry confessed he had been uncertain about. It was not fair to compare the two Slams, he said, they came in different eras with different players at different stages of their development against different rivals.
England had applied physical pressure, but might have struggled because of their lack of experience. Muliaina thought the All Blacks might have suffered because they were a little more emotional about the occasion than they wanted. They went to ground too early in the collisions, giving the English defenders time to slow the ball down.
Muliaina did not feel comfortable about the result until late in the test, although the ability of the All Blacks to pin England down their end of the field was a boost.
"There were times definitely in that first half when we were thinking, these guys are really here to play, to try and stick it to us physically. But we thought if we could absorb that and hopefully tire them then we could open things up and that is the way it happened."
