Emotional Mils says farewell to Auckland

As the Auckland players filed back into the dressing room to celebrate their emphatic win last night, it was somewhat appropriate the last man off the pitch was Mils Muliaina.

The Auckland centre traipsed up the tunnel, satisfied a souvenir-hunting fan by giving him his shorts and took one last look back at Eden Park. For the former Southlander who ventured to Auckland seven years ago to try his luck in the big smoke, it was his last domestic game at his adopted home before he joins up with Waikato and the Chiefs in the 2006 season.

"I didn't want to come back in the changing rooms too early," he said. "It's nice to walk around Eden Park one last time. It has been an emotional time and I don't want to go to bed tonight because I want to savour the moment. I'm going to miss this place but I am looking forward to what lies ahead with Waikato."

The 25-year-old, appropriately, capped off the night with a try in the corner in what was his last touch of the ball in the blue and white of Auckland. "We planned it that way," he joked. "It was nice to dot down one last time, I will remember that for a long time to come."

Muliania will have little time to savour the memories considering he is a certainty to tour with the All Blacks on their Grand Slam tour.

One player who has benefited from a move has been Otago first five-eighths Nick Evans, who relocated to Dunedin this season from his home in North Harbour.

Although he is an outside chance to be named in the 35-man touring squad this morning, Evans is playing it cool about his involvement, at least publicly.

"I'm either off [to the UK] or fishing somewhere in the North Island," he explained.

Evans has benefited from regular rugby with the Highlanders and Otago and he put in a solid all-round effort in the final last night.

His defence has often been seen as his weakness but he set the tone for the night with a thumping tackle on Tasesa Lavea in the opening minutes and followed it up with a try-saving tackle on a flying Doug Howlett soon after. His general play was also top notch.

But Evans was disappointed to read the gap in the scoreboard last night, particularly after Otago were trailing 15-11 with 20 minutes left.

"We've had a good season but we didn't want to finish that way," he said. "I don't think the score reflected how strong our season was and the amount of work we've put in."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY