Muliaina wary of Wellington's midfield power in final

Mils Muliaina in training ahead of Saturday's rugby final against Wellington. Picture / Sarah Ivey

Only three games into his career with Waikato, Mils Muliaina finds himself in familiar territory -- the national provincial rugby final.

The All Blacks fullback-cum-centre has already experienced success twice with Auckland, once at his new team's expense, and now finds himself on the brink of a third victory lap.

Muliaina was party to Auckland's 40-28 defeat of Waikato in 2002 and last year Eden Park was another happy place to be as the home side drubbed Otago 39-11.

Muliaina and another import, former Otago halfback Byron Kelleher, are the only Waikato players to have experienced victory in a final -- not that he was placing too much emphasis on those joyful experiences in the lead-up to tomorrow night's match against Wellington in Hamilton.

Muliaina seems an obvious reference point for teammates who are breaking new ground at Waikato Stadium but the 42-test veteran was not about to impart any particular gems for his wide-eyed or jittery colleagues.

His pre-game advice pretty much equated to: "You just have to try and relax."

Muliaina has put more thought into Waikato's defensive screen, particularly with a view to stopping old stager Tana Umaga and his midfield partner Conrad Smith.

"We've done a lot of D (defence) and talked about the stuff they do, the midfield battle is going to be huge," he said.

"They both scored tries (against Auckland in last weekend's semifinal), they've worn the black jersey ... you can't buy Tana's experience and Conrad is starting to hit some really nice form."

It is little surprise Muliaina has been schooling up on the whole concept of coach Warren Gatland's "rush defence" given his All Blacks commitments ensured he was late making his debut in Waikato colours.

Muliaina only donned the No 15 jersey for the first time against North Harbour in the last round of the Top Six competition -- and freely admitted the defensive system took some absorbing.

"We started a little bit of rush defence during the Super 14 but not to this extent.

"It's definitely different and taken a little bit of getting used to but it's working for us.

"We've worked hard off the field to make sure we're right making our tackles, we know if they make a break there's not too much cover."

The screen has held up well this season, with Waikato conceding 209 points in 11 games, while scoring 345 to end up comfortably in the black.

However, Wellington have proved in recent weeks they are capable of striking from all parts of the field and Muliaina was taking nothing for granted despite Waikato comfortably beating Wellington 37-21 in their latest match last month.

Wellington's loss was notable for Waikato's offence as much as their defence, with centre Richard Kahui making a huge impression, particularly at the expense of the free-spirited Ma'a Nonu.

The All Blacks utility's defensive frailties were exposed at second five-eighth and he was shunted to the wing part way through that game and hasn't started in the midfield since.

While Nonu didn't quite cover himself in glory on his last trip to Hamilton, Muliaina had no doubt he remained a key attacking threat.

"Ma'a's come back from being highly criticised and shown what he has. He's a huge threat, he's got a roaming licence, he just pops up.

"You think you've done pretty well on defence and before you know it he's beaten two or three players and got under the sticks."

- NZPA