Taking it easy the hardest thing for Mooloo Robinson to do

After a string of depressing injuries former All Black Keith Robinson is enjoying finally being fit again.

You'd think that having been kept off the rugby field for two years, Keith Robinson would be taking his return gently.

Two problems with that: it's not in his nature, and lock is hardly a position for cruising along.

Jumping, lifting, shoving, mauling take a toll on the body, but Robinson is relishing being back among his mates at Waikato.

Tonight's Air New Zealand Cup semifinal against Otago in Hamilton will be his fourth game back after a depressing run of injuries which would surely have had a less resilient personality jacking it in.

Since playing his sixth and last test against the Pacific Islanders at Albany in June 2004, Robinson has been laid low by a succession of injuries to his lower back, calf and knee.

There have been a couple of false starts.

He tore a calf muscle in a warmup game for Waikato against North Harbour in July 2004, and that was his last game in the provincial colours before last month.

He was listed to start for the Chiefs against the Sharks in April last year but withdrew a few hours before kickoff.

There have been a few club games back in his old home town for Te Aroha dotted along the way, as well as a couple of operations, the second of which revealed a bulging disc putting pressure on a sciatic nerve.

Robinson kept his hand in helping with Chiefs lineout drills. Then, just when things had gone quiet, up he popped for Waikato against Wellington on September 23.

He started the North Harbour match the following week, and the quarter-final against Southland last weekend.

And he's not just making up the numbers. Coach Warren Gatland isn't giving Robinson a gentle reintroduction. He needed fluid drained from a knee before the Harbour game, and he has accepted the odd spot of cartilage discomfort may be unavoidable.

But if he couldn't pull his weight he wouldn't be there. He is, and he's loving it. Running round like a spring lamb then?

"I wouldn't say that mate, more like an old ram," he quipped. "But I'm really loving it. It's awesome to be back playing with the Waikato boys again."

Robinson, 29, would not be human if he hadn't railed against the unfairness of it all over the last couple of years.

Having made three appearances for the All Blacks in late 2002, his ruggedly effective form was an important factor in twice demolishing England on their first trip Downunder since winning the World Cup in Sydney in November 2003.

Rugby life was looking good, before it all started to go wrong.

In quieter moments, Robinson has doubtless wondered if his days on the park were over. He kept his spirits up with non-rugby activities, including developing a gymnasium in Te Aroha.

"That's kept me busy and it's been awesome to get the body back into shape. And I've got a young family, that's taken up a bit of time ..."

Robinson credits wife Jeanne and daughters Hayley and Renee and the business with keeping his mind off rugby.

"I'd hate to think what I'd have been like if I didn't have anything else. I'd have been a grumpy man ... But it's been good to have the family support and the business to keep my mind off rugby."

Ask Robinson the best thing about being back with a Waikato team, who qualified top for the semifinals, and he reels a list off.

"I just love the game, love the winning, love the feeling in the changing rooms after a win, love hanging out with the boys. Love everything about it."

And the body? Robinson insists it's holding up well and his confidence of what it will let him do is growing.

"It's good. It's been two years of trying to get it right. After getting through three games I'm pretty confident with my body."

It's an inevitable question, just as the answer is amiably predictable. The All Blacks? Back in black?

"To be honest I haven't really looked any further ahead than this championship," Robinson said.

"It's one game at a time."


Keith Robinson

Age: 29
Super debut: v Waratahs, 2001
All Black debut: v England, 2002
Tests: 6