KEY POINTS:
All Black fullback Mils Muliaina should front for the Chiefs on Friday, six weeks after his start to the Super 14 was delayed by a broken foot.
Muliaina was set to return after his national reconditioning programme when he fractured a metatarsal in his left foot during a trial game between the Chiefs and Blues development squads.
Instead of stepping out in round eight like most of his All Black colleagues, Muliaina had surgery to pin the bone.
The 26-year-old was optimistic he would reappear in the last pool game against the Crusaders but he has recovered more quickly and been cleared to play.
Muliaina had a solid hit-out on Monday, completed a 60-minute session yesterday, and if he completes another training session today will be on the plane for the Chiefs' next match against the Waratahs in Sydney.
"He's been doing bits and pieces for the last two weeks," coach Ian Foster said. "He has been cleared. It is just a matter of how much we can load it. It is likely, though, he will start at 15."
Whether that reintroduction at fullback is from the start of the match or off the bench is unclear.
Muliaina's comeback should help the Chiefs in their search for the semifinals, while the Waratahs will recall the two tries Muliaina scored against them in the same round last season.
After his surgery last month, Muliaina described the setback as an "injury waiting to happen". X-rays revealed he had another fracture in his foot that could have caused the injury much closer to the World Cup.
"The surgeon told me it was always going to happen," Muliaina said.
"I'm gutted, as I was really looking forward to playing. But if it happened further down the line it would have been devastating."
Muliaina was one of 22 players excluded from the Super 14 while they underwent specialist conditioning programmes to prepare for the World Cup this year.
