Rugby: Muliaina hopes crowd can inspire ABs

Mils Muliaina has produced some exhilarating rugby this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Fullback Mils Muliaina hopes playing in front of 90 000 spectators will usher in another vintage performance from the All Blacks when they play the Springboks in their Tri-Nations rugby test at the FNB Stadium near Soweto on Saturday.

"I'm very excited about running out in front of 90 000 people, even though I know they'll be pretty hostile and won't be yelling for us. Playing this sort of game comes at a good time for us and the boys are up for it, hopefully it will inspire us to deliver a good performance," Muliaina said in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The FNB Stadium, which was the venue for last month's soccer World Cup final - when it was known as Soccer City - is at altitude and Muliaina said he believed conditions would favour both the All Blacks' expansive game and the Springboks' love of kicking.

"It's always nice playing in Johannesburg, the sun shines like in summer back home and hopefully it will be another fast, freeflowing game. We've also looked at the ball travelling a long way up here, and also staying up in the air longer, so your timing of the jump has to be a lot more effective, you have to make sure it's right. But then the ball will also travel further when we kick it," Muliaina pointed out.

The 30-year-old Muliania has produced some exhilarating rugby this year and he said it was because he was excited about playing again after a Super 14 campaign wrecked by injury.

"I'm feeling pretty good, obviously winning our last four Tri-Nations games helps. It's probably the change of rules as much as anything else that has helped me after I didn't play the first half of the season. I've come back well, reaped the rewards of the hard training.

"We're playing a different brand of rugby now, which suits the way I play. It gets the best out of me and I'm just really loving playing rugby at the moment," he said.

With a new-look Springbok backline boasting the likes of Gio Aplon at fullback, JP Pietersen on the wing, Juan de Jongh and Jean de Villiers in the three-quarters and Francois Hougaard, a wing playing at halfback, Muliaina expects the opposition to share his enthusiasm for running the ball on Saturday.

"If you look at the backline they've picked, it's very sound and effective on the counter-attack so we'll have to make sure our defence is on the job. With JP back, Aplon at fullback and Bryan Habana being a world class counter-attacker, it shows that they will chance their arm a bit," Muliaina said.

While the All Blacks have drawn rave reviews for their performances this year, the Samoan-born star said a successful outcome on Saturday still called for a focus on the less-glamorous aspects of their play.

"We first need to get our kicking game right and secondly make sure our defensive structure is sound, then we can do all the exciting stuff," Muliaina said.

- NZPA