Former All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina, in surveying the upcoming Super Rugby season from Japan recently, must have looked at the Chiefs' abundance of quality outside backs and thought his would be a gradual return to the game here.
Instead, injuries have ruled out Robbie Robinson and Tom Marshall, and
Muliaina, who has had to nurse a couple of niggles on his return, has been named at No15 for the Chiefs against the Crusaders in Christchurch tomorrow.
For assistant coach Wayne Smith, it is a godsend to be able to select a player with Muliaina's experience.
"With our injury situation, we're down on numbers, so to get someone back like Mils, who is a Chief through and through with huge experience, 100 test matches behind him, it's been pretty crucial for us coming into this game," Smith said.
"He's going to make a difference, I think, to what is a pretty young backline.
