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LYON - A hamstring scourge at the rugby World Cup has struck the All Blacks again but fullback Mils Muliaina is confident he won't be missing for any more than a week following his early exit against Portugal.
A key member of the New Zealand campaign, Muliaina suffered
a small tear to his left hamstring in the opening exchanges of the 108-13 victory at Stade de Gerland.
After soldiering on briefly, he was convinced to depart by team doctor Deb Robinson.
"I wanted to stay on a bit longer but the doc put everything into perspective when she said if I made it a bit worse it could be six weeks or more (out)," Muliaina told NZPA.
"I thought I'd better get off then.
"It wouldn't have been right for the boys, carrying a player for another 10 minutes."
Muliaina joins centre Conrad Smith and utility forward Reuben Thorne in the group to have had recurrences of old hamstring issues since arriving in France.
Thorne has yet to overcome his strain but Smith made a welcome return today, playing a full 80 minutes and pronouncing himself happy afterwards.
Coach Graham Henry may not want to risk such as valuable a player as Muliaina against Scotland in on Sunday but the 54-test veteran wouldn't rule out being fit for selection for their third pool C match at Edinburgh.
"I'm always hopeful," said Muliaina, sidelined by a hamstring from the two tests against France in June.
"I haven't played that much this year and you don't want to miss games. I've only played about 60 minutes so far (at the tournament).
"I'm pretty frustrated at the moment, to get a little niggle like that. I've had it for the whole year so I know how to handle it now."
No other injury issues arose yesterday.
Lock Ali Williams was seen hunched over in pain and was replaced but he was simply breathless after being winded.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry offered no update to the injury status of Thorne and lock Keith Robinson, the only members of the 30-strong squad yet to play.
He said Thorne had continued his positive progress while Robinson was still making up ground after suffering a setback midweek in his recuperation from a calf injury.
"They're looking reasonably positive for next week," Henry said of the pair.
- NZPA
