All eyes centre on Muliaina

NEW All Blacks centre Mils Muliaina says he will chase a solid rather than spectacular performance in the Tri-Nations rugby Test against Australia at Jade Stadium on Saturday night.

Muliaina knows the eyes of the New Zealand rugby public will be on him when he runs out opposite bruising Wallaby Stirling Mortlock in possibly his first step towards making the black No. 13 jersey his own following the retirement of Tana Umaga.

The first-choice All Blacks fullback for the past three seasons, Muliaina said it felt like his Test debut all over again and hoped he would cope with the pressure.

"It didn't help that the legend (Umaga) left and left some big boots to fill," Muliaina said.

"There will be a lot of people watching but the only thing I can control is go out there and not do too much. If I try too hard, that's when the gaps will come. You don't have to have a spectacular game, as long as you're right there and talking and just sticking to your role. If you get too excited you can overdo it."

The All Blacks' sixth different starting centre in their past six Tests, Muliaina admitted his emotions went into overdrive at a team meeting last Thursday when coach Graham Henry sidled up and put his arms around him and hooker Keven Mealamu.

He told them they were starting against the Wallabies, and Muliaina assumed it would be his 34th Test at fullback before Henry told him of the new role. "There was probably about five minutes when I didn't really listen to the rest of the meeting because I couldn't stop thinking about it," Muliaina said.

"It's probably just as well he named it on Thursday, it gave me a lot of time to think about it over the weekend.

"I've forgotten some of the stuff at fullback already, it seems like I've played centre the whole year the way things have gone. I just can't wait for Saturday."