Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina (born 31 July 1980) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

. Born in Salelesi,

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, Muliaina moved with his family to

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

, New Zealand, at the age of three. At international level Muliaina played for from 2003 until his retirement after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Muliaina became only the second All Black to reach 100 caps during the World Cup quarter-final against in 2011. He scored 33 tries for New Zealand and remains among the top 30 highest try scorers in rugby union.

Early career

He first attended Cargill High School then

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 an ...

, where he proved proficient enough at rugby to be offered a scholarship to Kelston Boys' High School in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, in 1998. Subsequently, Muliaina played for the NZ Secondary Schools XV, the team winning that year's world championship. He repeated this the following year with the Under 19 side, and in 2000 and 2001 was part of the world champion Under 21 (NZ Colt) teams of those years.

Super Rugby and the All Blacks

Muliaina joined the Auckland Blues in 2001 and was a part of the Super 12 title-winning team for the Blues in 2003. Muliaina's test debut for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

was against England on 14 June 2003 at the

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situ ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. He was subsequently part of the All Black squad at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. In 2004, he was the only player to be selected for every test played by the All Blacks. Muliaina has also played in 11 tournaments for the sevens team, including winning a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

gold medal in 2002 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Though he has expressed a preference for playing as an

outside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, Muliaina generally plays at fullback. In 2006 he joined the Chiefs, with whom he brought up his 100th Super Rugby cap in 2011. On 9 October 2011 during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Muliaina played his 100th game for the All Blacks after starting at fullback against Argentina. During the game, Muliaina was forced from the field at half-time, having injured his shoulder. This was later revealed to have been fractured, meaning he was dropped from the New Zealand World Cup squad. Muliaina retired from the All Blacks squad the following day on 10 October 2011 after achieving his 100th Test cap and returned on 23 October 2011 to claim his gold medal after the All Blacks won the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final.

Europe

As of 4 May 2014, Mils had signed a one-year contract for Irish provincial region

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. On 21 November 2014, Muliaina made his Connacht debut in a 43–3 win over Italian side Zebre at the Sportgrounds.

United States

It was announced in March 2016 that Muliaina would play the upcoming season in the United States in the newly formed

competition. He joined the San Francisco Rush midway through the inaugural 2016 season.

Achievements

* Under 21 Rugby World Champion (2000 & 2001) * Commonwealth Games Gold Medal, Sevens Rugby (2002) * IRB Sevens World Series Champion (1999, 2000 & 2001) * ITM Cup (also known as the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

, NPC) Champion (Auckland: 1999, 2002, 2005; Waikato: 2006) * Super Rugby Champion ( 2003 with ) * NZ Super Rugby Player of the Year (2009) * 106 Super Rugby caps (Blues and Chiefs) * Tri-Nations Champion ( 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

& 2010) *

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

series victory ( 2005) *

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

( 2005,

& 2010) * IRB Player of the Year Nominee (2010) *

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

Champion ( 2011) * 100 All Black Test caps (3 as captain)

References

External links

*
Mils Muliaina , Rugby Database Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muliaina, Mils 1980 births Living people Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Chiefs (rugby union) players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of New Zealand Connacht Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in the United States New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Ireland New Zealand international rugby sevens players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand male rugby sevens players New Zealand rugby union players NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka players People educated at Aurora College (Invercargill) People educated at Kelston Boys' High School People educated at Southland Boys' High School Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Invercargill Rugby union wings Samoan emigrants to New Zealand San Francisco Rush players Waikato rugby union players Zebre Parma players