Back at centre of the action

It was Mike Mullins' try in Newport, above all, that super-imposed the impression that Munster's fate was somehow predestined. The swiftness of the pass, the devastating break and the exhilarating burst were signs enough.

That it was a show-stopping try at a crucial time in the match was special in itself. But that it was Mullins who delivered the movement, Mullins who beamed brighter than the floodlights in Rodney Parade, that made the whole thing seem almost laughably fantastical. The guy should have been learning how to chew again, not putting himself in the tries-of-the-season picture. It was perfect because it was so unexpected and it was perfectly Munster because it was so unorthodox.

"The jaw was still quite weak because I was unable to eat, everything was through a straw," recounted the Young Munster centre earlier this week.

"I'm telling you, you don't know what a pleasure it is to actually chew food until something like that happens to you. But yeah, scoring that try definitely gave me confidence, because I didn't know what to expect going into the game. But then, playing rugby is my job, so I just had to get on with it."

The injury, sustained two months ago left him sitting around for two weeks, unable to speak and required not to move about much. Having been in the middle of a training regime, the inactivity left him intensely bored and his thoughts were far from a starbursting return to the international team.

"No, I'd say I was thinking about more long-term issues, such as employment after rugby should injury bring that about. I could never have hoped to be included for the staring 15 for the first Six Nations game. But it was hard luck on Brian (O'Driscoll) that he got his injury when he did and now, I suppose I have benefited from that."

Maybe in retrospect, Mullins' own injury was not such a bad thing. He spent a month eating semi-liquid food, requesting that his meals be blended whenever he ate in restaurants with the team.

But the enforced diet saw his weight drop by seven pounds. Once he resumed training, he felt sharper and stronger and the weight has stayed off. Observers noticed the difference. Before the injury, he was questioning his own performances. While he was disappointed not to make the senior squad for the Test against South Africa, he knew he wasn't fully on his game and was relatively content to see action with the A side.

But after having been part of the international renaissance of last season, being one of the few players to survive the purge that followed the Twickenham hammering, he was anxious to stake some claim. The exciting, forcefulness of his game in the latter stages of the Newport tie and again against Biarritz last weekend rendered him impossible to ignore after Brian O'Driscoll had succumbed to injury.

"It was a funny thing, I never really thought about how big that try was until we got back to Limerick and the people of the town started talking about it. I remember at the start of the year, talking with a few reporters, saying that it is a long year. And that's how it is turning out."

Mullins has weathered many tumultuous times on his wayward trip from rural New Zealand to representative rugby with Munster and Ireland. By his own admission, his talent as a youngster was based on competence and athleticism rather than on blinding potential. It's not easy to establish yourself as one for the future in New Zealand but Mullins persisted. He didn't know how to quit.

Mullins' ascension to the summit of representative rugby was far from smooth, with contractual complications at Waterloo and a miserable time at West Hartlepool preceding his move to Ireland. And all the time he has heard muttered reservations about the solidity of his defence and about his size. Bulk alone probably mitigated against his selection for the historic win against the French in Paris last season.

Mullins continues to play his own game regardless. Today, he resumes his central partnership with Rob Henderson for the first time since the summer tour when they ripped it up against the US. Mullins torched home for a hat-trick of tries.

"Rob was at the game at the weekend and I had a few people asking if we would be the centre combination but obviously we had to wait until the team was picked to see if that was the case. I hope that we will complement each other. I am just going to play my own game and hope that Rob can put me through a few holes, make it a bit easier for me."

He knows at this level, it's all about pragmatism. Recognising the half-gaps and exploiting them. His career is mapped with half-chances - he only travelled on the Argentine-American tour last summer because O'Driscoll injured himself on the day before departure while playing for the Barbarians at Lansdowne Road. Such are the breaks. The fact he replaces O'Driscoll, the hottest property on this island right now, is immaterial to him.

"I don't think of it in terms of who I come in for. I mean, Brian is one of the best centres in the world at the moment, that is without argument. But I have to concentrate on myself, I'm here to do a job."

Today represents a small step into the unknown, and one that Ireland is fully expected to profit from. The pundits will predict a win but the squad has been drilled on the importance of being mentally right for this game. Mullins played last season when the Italians visited Dublin.

"They were very physical, an abrasive side and I expect that's the way it will be this time around, especially in Rome. But, we are professional rugby players and we are going out on that pitch to win."

Mike Mullins is back where he wants to be. Chewing hard and spitting them out.