Mullins ready for Wasps after signing new contract

MIKE MULLINS just signed a two year contract with Munster – but it also means that he now has a new employer.

Mike himself explains: "I don't have an Irish contract any more. It's different people paying me. The money is now coming from the Munster coffers, not from the IRFU. So you're stuck with me for the next two years and I don't intend to stop then either."

It was good to hear Mullins in such high spirits just a few days before his fifth successive Heineken Cup semi-final.

Although he has taken a bit of stick for allowing Ignacio Corleto to "skin" him for the first Stade Francais try last Saturday week, few have highlighted the superb passes which opened the way for two of Munster's tries, especially the first finished off by Shaun Payne.

Mike laughs it off but underneath that engaging smile you suspect some of the press coverage hurt. Any shortcomings exposed by Stade will be addressed and put right on Sunday seems to be his attitude.

Michael John Marisch Mullins was born in Auckland in October 1970. In his early days, he played for New Zealand Rugby U21s and made 35 appearances for North Harbour before moving to England and West Hartlepool. He was the son of a Limerick father and his burning ambition was to represent Ireland, something he has now done 16 times since first being capped against Argentina in 1999. His most recent appearance was against Samoa on last year's summer tour.

Mullins weighs in at 14 stone 8 lbs or he did before breaking his jaw in an Irish training session a couple of months ago on one of those rare occasions when the Irish management recognised his existence. His objective now is to "keep off the weight that I lost because of the jaw. It was only three kilos but it made a bit of a difference, not that I'm much quicker but a little fresher, I suppose."

He has played in two Celtic League ties and the Stade Francais Heineken Cup game since his return. Looking back on that epic struggle, Mike accepts: "It was a bit tight in the end. I made a mistake that let Corleto through for his score, the kind of error you can't afford to make in big games like that but, of course, the 17 point buffer at the start saw us home."

The 17 point lead Mullins refers to, and the fact that Munster only won by five in the end, has been used by some to claim this was a substandard performance but that is to overlook the fact that Stade Francais are an exceptionally good side, a point he readily acknowledges.

"They have so many good players, Corleto, Martin, the big blond flanker, he put himself about, they were an international side," he said. "I gave Corleto too much space for the try and couldn't catch him, as simple as that. I made a big mistake there."

He made light of the two glorious try scoring passes that played such a big part in opening up the Stade defence.

"It's a borderline pass because one more step and we could have been down at the other end of the pitch.

"We don't worry who throws what and who scores what. We scored the points that won the day. Rog kicks the points, Shaun and JK and whoever scores the tries. And that's it."

Having emerged from a similar rugby playing background to Christian Cullen, Mullins was more excited than most at the impending arrival of one of the greatest of all All Blacks. The results, as yet, haven't been startling, but Mullins isn't worried.

"There's no point in putting pressure on the guy. He's only just back from injury. I'm sure he's feeling the pressure himself. He's still a good player and commands a huge amount of respect.

"Wasps? I've only seen a little bit of them because I don't have Sky Sports, if I did, I'd watch too much sport and my wife would kill me. At this stage, you wouldn't expect to have an easy game. I think I've played twice against Fraser Waters in England A games and managed to be on the winning side. We'll study them a lot more closely over the next few days."