Mullins intent on making most of late call up to tour

FATE, as Mike Mullins will concur, can do strange and wonderful things.

The affable Kiwi had soldiered powerfully for Munster in the course of their Celtic League and Heineken Cup campaigns. But for all his blasting and force, he failed to burst his way onto the radar of Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan and the national set up.

When Munster’s season ended so terribly in Toulouse, and with a gaping summer spreading before him, the 33-year-old started planning his holidays. Five weeks of rest, relaxation was on the agenda. Rugby was not. Then fate stepped in.