Tana Umaga

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Lore & Background

Umaga was born in Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand, to Samoan immigrant parents. He grew up playing rugby league and originally aspired to play football, before being persuaded by his father to play rugby. He played for the Wainuiomata Lions and made the Wellington U-16 and U-17 sides, and was named in the Junior Kiwi side of 1991. That same year he signed with the Newcastle Knights but returned to New Zealand within three weeks due to homesickness, never playing a first-grade NSWRL Premiership game. In 1993 his brother Mike, who played rugby union for Manu Samoa, persuaded him to take up rugby union in 1994. He played wing for the Wellington Lions in 1994 and quickly became a fixture in the starting line-up. He also played for Italian team Viadana Rugby in the 1994–1995 Italian season. He played for the Hurricanes from Super 12's inception in 1996 and took over the captaincy in 2003. Graham Henry named him as All Blacks captain in 2004; under his leadership the All Blacks won 19 of their 22 games including a clean sweep of the British & Irish Lions and a Grand Slam tour in 2005. At the end of 2005, Umaga retired from international rugby after 74 Test caps and 36 tries. Umaga played four games in 2007 for the Wellington Lions in the Air New Zealand Cup, to play 100 matches for the province, before taking up the position of coach at Toulon. During his first season coaching in 2008–09 season Toulon was a poor performer in the first half of the season and facing a relegation scare, and there was speculation that he would be replaced by Philippe Saint-André. Umaga returned to a playing role for Toulon in the second half of that season, and at the same time announced that he would not continue as head coach beyond that season. After helping Toulon exit relegation trouble (they ultimately finished ninth that season), he retired as a player, and remained at Toulon as assistant coach for backs under Saint-André. In March 2010, Umaga again returned as a player following a serious hip injury to Christian Loamanu. Umaga returned to New Zealand after the 2009–10 French season to become a player-coach with Counties Manukau and played with the Waikato Chiefs in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.

In Their Own Story

The 2003 Tri Nations campaign showcased Umaga's rising stature. After moving from wing to centre under coach John Mitchell, he was named vice-captain alongside Reuben Thorne. Despite early exclusion from squads due to injury and selection preferences for Mark Robinson, Umaga returned to form, helping the Hurricanes reach their first semi-finals in years with a record seven consecutive wins. His international return saw him lead the All Blacks to victories over South Africa (52–16) and Australia (50–21), reclaiming the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 1997. Yet, tragedy struck in the World Cup opener: a collision with Carlos Spencer tore his knee ligament. Declared fit by doctor John Mayhew for the semi-final, he was ultimately replaced by Leon MacDonald as New Zealand lost to Australia 22–10.

Reader's Guide

Umaga played wing for the Wellington Lions in 1994 and quickly became a fixture in the starting line-up alongside his brother who also played on the wing. He scored more tries than any other player within the team for three successive years, and in 1996 was selected for the original Hurricanes squad. In his second season playing for the Hurricanes he scored a New Zealand record of 12 tries (now broken by Rico Gear) and earned a call up to the national team at the expense of an ill Jonah Lomu. He scored a try in his debut test match. With Lomu regaining his fitness, coupled with a drop in form, Umaga was dropped from the All Blacks until the 1999 season. To accommodate outside backs Umaga, Lomu, Jeff Wilson and Christian Cullen, All Black coach John Hart moved fullback Cullen into the midfield. With a new coach in Wayne Smith, Umaga became the regular wing in the All Blacks line-up. He also played in the first Bledisloe Cup match in 2000, dubbed 'the game of the century', scoring an early try. He signed a new four-year contract with the NZRU, and when Alama Ieremia took up a contract in Japan, Umaga decided to shift his focus to centre, despite scoring 9 tries in 7 tests on the wing that year. After having played just one match at centre for the Hurricanes, Umaga slotted into the midfield for the All Blacks against France. The 2000 season was one of Umaga's best, with him being awarded the Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy for New Zealand rugby player of the year. In 2002 and 2003, Umaga was named as captain of the Wellington Lions and vice captain of the All Blacks under Anton Oliver in John Mitchell's first squad. He was not selected for the squad to play against Italy and Ireland as well as compete in the Tri Nations. Umaga, along with Taine Randell, were asked to play for the New Zealand Barbarians against the New Zealand Māori. After the game Umaga received a call-up to the national team to play Fiji, but injured his knee mid game. He came off the bench against South Africa at his home ground Westpac Stadium. Umaga was to lead the Hurricanes in 2003, taking over from Gordon Slater, under coach Colin Cooper. The Hurricanes made the semi-finals for just the second time in their history after winning a team record seven times in a row. His form was recognised and he was rewarded with a spot in the All Blacks, named as vice-captain under Reuben Thorne who would

Did You Know?

• Umaga was born on 27 May 1973 in Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand.
• He was granted the Samoan chiefly honorific title of Faʻalogo, meaning 'the listener'.
• He scored a try in his debut test match for the All Blacks.
• He was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy for outstanding sportsmanship after checking on Welsh captain Colin Charvis during a test match in 2003.
• He suffered a damaged posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the opening match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, colliding with Carlos Spencer, and missed the rest of the tournament.