Tana Umaga

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Tana Umaga
ONZM
Umaga in 2005
Birth nameJonathan Falefasa Umaga
Date of birth (1973-05-27) 27 May 1973 (age 50)
Place of birthLower Hutt, New Zealand
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight100 kg (220 lb)
SchoolParkway College
Notable relative(s)Mike Umaga (brother)
Jerry Collins (cousin)
Jacob Umaga (nephew)
Peter Umaga-Jensen (nephew)
Thomas Umaga-Jensen (nephew)
SpouseRochelle Umaga
Children4
Rugby union career
Position(s)
wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1994–2005 Petone Rugby Club ()
2005–2006
Toulon
 7 (10)
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1994–2007 Wellington 100 (260)
2010
Counties Manukau
 10 (5)
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
1996–2007
Hurricanes
 122 (235)
2011
Chiefs
 7 (5)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1997–2005 New Zealand 74 (180)
Coaching career
Years Team
2008–2009
Toulon
2010–2011
Counties Manukau
(assistant)
2012–2015
Counties Manukau
2015 New Zealand under-20 (assistant)
2016–2018 Blues (Head Coach)
2021–2023 Samoa (assistant)
2024– Moana Pasifika
Rugby league career
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1991–1992 Wainuiomata Lions
1992 Wellington
1993–1994 Newcastle Knights
Total 0 0 0 0 0
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Pierre de Coubertin medal 2003

Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga

All Blacks. He is head coach of Moana Pasifika in the Super Rugby
competition.

He played for the

Toulon.[2]

During his first season coaching in

Counties Manukau and played with the Waikato Chiefs in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.[4]

Early life

Umaga plaque in Jackson Street, Petone

Umaga was born in

Junior Kiwi side of 1991.The side also featured future National Rugby League stars Joe Vagana, Ruben Wiki and Gene Ngamu.[6] That same year he signed with the Newcastle Knights but within three weeks was back on the plane to New Zealand because of homesickness.[7] He never did play a First-Grade NSWRL Premiership game. In 1993 Tana's brother Mike, who played rugby union for Manu Samoa, persuaded him to take up rugby union in 1994.[8] The brothers played on opposite teams in a Test match between Samoa and New Zealand in 1999 during which Tana scored two tries (the All Blacks won 71–13).[1]

Rugby union career

1994–1999

Umaga played

Hurricanes
squad. He also played for Italian team Viadana Rugby in the 1994-1995 Italian season.
Fullback Christian Cullen into the midfield.[12][13]

2000 and 2001

With a new coach in

John Mitchell
.

2002 and 2003

Moving Umaga to the centres was not to everyone's liking claim this as a reason for his loss of pace.

All Blacks were to take on Italy, Umaga played for his club Petone.[17]

Umaga, along with

wing a position stated he didn't want to play.[18] After the game Umaga received a call-up to the national team to play Fiji, but injured his knee mid game. Umaga told the coaches he was fit for selection for the Bledisloe match tie against Australia but was again no selected, Daryl Gibson taking the spot on the bench. Umaga again turned out for Petone
.

Umaga came off the bench against

Westpac Stadium. Umaga would go on to make the Tri-Nations XV; a team based on Zurich world player rankings.[19] Many considered him a good chance to take over the captaincy on the end of year tour from injured regular captain Reuben Thorne, but that role was instead handed to Taine Randell.[20] Umaga was to lead the Hurricanes in 2003, taking over from Gordon Slater, under coach Colin Cooper.[21] The Hurricanes made the semi-finals for just the second time in their history after winning a team record seven times in a row,[22] shedding the inconsistent tag that had plagued them since the competition's inception.[23] His form was recognised and he was rewarded with a spot in the All Blacks, named as vice-captain under Reuben Thorne who would lead the team to the World Cup
.

In a test match against Wales on 21 June 2003, Welsh captain Colin Charvis was knocked out in a tackle from All Blacks forward Jerry Collins. Umaga stopped playing despite his team being in an attacking position; to check that Charvis had not swallowed his mouthguard. He placed him in the recovery position and for this act, the Council of the International Fair Play Committee awarded Umaga the Pierre de Coubertin medal for outstanding sportsmanship.[24] Umaga was the first New Zealander to receive the award.[25] The Welsh Rugby Union also presented him with a figurine to honour the display of sportsmanship.

The All Blacks defeated the Springboks 52–16 and the Wallabies 50–21 away from home in consecutive weeks. New Zealand won both home matches as well, claiming the Tri Nations title and the Bledisloe Cup. This was the first time the All Blacks had won the Bledisloe since 1997. The performance had them regarded as early favourites to win the years World Cup, along with the eventual winners England.

The opening match of the tournament was to be the All Black last

Fullback
, was preferred in the centre spot. The All Blacks would lose the game to Australia 22–10 and again fail to reach the final.

The aftermath of the world cup was similar to the last, as coach

Blues and was told he would never receive the top job after leaving New Zealand shores to take up a contract with the Wales
national team. Henry's experience in New Zealand and overseas, as well as the skill shown in turning around the Welsh team worked in his favour and he secured the job.

All Black captain: 2004 and 2005

Graham Henry's first choice as captain of his team was Umaga, and after a disappointing

Tri Nations series. In Paris in 2004 Umaga became the first New Zealand rugby player of non-Maori descent to lead the Haka
, thus making him the Prematch Haka leader.

In the 2004 end-of-year tour he oversaw the 45–6 victory over

Tri Nations and the potential Grand Slam
tour of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Umaga was involved in an incident in the first Test of the Lions' tour on 25 June 2005 that caused friction between the Lions and the All Blacks. Early in the Test, Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu upended Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll in a post-ruck clean-out. O'Driscoll required surgery on a dislocated shoulder and missed the rest of the tour.[28] The British and Irish media accused Umaga of foul play.

International Rugby Board (IRB), described the incident as "unacceptably dangerous" and stated that IRB was instructing referees to suspend players for three to six months for such offences.[33] Daily Telegraph London journalist Brendan Gallagher labelled it as one of the fifty 'ugliest moments' in sports.[34]
In August 2014 Brian O'Driscoll renewed his rivalry with Tana Umaga when he completed the ALS ice bucket challenge and immediately nominated the Umaga.[35] New Zealand was undefeated during the Lions tour and won the Tri-Nations, which included the retention of the Bledisloe Cup. The IRB shortlisted Umaga for their 2005 International Player of the Year award (an honour eventually won by fellow All Black Dan Carter). Umaga also led the All Blacks to their second Northern Hemisphere Grand Slam. After playing 74 test matches for his country, Umaga confirmed his retirement from international rugby at a press conference on 10 January 2006. His main reason for retiring was to spend more time with his family as he had just had another child with his wife Rochelle. Umaga's announcement led to Richie McCaw succeeding him as captain.[36] Umaga gave the All Blacks shirt he wore in his final game to Sonny Bill Williams, who stated afterwards: "Just getting that jersey gave me butterflies. Hopefully one day I can put on the real thing."[37]

2006 and 2007

A Polynesian man wearing a yellow rugby jersey and a black jacket with his arm raised
Tana Umaga waving goodbye to fans during his last match

For the

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby.[40]

In the months to come he was reported to be on the wish lists of many top European clubs; his former All Black's teammate

Lyon. He was surprised to see how close to the players the fans were and how noisy the atmosphere was.[43]

Umaga returned to New Zealand at the end of his contract with Toulon following their 7 January 2007 win over

Grenoble. When Umaga arrived in Toulon they were ninth in the Pro D2 table; when he left they had risen to third. Toulon won eight of nine matches with Umaga on the roster – the only loss coming when he was out injured.[44]
Umaga played his last season for the Hurricanes in 2007. His last match for them was on 5 May 2007 at Wellington's Westpac Stadium. On 25 September 2007, Umaga released a book detailing his career.

2011 return

Umaga was named in the Chiefs' starting line-up for their opening Super Rugby fixture of the 2011 season to face the ACT Brumbies. This signalled his first Super rugby game since he was a Wellington Hurricanes regular in 2007. After playing 7 games he officially retired as a player at the end of 2011 ITM cup season.

Leading of the haka

Umaga led the team before many test matches the

Kapa o pango version in 2005 against South Africa. In total he was leader for Kapa o Pango two times.[45]

Coaching

During the

Air New Zealand Cup. Counties competed well, with two hard-fought Ranfurly Shield
challenges and a peak of second on the points table. Counties ended the season in ninth.

Umaga was widely tipped to sign on as head of the Blues franchise for the 2016 Super Rugby competition, following the resignation of Sir John Kirwan from this role in June 2015.[47]

It was confirmed on 23 June 2015 that Umaga would take over as head coach of The Blues at the end of the 2015 ITM Cup Season. Umaga held the position of Head Coach between 2016 and 2018, when he was replaced by Leon MacDonald, but would remain as part of a stable coaching set up as Defence coach.[48]

It was announced on 9 June 2023, that Umaga would take over as the head coach of the Moana Pasifika rugby team for the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season after the departure of previous head coach Aaron Mauger.

Family

Umaga's brother Mike has represented Samoa at both rugby union and rugby league. Their cousin Jerry Collins was also an All Black. Nephews Peter and Thomas Umaga-Jensen have also represented Wellington at rugby at senior level. Romanian international Jack Umaga and Samoan international Sinoti Sinoti are also close relatives of Umaga.

Umaga is married to Rochelle; the couple have four children together.[49]

Personal life

After retiring from professional rugby, Umaga began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In 2022 he earned a silver medal as a brown belt at the IBJJF Masters Worlds competition.[50] Shortly after this achievement, Umaga was promoted to black belt in the sport by his coaches at Alliance Jiu-Jitsu in Auckland, New Zealand.[51]

Umaga has an aviation waypoint named in his honor. UMAGA is a waypoint located south 10 nautical miles south of Wellington Airport's Runway 34. It is the Initial Approach Fix for most approaches into Runway 34.[52][53] The exact coordinates are 174° 47' 43.12" E 41° 29' 54.63" S.[54][55]

References

  1. ^ a b Tana Umaga at AllBlacks.com
  2. ^ "Umaga to Go Out on High". Sportinglife. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
  3. ^ "Toulon hold firm to deny Bourgoin". Scrum.com. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  4. New Zealand Rugby Union
    . Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  5. ^ Ferguson, David (11 January 2006). "Umaga goes out on a high". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  6. ^ a b Matheson (2006), pg 14.
  7. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 13.
  8. ^ Jancetic, Steve (7 August 2008). "Umaga the reason for Sonny's move". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  9. ^ "NZ-born former Italian rugby player Kaine Robertson says more Kiwis should head overseas". Stuff. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  10. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 17.
  11. ^ Weale, Hilary (5 November 2005). "One to Watch: Rico Gear". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
  12. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 27.
  13. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 28.
  14. ^ a b Matheson (2006), pg 41.
  15. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 45.
  16. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 56.
  17. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 65.
  18. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 66.
  19. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 71.
  20. ^ Tana Umaga at AllBlacks.com
  21. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 74.
  22. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 78.
  23. ^ "Hurricanes ride high in rankings". thefanatics.com. Retrieved 21 December 2006.
  24. ^ UNESCO Press (8 December 2004). "Sport prizes awarded by UNESCO" (Press release). UNESCO. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  25. ^ "Umaga out to tame Lions". British & Irish Lions. Lions Rugby. 7 April 2005. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  26. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 82.
  27. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 88.
  28. ^ "Hopefully this really seals it, that we have put this behind us and it is settled". The 42. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  29. ^ "Grewcock banned for biting". The Daily Telegraph. London. 26 June 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  30. ^ "Umaga makes peace with O'Driscoll". Rugby Heaven. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  31. ^ "Henry defends duo over O'Driscoll". BBC Sport. 28 June 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  32. ^ Orlovac, Mark and Jim Stokes (25 October 2005). "No action on new O'Driscoll video". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  33. ^ "NZ want O'Driscoll injury laid to rest". Independent Online. 26 October 2005. Retrieved 1 April 2006.
  34. ^ "Sports Ugliest moments". Fairfax Digital, Sydney Morning Herald. 8 July 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  35. ^ O'Driscoll nominates Umage Irish Independent article.
  36. ^ Matheson (2006), pg 104.
  37. ^ The Sonny Bill files: All you need to know and more, nz.lifestyle.yahoo.com, dated 30 September 2011.
  38. ^ "New Hurricanes Captain". hurricanes.co.nz. 11 January 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  39. ^ "Hurricanes Handbag & Cellphone". Trade Me.
  40. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2006". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 June 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  41. The Sunday Star-Times. 8 January 2006. Archived from the original
    on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2006.
  42. ^ "Umaga signs with lowly Toulon". Planet-Rugby.com. 29 June 2006. Archived from the original on 9 July 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  43. ^ "Umaga déjà en vedette (Umaga stars immediately)" (in French). Eurosport.fr. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
  44. ^ "Umaga heads for home". Planet-Rugby.com. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2007. [dead link]
  45. ^ "The All Blacks have released footage of their first ever Kapa O Pango haka which terrified the Springboks". Rugby Onslaught. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  46. Television New Zealand. Reuters. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original
    on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  47. ^ "'I think Tana would be fantastic' – Kirwan quits Blues". TVNZ.
  48. ^ theblues.co.nz. "Umaga named as Head of Coach for the Blues". Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  49. ^ Harris, Sarah (5 February 2018). "Filmmaker of Sharing the Love Rochelle Umaga shares whangai experience". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  50. ^ BjjTribes (14 September 2022). "New Zealand Ex-Rugby Captain Tana Umaga trains BJJ & earns silver at Masters Worlds". BjjTribes. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  51. ^ "New Zealand Rugby Legend Tana Umaga Promoted to BJJ Black Belt". 7 December 2022.
  52. ^ "Welcome to AIP New Zealand | AIP New Zealand" (PDF). www.aip.net.nz. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  53. ^ "Welcome to AIP New Zealand | AIP New Zealand" (PDF). www.aip.net.nz. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  54. ^ "UMAGA waypoint | OpenNav". opennav.com. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  55. ^ "NZFF • Waypoint names". nzff.org. Retrieved 22 January 2023.

Bibliography

  • Matheson, John (2006). Tana Umaga – A Tribute to a Rugby Legend. Celebrity Books.
    ISBN 1-877252-29-8
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tana Umaga.
Sporting positions
Preceded by All Blacks Captain
2004–2005 		Succeeded by
Awards
Preceded by Leadership Award
2006 		Succeeded by
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