Tana Umaga breaks silence on All Blacks ‘speculation’ and issues ‘stand out’ verdict on Dave Rennie
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie (inset) and Moana Pasifika boss Tana Umaga.
Tana Umaga has revealed that he is “honoured and privileged” that his name has been mentioned as a possible appointment as an All Blacks assistant coach.
After the appointment of Dave Rennie as New Zealand’s new head coach last week, Umaga’s name emerged as a possible addition to the All Blacks’ coaching staff as an assistant.
As a former All Blacks captain, Umaga is a respected figure in New Zealand rugby who currently serves as Moana Pasifika’s head coach.
However, his contract with Moana expires at the end of the current Super Rugby Pacific campaign and he said although it’s flattering to be in the conversation to join the All Blacks’ backroom staff, he is not getting carried away.
‘Honoured and privileged’
“I don’t really deal in speculation. I’m really honoured and privileged to be involved in the conversation. But it’s just that,” he said.
“I suppose it was my turn this week. I saw there’s a lot of names involved in who Rens is looking for.
“My family are the ones that are letting me know what’s happening and I’m getting a lot of these texts, so I had to turn my phone off.”
Umaga remained modest about the speculation but hinted that he is interested in being part of Rennie‘s coaching group.
“There was a bit of interest in terms of having a chat with him [Rennie] from my agent to see if anything comes up, and said ‘you wouldn’t turn that down, would you?’ So we’re just waiting for those things to happen, if it happens, it happens,” explained the 52-year-old.
“You always want to set goals for yourself, you want to be part of the best and involved with the best. In my mind, the All Blacks have always been the best.
“Until it’s a done deal and everything’s down on paper. It’s speculation. It’s great to be in that conversation, but it is a bit of a nuisance right now at this stage.”
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Rennie made a name for himself by winning two Super Rugby titles as the Chiefs’ head coach in 2012 and 2013, but Umaga knows him well from playing under him at the Wellington Lions when they won their first NPC title in 14 years in 2000.
He believes the decision to hand the All Blacks’ coaching reins to Rennie was a smart one from New Zealand Rugby.
‘He’s added value everywhere he’s been’
“He doesn’t let much fluster him; he is very precise about what he wants and what he believes in, that looks like a calmness and a steadiness to anything that he becomes a part of. He’s added value everywhere he’s been,” said Umaga.
“I think he’s very particular around the way he wants to play and the way he sees the game. I’m a big believer in that myself.
“I think the game’s awesome – it’s just making sure that the way we deliver it is simple for our players to understand. Nowadays, the players can get overwhelmed.
“So trying to simplify as much, and I think that’s one of his strengths is that.
“And obviously culturally, he’s very big on connection. And again, that’s what I enjoy too. So those are probably the key things that stand out for me.”
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Although New Zealand have been playing second fiddle to their arch-rivals South Africa in recent years, Umaga is confident Rennie can take the All Blacks to the top of World Rugby’s rankings list again.
“That’s an exciting challenge for Dave and his group that’s coming in,” he added. “We’re saying that we’re feeling it here because we’ve been knocked off our perch as number one, but we’re not far away.
“The previous group weren’t far away and now it’s been given to someone else and so they’ve got to try and get us back up to the top.”