Tana Umaga  #961

By the time he bowed out of New Zealand rugby in 2007 to become director of rugby at French club, Toulon, Tana Umaga had established himself as a true folk hero and widely acclaimed as one of the best All Blacks’ three-quarters, either as a wing or centre, of any age.

He left behind two questions, too, which are likely to intrigue and bother the game’s historians for years to come. These mainly concern the two World Cup tournaments in which he played and whether, in either of them, New Zealand got the best from his exceptional talents.

In 1999 Umaga played in five of the six matches despite having to compete for a place in the back three of the backline with three other great players, Jeff Wilson, Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen. To accommodate all four, coach John Hart switched Wilson to fullback, used Lomu and Umaga on the wings and shifted Cullen to centre.

Hindsight suggests the better option would have been leaving Cullen at fullback, Wilson and Lomu on the wings and placing Umaga at centre, where a few years later Umaga was to prove himself every bit as good as two others who matured late in the midfield role, Joe Stanley and Frank Bunce. That there was a tardiness to move Umaga in a place suggests that, as with Stanley and Bunce, he may have been under-rated for much of his career, that he was seen more as a finisher rather than an attacking creator or a defensive organiser.

At the 2003 World Cup in Australia Umaga damaged knee ligaments in the opening match against Italy and never played again in the tournament. The All Blacks struggled to fill the gap he had left and for some the question has always nagged as to whether in the later rounds a risk might have been taken with him.

It has been assumed that rugby “stole” Umaga from league, in which code he was a Junior Kiwi representative. But though he grew up in the league stronghold of Wainuiomata the background of his family was very much in rugby and his elder brother, Mike Umaga, who later played as an international for Manu Samoa, preceded him in playing for Petone and Wellington. In 1999 the brothers opposed each other in a test at North Harbour Stadium in Albany.

In 1994 Umaga had been persuaded to return to the 15 aside game and play with Mike at Petone. He quickly gained representative honours for both Wellington and New Zealand Colts that season and by 1996 he was in the Hurricanes for the inaugural Super 12, revealing himself as a lethal attacker with power and pace.

His contemporary, Lomu, rather distorted some perspectives on players’ physiques. But Umaga was also a big man, standing 1.87m (6ft 2in) and weighing 100kg (16st) and, with his trademark dreadlocks, loomed as an imposing figure.

An outstanding season in 1997, in which he scored 12 tries for the Hurricanes, saw him promoted to the All Blacks, whose first choice wings of the previous season, Lomu and Glen Osborne, were both missing for the first part of the year with either illness or injury.

When Osborne and then Lomu returned Umaga lost his test place, though he did go on the end of year 1997 tour of Britain and Ireland, playing only the midweek games. He was also overlooked for all of 1998, making only the New Zealand A team. That may have been a blessing in disguise as he was not “tainted” by being part of the five consecutive test losses which marred the 1998 season.

His splendid form in the 1999 Super 12 saw him recalled and from then on he was pretty much an automatic first choice test selection, continuing as a wing but moving into the midfield, where he was mainly a centre but on a number of notable occasions at second five eighths, on the end of year tour in 2000.

When Graham Henry became the new All Blacks’ coach in 2004 Umaga’s career reached a pinnacle. He was immediately made captain, a role in which he thrived. In 2005, despite controversy over the first test tackle in which he was involved with Keven Mealamu and from which Brian O’Driscoll suffered a tour-ending injury, Umaga was an inspiring leader against the Lions.

Playing at centre in the first two tests and at second five in the third, he scored three tries in the 3-0 clean sweep. He then led the All Blacks to a tri-nations victory and on the end of year Grand Slam, making a surprise retirement after playing at second five in the last international against Scotland.

Umaga finished out his career with another two seasons with the Hurricanes (for whom he played well in excess of 100 games) and one full season for Wellington in the Air New Zealand Cup, finishing with just on 100 games for the union before moving to France.

In 74 tests Umaga scored 37 tries for a total of 185 points. He was captain in 21 tests, of which 18 were won, a successful percentage rate placing him ahead of such legendary leaders as Brian Lochore, Wilson Whineray, Graham Mourie and Sean Fitzpatrick.

Umaga epitomised what in his era had been a remarkable Pacific Island influence on the All Blacks. By the time Umaga became an All Black, others of Samoan or Tongan ancestry and birth had been acclaimed as champion players: Bryan Williams, Stanley, Michael Jones, Lomu and Olo Brown. But Umaga topped even these icons ... he was the first New Zealand Pacific Islander to captain the All Blacks in a test and he did so with style and dignity.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

Jonathan Falefasa Umaga

BORN

Sunday, 27 May 1973 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand

AGE

46

PHYSICAL

1.87m, 100kg

POSITION

Centre

LAST SCHOOL

Parkway College

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Petone

PROVINCE

Wellington

SUPER RUGBY TEAM

Hurricanes

NICKNAME

T

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Saturday, 14 June 1997
v Fiji at Albany
aged 24 years, 18 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 14 June 1997
v Fiji at Albany
aged 24 years, 18 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 26 November 2005
v Scotland at Edinburgh
aged 32 years, 183 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

74 (1 as a substitute) 74

ALL BLACK GAMES

5 5

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

79 (1 as a substitute) 79

STARTING POSITIONS

Jersey Number 11 : 12

Jersey Number 12 : 7

Jersey Number 13 : 42

Jersey Number 14 : 12

Jersey Number 21 : 1

ALL BLACK CAPTAINCY

21 as Captain

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

180pts (36t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

5pts (1t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

185pts (37t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

961

ALL BLACK GAMES THAT UMAGA PLAYED

(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced

Click on the date below to view the Match Card
1997

14 Jun vs Fiji at Albany 71-5  

21 Jun vs Argentina at Wellington 93-8  

28 Jun vs Argentina at Hamilton 62-10  

5 Jul vs Australia at Christchurch 30-13 (-) 

19 Jul vs South Africa at Johannesburg 35-32 (-) 

9 Aug vs South Africa at Auckland 55-35  

11 Nov vs Wales 'A' at Pontypridd 51-8  

18 Nov vs Emerging England at Huddersfield 59-22 (-) 

25 Nov vs English Rugby Partnership XV at Bristol 18-11  

2 Dec vs England 'A' at Leicester 30-19  
1999

11 Jun vs New Zealand 'A' at Christchurch 22-11 (-) 

18 Jun vs Samoa at Albany 71-13  

26 Jun vs France at Wellington 54-7  

10 Jul vs South Africa at Dunedin 28-0 (-) 

24 Jul vs Australia at Auckland 34-15 (-) 

7 Aug vs South Africa at Pretoria 34-18 (-) 

28 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 7-28  

3 Oct vs Tonga at Bristol 45-9  

9 Oct vs England at London 30-16  

24 Oct vs Scotland at Edinburgh 30-18 (-) 

31 Oct vs France at London 31-43  

4 Nov vs South Africa at Cardiff 18-22 (-) 
2000

16 Jun vs Tonga at Albany 102-0  

24 Jun vs Scotland at Dunedin 69-20  

1 Jul vs Scotland at Auckland 48-14 (-) 

15 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 39-35  

22 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 25-12  

5 Aug vs Australia at Wellington 23-24  

19 Aug vs South Africa at Johannesburg 40-46  

11 Nov vs France at Paris 39-26  

18 Nov vs France at Marseille 33-42  

25 Nov vs Italy at Genova 56-19  
2001

16 Jun vs Samoa at Albany 50-6  

23 Jun vs Argentina at Christchurch 67-19  

30 Jun vs France at Wellington 37-12  

21 Jul vs South Africa at Cape Town 12-3  

11 Aug vs Australia at Dunedin 15-23  

25 Aug vs South Africa at Auckland 26-15  

1 Sep vs Australia at Sydney 26-29  

17 Nov vs Ireland at Dublin 40-29  

24 Nov vs Scotland at Edinburgh 37-6  

1 Dec vs Argentina at Buenos Aires 24-20  
2002

15 Jun vs Ireland at Dunedin 15-6 (-) 

29 Jun vs Fiji at Wellington 68-18 (-) 

20 Jul vs South Africa at Wellington 41-20 (+) 

3 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 14-16  

10 Aug vs South Africa at Durban 30-23  

9 Nov vs England at London 28-31  

16 Nov vs France at Paris 20-20  

23 Nov vs Wales at Cardiff 43-17  
2003

14 Jun vs England at Wellington 13-15  

21 Jun vs Wales at Hamilton 55-3  

28 Jun vs France at Christchurch 31-23  

19 Jul vs South Africa at Pretoria 52-16  

26 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 50-21  

9 Aug vs South Africa at Dunedin 19-11  

16 Aug vs Australia at Auckland 21-17  

11 Oct vs Italy at Melbourne 70-7 (-) 
2004

12 Jun vs England at Dunedin 36-3  (Captain)

19 Jun vs England at Auckland 36-12  (Captain)

26 Jun vs Argentina at Hamilton 41-7  (Captain)

10 Jul vs Pacific Islanders at Albany 41-26  (Captain)

17 Jul vs Australia at Wellington 16-7  (Captain)

24 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 23-21  (Captain)

7 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 18-23  (Captain)

14 Aug vs South Africa at Johannesburg 26-40  (Captain)

13 Nov vs Italy at Rome 59-10 (-) (Captain)

27 Nov vs France at Paris 45-6  (Captain)
2005

10 Jun vs Fiji at Albany 91-0 (-) (Captain)

25 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Christchurch 21-3 (-) (Captain)

2 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 48-18  (Captain)

9 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Auckland 38-19  (Captain)

6 Aug vs South Africa at Cape Town 16-22 (-) (Captain)

13 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 30-13  (Captain)

27 Aug vs South Africa at Dunedin 31-27  (Captain)

3 Sep vs Australia at Auckland 34-24  (Captain)

5 Nov vs Wales at Cardiff 41-3  (Captain)

19 Nov vs England at London 23-19  (Captain)

26 Nov vs Scotland at Edinburgh 29-10  (Captain)

POINTS SCORED FOR THE ALL BLACKS

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs Fiji, 14 Jun 1997

1

-

-

-

5

vs Argentina, 21 Jun 1997

2

-

-

-

10

vs Argentina, 28 Jun 1997

1

-

-

-

5

vs South Africa, 9 Aug 1997

1

-

-

-

5

vs England 'A', 2 Dec 1997

1

-

-

-

5

vs Samoa, 18 Jun 1999

2

-

-

-

10

vs France, 26 Jun 1999

3

-

-

-

15

vs Scotland, 24 Oct 1999

2

-

-

-

10

vs Tonga, 16 Jun 2000

2

-

-

-

10

vs Scotland, 24 Jun 2000

2

-

-

-

10

vs Scotland, 1 Jul 2000

2

-

-

-

10

vs Australia, 15 Jul 2000

1

-

-

-

5

vs South Africa, 19 Aug 2000

2

-

-

-

10

vs Argentina, 23 Jun 2001

1

-

-

-

5

vs Scotland, 24 Nov 2001

1

-

-

-

5

vs France, 16 Nov 2002

1

-

-

-

5

vs Wales, 21 Jun 2003

1

-

-

-

5

vs Australia, 26 Jul 2003

1

-

-

-

5

vs Argentina, 26 Jun 2004

1

-

-

-

5

vs Pacific Islanders, 10 Jul 2004

1

-

-

-

5

vs Italy, 13 Nov 2004

2

-

-

-

10

vs Fiji, 10 Jun 2005

2

-

-

-

10

vs British & Irish Lions, 2 Jul 2005

1

-

-

-

5

vs British & Irish Lions, 9 Jul 2005

2

-

-

-

10

vs England, 19 Nov 2005

1

-

-

-

5

Totals

37

0

0

0

185

TEST RECORD BY NATION

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Argentina

5

5

-

-

5

-

-

-

25

Australia

14

8

-

6

2

-

-

-

10

British & Irish Lions

3

3

-

-

3

-

-

-

15

England

6

4

-

2

1

-

-

-

5

Fiji

3

3

-

-

3

-

-

-

15

France

8

5

1

2

4

-

-

-

20

Ireland

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Italy

3

3

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

Pacific Islanders

1

1

-

-

1

-

-

-

5

Samoa

2

2

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

Scotland

5

5

-

-

7

-

-

-

35

South Africa

17

13

-

4

3

-

-

-

15

Tonga

2

2

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

Wales

3

3

-

-

1

-

-

-

5

Totals

74

59

1

14

36

0

0

0

180