Tana Umaga Could of been a Newcastle Knight....
June 30th 2006 00:47
Ionatana Falefasa "Tana" Umaga, (born May 27, 1973) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. He was capped 74 times for his country.
Born in Lower Hutt to Samoan immigrant parents, Tana Umaga was originally a rugby league player (and an Under 19's New Zealand representative in that sport for two years). In 1992 aged 18 he had trials with NRL side Newcastle Knights but returned to New Zealand because of homesickness. He switched to union after being persuaded by his elder brother Mike, a Samoan rugby union international. The brothers met in one test match, in 1999the All Blacks won 71-13, with Tana scoring two tries.
He first played for Wellington in the NPC in 1994 (and was captain of the Hurricanes between 2001-2005), has played for the Hurricanes in the Super 12/14 since the tournament's inception in 1996 (captaining them in the 2003-5 seasons), and was first picked for the All Blacks in 1997. Long established as a winger, he moved to playing as an outside centre at the end of 2000 and inside centre in 2002. Critics point to his move closer to the scrum as evidence of his loss of pace whilst others say that he has become more creative over time. He is acknowledged as one of the hardest tacklers in the game.
Umaga is also respected for his sportsmanship. In a test match against Wales on June 21, 2003, Welsh captain Colin Charvis was knocked out by a tackle from All Blacks forward Jerry Collins, and Umaga stopped playing (despite his team being in an attacking position) to check that Charvis had not swallowed his mouthguard, and place him in the recovery position. For this act, the International Committee for Fair Play awarded Umaga the Pierre de Coubertin Trophy, an award for outstanding sportsmanship (named for Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games). The Welsh Rugby Union also presented him with a figurine to honour this display of sportsmanship.
"When I got knocked out Tana was brilliant - I was unconscious but he rolled me over and ensured I didn't swallow my gum-shield," Charvis said.
Umaga missed virtually the entire 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, after being injured in a freak collision with teammate Carlos Spencer in the opening match against Italy. He suffered a damaged posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and was forced to leave the field, not returning for the remainder of the tournament, which saw the All Blacks eliminated in the semi-finals by the Wallabies.
However, his next outing for the All Blacks was as their captain, after he was selected to replace Reuben Thorne, becoming the first New Zealander of Polynesian heritage to captain the All Blacks. Umaga's captaincy began well, with victory in the first six tests, including two against World Cup holders England (a 36-3 win in Dunedin was at that time the heaviest loss ever by a World Cup holding team), and a successful defence of the Bledisloe Cup. Unfortunately, these victories were followed by losses in away games against Australia and South Africa, putting the All Blacks out of contention for the 2004 Tri Nations Series.
Umaga's reputation for sportsmanship was questioned by Lions supporters because of an incident in the first Test of the Lions tour to New Zealand on June 25, 2005. In the first minute of the Test, Umaga, along with hooker Keven Mealamu, combined to upend Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll in a controversial post-ruck clean-out. The clean-out resulted in O'Driscoll dislocating his shoulder, necessitating surgery and causing him to miss the rest of the tour. The British and Irish media accused Umaga of foul play, largely disregarding Mealamu, who had initiated the clean-out. The independent citing commissioner found that neither Umaga nor Mealamu had a case to answer at the time but since then the International Rugby Board's communications manager, Greg Thomas, described the clean-out as "unacceptably dangerous" and has apologised to Brian O'Driscoll.[1]
After the controversy, Umaga's reputation was reinforced by his exceptional play during the remainder of the Lions tour and New Zealand's triumphant 2005 Tri-Nations campaign, which included retention of the Bledisloe Cup. The world governing body of rugby union, the International Rugby Board, was so impressed that they shortlisted him for their 2005 World Player of the Year award. European commentators have often compared Umaga to the captain of England's world cup winning team, Martin Johnson. In a 2006 RUPA survey, Australian Super 14 players named Umaga as their most respected opponent.[2]
Umaga led the All Blacks to only their second ever Northern Hemisphere Grand Slam (victories away against England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales). After playing 79 matches for the All Blacks, including 74 Tests (21 of those as Captain) Tana Umaga confirmed his retirement from international rugby at a press conference on January 10, 2006. His main reason for retiring was to spend more time with his family. Umaga will continue to play rugby for the Hurricanes in the Super 14 and the Lions in the NPC. He has been reported to be on the wish lists of many top European clubs; his former All Blacks teammate Andrew Mehrtens has been forced to publicly deny rumours that Umaga is on the wish list of Mehrtens' current English club, Harlequins.[3] He would eventually sign for a European club, but surprisingly for Toulon, a club newly relegated from France's top level. His contract allows him to play the entire 2006 Air New Zealand Cup season for Wellington before arriving in France, which means he will only play 12 matches in that countrybut nonetheless will make roughly 350,000 (USD 438,000/GBP 250,000). Toulon's co-presidents are reportedly paying for his salary out of their own pockets.[4]
In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours Umaga was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his dedicated service to rugby.
(1)^ "NZ want O'Driscoll injury laid to rest", Independent Online, October 26 2005. Retrieved on 2006-04-01.
(2)^ "Bok Barry is the 'dirtiest player'", RugbyRugby, 2006-02-15. Retrieved on 2006-04-01.
(3)^ "Mehrtens to take on S African citizenship", The Sunday Star-Times, 2006-01-08. Retrieved on 2006-04-06.
(4)^ "Umaga signs with lowly Toulon", Planet-Rugby.com, 2006-06-29. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
(5)^http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tana_Umaga
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on Having a whirl of a time with blueberry swirl cheesecake!