‘Sticks in the guts’: Tana Umaga on defensive response required against Wallabies

All Blacks defence coach and former captain Tana Umaga has urged his side to bounce back against the Wallabies at Eden Park, after slumping to three straight defeats against the Springboks.

Umaga, who was appointed by All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie as the team’s defence coach, admitted in Auckland on Tuesday that he’s not sure an All Blacks side in his lifetime has ever lost three Tests on the trot while conceding an average of 35 points.

The Springboks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series pushed the All Blacks to the limit, forcing them to withstand intense waves of attack where the back-to-back World Champions imposed their physical dominance with ball in hand.

Despite winning the first Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the scorelines of the final three Tests ultimately showed how the All Blacks struggled to contain the Springboks.

That’s the fact ahead of the 2026 Bledisloe Cup series, where the Wallabies travel to Auckland in search of their first triumph at Eden Park against the All Blacks since 1986.

But Umaga is confident his defensive leadership group and the long-standing record at the Auckland stronghold can push this crop of players into a powerful response.

“It’s probably the one stat we look at the most: the three in the red that we lost,” the former Moana Pasifika head coach said in Auckland on Tuesday.

“I couldn’t remember the last time that happened as an All Black. For us, it does stick in the guts a bit. We’ve got to come out with the response after that, look at where we’re playing, who we’re playing, what we’re playing for; if that’s not enough to get us up, then I don’t know what will.

“We’ve had those conversations within our group, so there should be no hesitation around understanding what this weekend means to us.”

The 53-year-old assistant coach said he has reminded the players this week that he was part of the All Blacks side to re-claim the Bledisloe Cup.

“Well, that was my expectation [To have it for this long], I think, and I shared, like I was part of the team that won it back. It took us a couple of goes at it, and some were quite heartbreaking, the ones we lost.

“So I’ve shared that with the group. You know what the cup means to us and the people that have played for it and coached for it. Some of those things that have happened to those people, it means a lot, personally to me.

“I’ve just shared that with the group. It’s up to them now to stake their claim.”