Tana Umaga: 'I think he'll go down as one of the best we've had'

Tana Umaga says Jordie Barrett is on pace to become an All Blacks great, with his latest showing in the black jersey among the best of his 86-Test career.

Barrett’s 16-tackle, 13-carry performance against the Wallabies in Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup defence earned plenty of plaudits, the latest in a stellar season for the inside centre, who played a big hand in lifting the Hurricanes to a drought-breaking Super Rugby Pacific title in June.

Former All Blacks captain Umaga played for the ‘Canes 122 times through some iconic eras alongside legendary teammates, but never had the pleasure of lifting the trophy at season’s end. Now defence coach of Barrett and the New Zealand team, Umaga was asked about the advice he’s offered the star midfielder to help him reach new heights in the black jersey.

“No, it’s really the other way around,” Umaga responded at a media session after Tuesday’s team training. “I keep saying ‘jeez, I wish I had the skills you have when I was playing; I wish I was as fit as you.’

“I think he’ll go down as one of the best we’ve had. I think there’s still room for him to grow.

“One of those attributes that all of our good midfielders have is that he’s a competitor; he wants to compete in every moment, every match. His consistency in his performance and his expectation of others, but more so of himself, I think, is right up there with some of the best we’ve ever had.”

The All Blacks extended their run as Bledisloe Cup holders to 24 straight years with the Eden Park win, leaving nothing but pride on the line in this weekend’s Sydney sequel. But even a 50-19 win leaves room for improvement, and Umaga has warned his troops that their opponents will come back a different beast on home soil.

“There’s always things that we can work on from the weekend, and I’m sure the quality of Les Kiss and his staff and players, they’ll be looking for a response, and we know they’ll be up for it this weekend; they’re at home as well.

“We know we’ve got to be better; we can’t just rest on our laurels and be patting ourselves on the back for what we achieved last week. We’ve done that, and now we’ve got to turn around and ask, how can we back that up?”