Tana Umaga quizzed on All Blacks assistant job following report

Tana Umaga says he has not yet spoken with new All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie, and that reports that he is a front-runner for an assistant coach role in the national set-up are a “bit of a nuisance right now.”

The Moana Pasifika head coach was asked about the speculation this week and said the only words he’s been hearing about it are from his family, who are relaying the reports to him.

Umaga’s name came up on Wednesday, as long-time Kiwi commentator and pundit Scotty Stevenson claimed the former All Black captain’s appointment as an assistant coach was set to be announced imminently.

But Umaga himself wasn’t so convinced.

“I don’t really deal in speculation. I’m really honoured and privileged to be involved in the conversation. But it’s just that. I suppose it was my turn this week. I saw there’s a lot of names involved in who Rens is looking for,” Umaga told reporters in Auckland.

“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.”

The 52-year-old expressed a desire to be involved with the team, but wouldn’t get ahead of himself.

“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.

“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.”

Umaga was coached by Rennie in the 2000 Wellington Lions team that ended a 14-year NPC title drought. The pair haven’t coached together since Umaga transitioned from superstar to sideline strategist, but there is familiarity there.

“He doesn’t let much fluster him; he is very precise about what he wants and what he believes in,” Umaga recalled. “That looks like a calmness and a steadiness to anything that he becomes a part of. He’s added value everywhere he’s been.

“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.

“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.”

The All Blacks are safely positioned in second place on the world rankings, with a buffer too great for any result in the final round of the Six Nations to overcome. However, Scott Robertson’s efforts with the team were ultimately deemed unsatisfactory, and Rennie faces significant challenges in his first season at the helm, not least of which being a new-look Test schedule that includes four games against the defending world champion Springboks.

“That’s an exciting challenge for Dave and his group that’s coming in,” Umaga said. “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.”