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Tana Umaga recruiting Manu Samoa stars for Moana Pasifika
Tana Umaga is wasting no time in trying to bolster his Moana Pasifika squad after the former All Black captain was revealed as the club’s new head coach last week.
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Umaga, who has spent the past nine Super Rugby seasons with the Blues, joins the new club in 2024, becoming just their second ever head coach and taking over from Aaron Mauger who stepped down from the role after a trying two seasons at the helm.
Currently in camp with Manu Samoa as defence coach, Umaga is spending his days with some of the Pacific’s finest talent, including former All Blacks Steven Luatua and Lima Sopoaga. The coach says there has been some chat with the players about the Moana side, but he’s unsure how seriously he should take it.
“It’s funny, I don’t know if these guys are kidding or not but I’ve had a lot of guys saying ‘give me this and I’ll…’ or ‘a couple of years and I’ll…’ and I don’t know whether they’re joking with me or whether I should take that conversation a bit further,” Umaga told The Breakdown.
“Obviously, being here with the Manu (Samoa), (I’m) making sure that we’re keeping focussed but don’t worry, I’m keeping tabs on everyone that’s been coming to me and I’ll be chasing it up.”
The club is based in Auckland and plays home games at Mt Smart stadium but represents Pasifika people worldwide. The support and beauty of the region were heavily felt in the team’s lone game in Apia, a tight encounter with the Reds which left fans wanting more fixtures in the Islands.
“I think that’s obviously the goal,” Umaga said of the potential for more home games across the Pacific.
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“We’ve got to make sure we’re representing the people that we represent and they see us, and not just on TV but out on the streets and in their communities.
“I think that’s a big thing because we need people behind us and when we feel that, the players will lift, as I’ve seen here in Samoa. We’ve just come back from Savai’i and the communities, they love their rugby, they love their people and they really want to see people do well, they’re such a giving community and it’s just great to see.
“It makes your heart well deeply for them and just makes you want to make sure that we don’t do anything wrong for them, if that makes sense. It hits different over here when you’re amongst it.
“So I think every player that’s within Moana has to feel that, whether it’s in Samoa or whether it’s in Tonga or wherever else we may go in the Pacific, even in Auckland.”
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The Fijian Drua have been a force to be reckoned with in their home matches since joining Super Rugby two seasons ago, losing just one match at home in the 2023 season. Every game featured a packed crowd and captivated the local fans.
Apia provided a similar level of engagement in its one match and the Moana side certainly looked inspired by the support.
Fans will have to wait and see what the schedule provides in 2024.
Comments on RugbyPass
ABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
225 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
225 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to comments