Justin Marshall: Why ‘Predator’ Tana Umaga could be a genius appointment by Dave Rennie
Ex-All Blacks star Justin Marshall believes that Tana Umaga could prove to be the ideal appointment for Dave Rennie as he puts together his backroom team.
While the former New Zealand captain has not necessarily become one of the best in the business since turning his hand to coaching, there is no doubt that he commands enormous respect.
There has been talk of a ‘cultural reset’ under Rennie and Umaga could well be the person to bring about that change.
The 52-year-old is currently the head honcho at Moana Pasifika having previously had stints with Samoa, Blues and the New Zealand U20 side, but his contract expires at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.
Heavily rumoured to be joining
It has been reported that Umaga will take on a role with the All Blacks, although it has not yet been officially confirmed by NZ Rugby.
“Who doesn’t get worried if the Predator’s running the water, regardless of whether he’s the coach or not? As a player you were s******g yourself even though you were retired 10 years ago,” Marshall said on the GBRANZ podcast.
It is that ability to motivate, and thus improve the culture in the All Blacks environment, that could suit both parties according to Marshall, who played alongside the former Test skipper.
The camp did not appear to be a happy one under Scott Robertson and he reckons Umaga has the ability to get the players on the same page.
“He wasn’t a big sit down, nut it out and listen to excuses and all the bull****, he just got straight to the point,” he said.
“He was very particular on discipline areas because that to him showed you actually cared. You cared about training, you cared about fronting up and analysis sessions, and you cared about putting the boots on to play for the All Blacks.
“All of that sort of stuff, he was really on point with. Particularly when there’s going to be a lot of young players potentially going to South Africa with a big squad being chosen, that’s where Tana Umaga could really just blossom. Just with him wandering around the changing room.”
Comparison to another All Blacks legend
Marshall is a fan of that type of management, comparing him to the legendary Colin Meads, who was in the All Blacks set-up when he started out.
“My first All Black manager was Colin Meads; when he wandered around or he actually had some words to say that weren’t managerial – the times we had poor performances – he didn’t say a lot but when he said it, they resonated,” the former scrum-half said.
“When he stalked around the changing room and you had cracked open a beer maybe a little bit too early and he gave you that stare, you were like, ‘oh s***, I don’t know where to hide here’.
“I had Ian Kirkpatrick, who was one of our mentors that came in. People like that are old school but they know the school, they were great around the environment because they just had respect.
“Tana would have that big time.”
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