Tana Umaga pinpoints key reason for All Blacks’ indifferent form in 2024
Current All Blacks captain Scott Barrett and former captain Tana Umaga.
Moana Pasifika head coach Tana Umaga has given his views on the All Blacks’ recent indifferent form and identified a key factor which has led to their struggles at Test level.
Since Scott Robertson took charge of the three-time world champions at the start of the year the All Blacks have battled to maintain their usual high standards.
Although the men in black started their international campaign with a 2-0 series triumph over England in New Zealand, they had to work hard to clinch those results and ground out 16-15 and 24-17 victories in Dunedin and Auckland respectively.
After that, the All Blacks headed to San Diego where they sealed a 47-5 win over Fiji but their Rugby Championship got off to a disastrous start as they suffered a shock defeat against Argentina in their tournament opener in Wellington.
They bounced back with a convincing victory over Los Pumas in the corresponding match in Auckland but then lost back-to-back Tests against their arch-rivals the Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively.
Following those fixtures, they finished their campaign with successive triumphs over the Wallabies in Sydney and Wellington which meant they finished in second position on the final Rugby Championship table.
That was the All Blacks’ worst performance in the tournament in recent years – after they won it for four successive years between 2020 and 2023 – which means the jury is still out on their overall form ahead of their upcoming end-of-year tour to Japan and Europe.
A huge concern during the Rugby Championship was New Zealand’s inability to score points during the final quarter of matches, something which they failed to do in their first five matches of the tournament before they eventually managed to achieve that goal in their last match against the Wallabies on Saturday.
Umaga, who captained the All Blacks in 2004 and 2005, admitted that he is reluctant to discuss the fortunes of his former side and said he knows how difficult it is to experience what the current crop of players are going through.
‘I know what it’s like on the other side’
“I try not to talk about it,” he told New Zealand radio station Life FM. “I know what it’s like on the other side.”
After the 2023 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand lost the services of several senior players like Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith, Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles and Richie Mo’unga. Umaga believes losing that amount of experience at the same time is a big reason for their indifferent form in 2024.
When asked what his go-to leadership technique is to get everyone to be on the same page, Umaga replied: “It’s quite simple. You know, again, it’s the purpose. Why are we here? And as All Blacks, it’s really simple. We’re here to uphold the Black jersey, those that have been before us. They talk about it all the time.
“And it’s just an understanding that’s got to lead everything that we do. And that’s in our behaviours and our actions. So if you’re not upholding that and your leaders are keeping you accountable to it, that’s not the standard that we have here.
“It’s got to be better than that. And again, you know, when we do get into the current All Black group, just understand they’ve lost a lot of leadership in the last 12 months, really. It’s a big gig.”
All Blacks head coach Robertson took over the coaching reins from Ian Foster after guiding the Crusaders to seven successive Super Rugby title wins but has not managed to reach those same standards with the All Blacks.
Umaga emphasised that there is a big difference in standards between rugby at Super Rugby level and in the international arena.
“I’m sure Scott Robertson’s realising that it’s a little bit different from Super Rugby, which it is,” said the 51-year-old.
“And I think that’s just an understanding that people have to have. There’s actually bigger steps between NPC and Super Rugby, Super Rugby and international rugby than people think.
“And it’s not just going to happen just like that. So, there is a bit of bedding in time.”
For several years New Zealand were the trendsetters in the global game but Umaga conceded that that was no longer the case.
“As an All Black and as an All Blacks fan, I’m a fan of the All Blacks. I want them to do well. We expect them to win all the time,” he added.
‘Teams have now caught up’
“And that’s starting to obviously not be the case anymore, which is a worrying fact for us, because teams have now caught up, but not just caught up, they’re starting to move past us.
“Well, that’s professional rugby, you know, it’s only a matter of time. Now everyone, there’s really no secrets to (it), the secret sauce of the All Blacks was just, we lived it, it was, you were born with it.
“You came up playing the game. So we love the game where others probably came to the game a bit later. And now with all our IP being moved on around with coaching and there’s no secrets anymore.
“So again, it’s how do we evolve? How do we not just catch up, but how do we move past? That’s what everyone’s got to be thinking. That’s not just in football and rugby, that’s in everything, that’s in life.”
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