KEY POINTS:
Loyalty being what it is - a vanishing commodity these days - it has been heartening, if a little worrying, to see Tana Umaga deciding to play again.
There has been an edge in the coverage of Umaga's demise as coach of Toulon suggesting he might have been
forced to strap on the boots again as a result of being sacked as coach by Toulon's eccentric billionaire owner, Mourad Boudjellal.
Umaga himself said it was his choice and that he did so to keep helping Toulon.
I do not pretend to know Tana Umaga well. But I think I know what kind of man he is. He is not the kind to turn his back on a challenge because it hasn't quite worked out.
He is not the kind who goes to an assignment like coaching Toulon in the hurly-burly of French rugby - with the unsettling presence of Boudjellal, a comic book magnate of sometimes comical pronouncements and actions - secure in the knowledge that, if it all turns to merde, he has a whopping great contract with gazillions of goo-goos with which to comfort himself.
Umaga seems to have a sense of pride, achievement and loyalty regrettably rare in sport these days.
This column last week carried a bit of a rant at the money-hungry doings in cricket that saw Brendon McCullum heading off for one game for New South Wales instead of turning out for Otago - a move which was couched in "it's good for cricket" language when in reality it was good for money making.
Umaga could have walked away from Toulon, carrying his money in a shopping cart once he was removed as coach. Cynics will say he and the family are enjoying themselves in France; that the euros were too big to turn one's back on; that there must have been some sort of contractual obligation he had to fulfil.
There are two memories I have of Umaga that persuades me that this was, indeed, his idea and that he is sticking things out deliberately.
One was when, as All Black captain, he was asked whether the burden of expectations was too great. "No," he snapped. "It helps us win."
I remember that clearly because it is, to me, the essence of All Black rugby in these often jersey-devalued days. Since then, I have since heard countless All Blacks and New Zealand rugby players whining about the 'goldfish bowl' they are forced(?)
to live in, along with the unreal expectations of the rugby public.
The second came when he was outside a dressing room being interviewed about his last training session as a New Zealand rugby player - at the grounds of his old school in Wainuiomata. As the conversation roamed, we were interrupted by a woman who passed by and said hello.
Umaga knew Mrs, let's call her Mrs Jones. She was either a parent or attached to the school and Umaga addressed her with great respect.
He interrupted the interview - journalists are work; Mrs Jones was family of a sort - and spoke to her at length. They spoke of things and people of common acquaintance.
She moved on and he moved back to the interview.
For most players - let alone the captain of the All Blacks - a smile and nod would have been enough. Umaga wanted to pay his respects;
to engage her; to have a dialogue of some meaning; a small crumb from the table of his life but a big slab of cake with chocolate icing to her.
He has, what's it called, oh yes - integrity and a fair dollop of humility.
That's why I believe Umaga when he says it was his decision. It is not easy to move backwards in life. Many people view it as a failure of some sort and Umaga is copping a bit of that now. It takes guts to do what he is doing.
It is also a risk. He has been out of top rugby for some time now and he seemed to be held together with bits of string and chewing gum when he left here for Toulon in 2007; before he went coaching.
But he is a clever, strong and vastly experienced rugby player and that counts for a lot - even if the bump and jolts of the modern game are far greater than they used to be.
No-one really expects a triumphant, blazing return on the field. Competence will be enough. But he is playing for quite a stake - his reputation. If he fails at this, too, the naysayers will cluck their tongues and write obituaries about players who shouldn't make comebacks - and some already have.
I like the courage it takes to do something like this; to face people down and make the best of things.
He is doing it in a typically understated Umaga way that suggests he sleeps very well at night, thanks very much, because he has all the important things in life - family, the love of a good woman, respect, a successful career and the joy of doing something different.
I hope, too, that once Toulon is over he looks at taking the coaching certificates and climbing the coaching ladder rung by rung - instead of being plonked as a coaching virgin on the sacrificial altar built by an interfering master like Boudjellal.
There have been a lot of mistakes made in Toulon - too much money, dubious recruitments, maybe too many old hands not hungry enough and maybe not enough top-line tight five forwards to succeed.
But if he takes up the challenge once more, I suspect the gates of the coaching world will swing open again for Tana Umaga. He simply has too much to offer.
