All Blacks: Carter's not the cavalry, says Umaga

Tana Umaga spells out in frank terms the brutal reality confronting the All Blacks in Sydney tonight.

The former All Black captain says Dan Carter's return to the team requires a change of mindset by the other players, not a philosophy that Carter will come over the hill like the cavalry, riding to the rescue of Graham Henry's team.

"It's not about saying to Carter and the other new guys, 'right, now you're here, let's go'. That is one worry because it's not just about these guys coming back. The guys already there have to make sure they make it an easy ride for those returning to the side to get back into the groove. So it puts the onus on the guys that are already there, that is what they should be thinking.

"Seeing these guys coming back, they should be saying 'you ride on the back of us' rather than 14 guys rushing to clamber onto Dan Carter's back. It cannot be like that."

As New Zealand prepared for the critical Tri-Nations test, Umaga was wrapping up a training session in blistering heat at Toulon beside the Mediterranean. As the temperature climbed high into the 30s, the great All Black conceded that, notwithstanding the fact that he loves his life in the south of France, his heart will be in one place - in Sydney with his beloved All Blacks.

Umaga has watched with close interest New Zealand's growing difficulties in test rugby this year. The ex-All Black leader warns: "There are no magic answers because there is not going to be another Jonah Lomu, Jerry Collins or Carl Hayman. There is only one of those: you will never have a clone of them because they were so special.

"Aaron Mauger was also a big loss for his experience, as well. It is only a couple of years since we lost them so it is going to take time to replace them. And I don't think there is a wonder kid coming through at all, so the cupboard starts to look a bit bare. We just need to work on what we have got and hopefully those kids who were there three or four years ago, in the side that won the Under 20 World Cup, will come through. But we have to make sure we don't push them too quickly."

In no sense does Umaga make light of the difficulties confronting the All Blacks, yet an expression that borders between world weariness and long personal experience crosses his face when the conversation turns to the All Blacks' struggles. "When things go badly, the first two names out of the hat for the sack are the coach and captain. As an All Black you expect to do well every week but sometimes you just can't.

"When that happens, you have to accept it but what is hard for people in New Zealand is an acceptance of the All Blacks losing ... It does happen; not often, but when it does - gee, the sky falls in.

"So I think maybe a bit of schooling on the acceptance of a loss when these things happen ... would not go amiss. If you can see why it happened, you can fix those things and hopefully come out better for it the next week. Then you are learning."

But the harsh realities are manifold for All Black followers, he concedes. "I don't think we have as much depth as we once thought we had. Yet with Dan Carter coming back and Richie McCaw there I can't believe we are that far off. Now it's about seeing how we can pull together and what we can do to lift ourselves."

Umaga launched a strong defence of All Blacks coach Graham Henry and his assistants Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith. Put simply, he believes this coaching unit is the one that can fix the problems because they have the experience.