Chris Rattue: All Black legend goes out at the top

We farewelled a dead set All Black legend yesterday.

In an ideal world, Tana Umaga would have been lifted from the field on the shoulders of test team-mates in his farewell moment.

As it turned out though, Umaga has allowed himself the time for any second thoughts to fade away over the summer days.

Umaga knows his mind and body best. In his judgment we must trust, although many of us held hopes that he would hold up for another World Cup and a chance of glory.

It was not to be.

And as we are forever telling sporting heroes to go out on top, we can hardly complain when they follow this advice. But test captain Umaga will be missed, the man and the player.

Umaga has been so vital to the test side, irreplaceable even, that if one event changed the course of recent All Black history, it was the injury which took him out of the 2003 World Cup in Australia.

With Umaga gone, John Mitchell's All Blacks were overly vulnerable. A top-class World Cup centre Leon MacDonald is not.

Apart from an under-performing lineout, it was an out-of-kilter backline missing its leader, which cost the All Blacks most dearly in the semifinal loss to Australia.

The All Blacks were spectacular with Umaga. Without him, Mitchell and co were skating on no ice at all at the three-quarters command post.

Graham Henry and his cohorts are clearly striving to ensure they do not go into the next World Cup with similar weaknesses in any position, and a prime aim now must be to develop the new test centres.

The candidates have many gifts - is there a more elegant back in world rugby than the uniquely stylish and clever Conrad Smith? - yet none has all of the attributes wrapped up in one, a la Umaga.

Where Umaga specifically rates in the ranking of All Black centres is probably a redundant question, given that the nature of the position has changed so much.

But he certainly resides with Bruce Robertson, Joe Stanley and Frank Bunce in the group of our greatest since the early 1970s.

For my money, Umaga's most memorable days have been on the wing, where he could rove as a one-man strike force.

Yet the remarkable aspect to his career was his adaptation to centre - he demanded the shift - at a time when many of the elegant arts had given way to a requirement to perform like a crazed loose forward. Umaga became the ultimate midfield warrior and leader.

The Hurricanes may face a dilemma, with Umaga allowed to continue in the Super 14 despite not being available for the All Blacks.

Professional rugby is set up to feed the All Black machine. Developing players for the World Cup has become paramount.

It is enormously encouraging that, for once, we have not lost a retiring test great overseas.

Yet in this case, the pressure must go on Hurricanes' coach Colin Cooper to give his other midfielders, particularly test candidates Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith, healthy game time.

While Nonu is also a wing, the chunky game-breaker's best prospect at test level is in the midfield, with so many other speed merchants available for the wider position.

And Nonu more than any back needs match condition, and to develop the necessary concentration - especially on defence.

Umaga hasn't really gone, yet the other test claimants can't be forgotten.

* * *

World Cup challenge

Three cheers to whoever it was from the Asian Rugby Union for a brave although doomed bid to shed light on that mysterious mob which runs international rugby.

An attempt by a faction of the ARU to force an IRB re-vote on the hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup caused a serious heart flutter throughout our land. After the Australian Rugby Union nabbed our share of the last World Cup, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union faced the nightmare of another ARU orchestrating the removal of our hosting rights.

For a brief moment we faced the heartbreaking possibility that after five completed tournaments, New Zealand had managed to lose the World Cup six times.

This Asian story ended up in the lap of the English rugby lapdog and Sunday Times journalist Stephen Jones, whose dedication to rubbishing New Zealand rugby knows no bounds. It must have been another marvellous moment in the Jones career.

As it turns out, the Asian union does not appear at one on this discontent, but you can't help but warm to the sentiments of the complaint.

At the heart of the ARU's mysterious allegations, so eagerly reported by Jones, was a claim that the IRB had failed to be "transparent" in the voting procedures late last year when New Zealand scored its most significant World Cup victory since 1987.

Allegations of skulduggery - "horse-trading" no less - were made. A re-vote was called for. Legal action was threatened.

Some in the Asian union are clearly misguided because not only is a lack of transparency a well-accepted IRB trait, but is virtually enshrined in its founding documents.

Had the Asians wanted to join a more transparent organisation, they should have applied to become FBI agents.

Top IRB officials even managed to tunnel their way into Ericsson Stadium not so long ago for a weird and wonderful meeting with dreaded league people without the NZRU having a clue. The silly old NZRU actually thought the IRB bigwigs were here for an IRB conference. Ha.

There was one triumphant note to the Asian claims. The Asian union, or maybe a lone and deranged representative, not only managed to get a fax delivered to an IRB head honcho, but this boss man actually read it.

This extraordinary case of Asian rugby temerity would surely have had little chance of success in the rugby halls of power, a building somewhere in Dublin. No wonder Asian union member Japan, a 2015 World Cup bidder, ran like a scalded cat away from the allegations.

And there were only two possible outcomes had a re-vote been agreed upon anyway:

1) The IRB would have over-whelmingly reaffirmed New Zealand as the host.

2) The IRB would have over-whelmingly reaffirmed New Zealand as the host.

What the Asian rugby rebels needed were a few warm-up matches before taking on a great IRB tradition.

You can't just bowl up to the IRB demanding that they tell the world what they're up to without good lead-up form against rugged opponents.

The Asian rugby rebels should have built up with easier assignments such as:

*Refloating the Titanic and turning it into a seafood restaurant

*Sending a chimpanzee to Pluto

*Getting hold of the phone number for IRB chairman Syd Millar

*Persuading Stephen Jones to join a kapa haka group.

But to have gone in cold like that ... foolhardy to say the least.

* * *

Spin master turns spin doctor ...

The tears flowed around here over the weekend as the full implications of an Australian newspaper headline were taken in.

"Shane Warne: I'll Quit Cricket For My Kids" was as heartwrenching as it was heartwarming.

Warne, in case you missed the story, is prepared to give up the game he loves should his divorce from Simone affect his three children. As if divorce affects children.

And wait. There's more. Warnie revealed he would also spend some time with the kids before Australia's next tour, although he would play another season of cricket for Hampshire. Warnie's family would have preferred different headlines over the years.

How about "Shane Warne: I'll Give Up Sending Suggestive Phone Messages To Women I've Just Met For The Sake Of My Kids" for one.

I'm sure his youngsters - aged 4 to 8 - would be delighted to grow up knowing that their presence necessitated Warnie giving up his career.

* * *

And finally ...

A rumour has reached this desk that West Australia's Super 14 rugby coach, John Mitchell is, or has been, investigating signing Jonah Lomu.

There was even a suggestion that Lomu was keen, although how this would fit in with his plans to regain an All Black jersey is unclear.

Lomu is due to return home only in May, when the Cardiff season ends, to prepare for a season with North Harbour.