Tana Umaga has remained remarkably upbeat despite the Blues' horror season. Photo / Photosport
Tana Umaga has remained remarkably upbeat despite the Blues' horror season. Photo / Photosport
Tana Umaga has never been one to sleep overly much. He gets a maximum of about six hours a night and usually survives on far less, but it's unlikely the run his team are on – and their next challenge against the Waratahs in Sydney – are keeping him up at night.
The former All Blacks captain, a head coach in the last season of his three-year deal with the Blues, but a man likely to be retained for a couple of years at least, believes the power of positive thinking is the key.
His demeanour after the Blues' latest losses to the Highlanders and Jaguares has been remarkably upbeat – he doesn't look like a man in fear of losing his job – and it was no different on Thursday as he talked about the pressure on him and his team before the match at Brookvale Oval on Saturday.
A defeat to the Waratahs would likely snap a remarkable losing streak by Australian teams against their New Zealand counterparts, another factor to increase the scrutiny on him and the franchise even further.
"You just can't get away from it," Umaga said today. "It's a great learning in terms of a pressure situation because it's every day. This [Australian teams' losing streak] is national … [because] of our relationship with Australia… we're under no illusions about what it means for the country.
"I think I've been in situations like this in previous roles I've had not just as a coach but as a player. My support network is the same now as then – it's about understanding what you can control and making sure you focus everything on that.
"Yes, frustration does come about and we all wish things would be different. It's understanding and keeping faith in your processes and what you believe in. It's about staying strong because there are others in your group who are thinking the same thing."
Umaga's support network is his wife Rochelle and four children, as he explained in an interview with the Herald in August last year (when he told of his habit of regularly getting up at 4.30am).
Asked if it was more difficult receiving criticism as a coach than as a player, he said: "I don't know if there's any difference. If you're getting criticised it's not nice either way. I don't differentiate, to be honest."
Umaga said his contract negotiations were ongoing – he wants to stay at the Blues for as long as it takes to bring success to the under-performing franchise and added: "We've been in talks and those are all ongoing. Nothing is confirmed as you know and until it is I'm just focusing on week to week because that's all I can control.
"I love what we do here – I love the challenge, I love the players, I love what the club's about. There's just probably one part we're not getting right and that's on the field… and I'm in the best place to try to have an influence on that."
Israel Folau is back for the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport
It is a quirk of the Super Rugby draw that the Blues are playing a Waratahs team under the gun themselves after their recent 29-0 whitewash at the hands of the Lions at Allianz Stadium. This match will be held at league ground Brookvale Oval and Umaga said he had been assured by Sanzaar that the pitch, which has been criticised, is safe.
Fullback Israel Folau returns to the Waratahs' starting line-up following his social media bombshells about his beliefs that gays are going to hell and fellow Kiwi coach Daryl Gibson has his own challenges which were increased recently by the Nick Phipps-urinating-in-a-bar-on-his-stag-do story.
Of Folau's involvement, Umaga said: "Everyone's entitled to their opinions. That's part of that diversity everyone's talking about – that ability to have your own say. If they're out there, they've been allowed to play, so it's just who we're up against."
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