Fa'alogo Tana Umaga excited to get to work as the new head coach of Moana Pasifika
By Thomas Airey
Fa’alogo Tana Umaga has already seen the benefits of Moana Pasifika for rugby players representing their national teams and is excited to continue that work as the new head coach.
The first All Blacks captain of Pacific Island descent was announced as Aaron Mauger’s replacement on Sunday night, having signed a three-year contract.
Fa’alogo, who was born in Lower Hutt, Wellington to Samoan immigrant parents, said his bold but realistic goal for that tenure is improving the bottom-placed side in 2023’s Super Rugby Pacific to a perennial quarterfinalist that can challenge for the top four.
With a coaching background stretching back to 2008, Fa’alogo served as head coach of the Blues from 2016 to 2018 before stepping back into an assistant role in charge of defence for three years, the same role he has filled with Manu Samoa since 2021.
He returned to the Blues this year in a player and coaching development role after a break to set up a natural health supplements business with wife Rochelle.
Fa’alogo said he wasn’t really searching for a head coach job and the headaches that come with it but the purpose of the club made the opportunity impossible to turn down.
“I think Moana Pasifika means a lot to a lot of people and the pathways, as we’ve seen with Miracle Fai’ilagi coming straight from Samoa, we wanna make sure we find more Miracles not just in Samoa but in Tonga and the Pacific Islands in general,” he said.
“I feel like I’m doing the right thing at the right time, not just for myself but for our people.”
That feeling was cemented this past week with Fa’alogo and the Manu Samoa squad beginning their pre-Rugby World Cup campaign on the islands of Savai’i and Upolu.
“There are some things that I’ve learned here that I’ll definitely take with me to Moana Pasifika because it crosses all Pacific nations,” Fa’alogo said.
“When it comes down to culture, getting people involved and creating buy-in, I think it will be paramount for us.”
The 74-test All Black, who has played and coached in New Zealand’s NPC, Super Rugby and the French Top 14 across the entire history of professional rugby union, is excited about drawing on that culture in a continuous high-performance environment for the very first time.
“I’m fortunate to have sisters that are in the education sector and they always talk about how our kids learn differently, yet we put them in mainstream education systems that don’t suit them or where they have to learn to do things differently,” Fa’alogo said
“What is best for us, what is the best form of learning we can have for our players? We want to make sure that what we do is uniquely Pacific, unique for us so it showcases our unique talents.”
When Fa’alogo first joined Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua’s coaching staff for Manu Samoa’s tour of New Zealand in 2021, Covid border controls meant the squad was filled with inexperienced locally based players from the NPC or club rugby.
“Moana Pasifika has really given those guys opportunities to showcase their talents, and along with the Tongan players as well, build their professional habits,” he said.
Moana Pasifika chair La’auli Savae Sir Michael Jones said Fa’alogo is the embodiment of the club and all it stands for.
“His ability to mentor and develop his charges on and off the field is an invaluable asset for our programme, we are extremely excited for what the future holds for Moana Pasifika under Tana’s guidance and influence,” he added.
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