Umaga’s willing to play mind games at the Blues
The coaching overhaul will make greater use of a mental skills adviser, reports Liam Napier.
PHOTOSPORT Black coach, Fred Allen, quit in 1968 before he was sacked, won’t drive the thinking of officials about a new All Black coaching team.
New Zealand Rugby management is not infallible. With the benefit of Olympic hindsight the feeling of some in the men’s sevens team that the iron fist of coach Gordon Tietjens badly needed a velvet glove should have been heeded sooner.
But with the All Blacks not only carrying a sensationally good record, but also playing a great style of rugby, it’s impossible to believe the boardroom support for the inclusive systems Hansen has developed will be tossed aside. TANA Umaga has revealed the coaching overhaul at the Blues was in part driven by the desire to have greater access to a mental skills adviser.
One year into his Super Rugby rebuild at the Blues, Umaga made two changes to his coaching staff for next season. Skills coach Paul Feeney is moving on after deciding the reduced role, having come from being Auckland head coach, was not what he had expected.
‘‘Our hand was forced a little bit with Paul deciding he was going to move on. It’s hard going from a head coach to a minimal role as skills/backs coach,’’ Umaga said. ‘‘That was his reasoning behind it and there’s not much we can do about that.’’
Forwards coach Glenn Moore, appointed for two seasons by Umaga’s predecessor Sir John Kirwan, has also been let go. Umaga is keen to combine the two forwards coaching briefs into one next year and with Nick White stepping up to take on Auckland, the timing was right to instigate change.
The idea is essentially to create a title similar to Mike Cron at the All Blacks, with one role focusing on set piece and forward play.
‘‘Glenn had a few things on his plate and with where we wanted to go and with our coaching structure I just wanted one forwards coach rather than two. With Nick becoming a head coach it was hard with him. He was involved with us but always had something on to prepare for his season.’’
The main reason behind the changes was to get more out of mental skills coach Kylie Wilson. This year Wilson worked part time with the Blues, while juggling her High Performance New Zealand commitments to Olympic athletes.
The more time the Blues spent with Wilson, the more success they found later in the season.
Umaga is keen to tap into her knowledge more.
‘‘It was about freeing up some extra funds to pay Kylie Wilson. We believe that’s an integral part of building our players up to handle the expectations and all that comes with being a professional rugby player.
‘‘She will be more active with us. GETTY IMAGES It was the structure we were looking at more than anything and what the team needs.’’
Mental skills is a continuing evolving part of rugby. Once regarded as a weakness, their role in performance is now embraced to the point where Gilbert Enoka is a vital cog in All Blacks management.
The Blues have long struggled with mental barriers such as winning away from home – this year only defeating the lowly Kings and Force outside Auckland.
Umaga believes Wilson can help devise strategies to get the Blues over such hurdles.
‘‘You saw how much it affected us in the past. There’s the expectations of being up in the big city and how we handle that. Like every club our cultural environment is huge to make sure the players feel invested in what we’re doing.
‘‘The other side of that is giving them the tools to deal with expectations and certain things that happen in a game. I think that’s a big part of the game these days. Everyone has a facility that caters for the physical part of the game, but for us at this stage this is what we need.’’
With Umaga and defence coach Alistair Rogers locked in, replacements for Moore and Feeney are now being advertised.
North Harbour coach Steve Jackson is a prime candidate with his contract up at the end of the provincial season.
That’s a big part of the game these days.’ TANA UMAGA