Umaga stays at Blues, MacDonald goes north

The last time the Blues won Super Rugby, Leon MacDonald was playing fullback – for the opposition.

That was 2003, when the Blues pipped the Crusaders in the decider at Eden Park. Fifteen years on, he has become the latest in a long line of coaches tasked with getting the Auckland-based franchise back to the top.

MacDonald has signed on for three years as an assistant, starting in 2019, the first of which will be under head coach Tana Umaga, who has been given a one-year extension, despite the Blues sitting last in the New Zealand conference with three wins in 11 matches in 2018.

The Blues and Crusaders formed Super Rugby’s first major rivalry, though that has changed in recent years, with the Aucklanders becoming increasingly irrelevant, missing the playoffs in 12 of the 14 completed seasons since their 2003 triumph, including each of the last seven.

That made it a little bit odd to see MacDonald at Blues HQ, wearing their logo on his chest, though that is part and parcel of the modern game.

He said as a Crusader, he could remember the successful Blues teams well, and was looking forward to the challenge of helping make them winners again.

‘‘The Blues teams that we encountered were physical and they were abrasive and they were nearly impossible to beat at home. I’ve seen what the Blues can be like and it’s fresh in my memory, so to be sitting inside this room is a little bit surreal to a degree, but it only takes one day to start rubbing shoulders and you become passionate about your team and I’m looking forward to meeting the players here.

‘‘I can’t wait to be involved in coaching a team at Eden Park as the home ground.’’

An assistant being contracted longer than a head coach is not entirely unheard of, but the implication is clear – MacDonald could very well be in line to take over if the Blues’ run of missing the playoffs continues into 2019, and Umaga doesn’t receive another extension.

‘‘This is a results-driven industry that we’re in,’’ Umaga said yesterday.

‘‘Let’s not get away from that. I understand that totally. At face value, our results haven’t been where we’ve wanted them, and the challenge that’s brought Leon here, that’s the challenge that brought me here, and I want to make sure I can live up to that challenge.

‘‘I’ve got 12 months to show that I have that ability.’’

The Blues have won 18 of their 44 matches since Umaga was installed ahead of the 2016 season, but only one against another New Zealand team, with 15 losses and a draw in their other 16 all-Kiwi matches.