Tana shakes up Blues
DON’T look now, but Tana Umaga is shaking things up at the Blues as New Zealand’s problem Super Rugby franchise seeks to finally break out of the cycle of mediocrity that has gripped it over the last half-dozen years, or more.
Umaga is starting year three at the once mighty Auckland-based outfit, and it is fair to say the first two have not produced the desired results. The former All Blacks captain was brought in to turn things round, but so far has managed just more of the same, albeit with a win column nudging in the right direction.
Clearly, Umaga has decided enough is enough and is ready to introduce some fundamental change at the under-achieving franchise, which always has a fair smattering of talent, but seldom the collective nous, team culture, discipline and game smarts to turn it into tangible results.
Umaga has already made two bold pre-season calls in reshaping his setup for 2018. Fiery halfback Augustine Pulu has been unveiled as a surprise captain and the unproven Ben Afeaki installed as new scrum coach.
Both appointments have an element of risk, but also considerable potential upside. They indicate that Umaga is finally ready to shake things up at an organisation that has been treading water for too long now.
Pulu is not exactly your prototype captain. He plays with a fire and a passion and Umaga admits he is looking for those attributes to rub off on his team-mates, and for the responsibility to also rein in some of the looser elements of his halfback’s game.
Any one of Jerome Kaino, James Parsons, Patty Tuipulotu or even Sonny Bill Williams might have been safer options, but Umaga has made the appointment he believes he needed to make. In announcing Pulu’s appointment, he said the decision had been unanimous out of a thorough review process.
He also made this telling comment: ‘‘We want to get better, there is no doubt about it, and if we keep thinking about doing the same thing over and over, and thinking we’re going to get a different result . . . it doesn’t happen that way.’’
The Blues coach had, of course, just described the definition of madness: repeating the same mistake over and over, and expecting a different outcome.
Blues’ critics would suggest the franchise has been guilty of that for a long time now. Where has the world-class No 10 been that everyone acknowledges is the key for any championship contender? Where is the tight, teamfirst culture that now pervades at the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Chiefs, and always has at the Crusaders?
‘‘We’re not far off,’’ declares Umaga. ‘‘A real focus is winning those critical moments, and to understand what those look like, and where they are. We’re push- ing all our resource to make sure we understand those.
‘‘I think physically we compare with every other team. Just in those moments when the game is in the balance it’s our decisionmaking process we’ve got to be working on.’’
Afeaki is a bold call as scrum coach. He’s young (just 29) and is light on top-level experience, with just a couple of years with North Harbour under his belt.
But he’s a recent player (his career was ended prematurely by GETTY IMAGES concussion), is motivated, has a strong connection to the players and he has been part of a successful culture at the Chiefs.
The shake-up doesn’t stop there either. Dave Ellis is taking over the back attack, alongside Steve Jackson (forwards) and Alistair Rogers (defence), leaving Umaga to assume the bigger picture responsibilities.
Look for him to drive key improvements in culture, leadership, decision-making and accountability.