Tana Umaga, head coach of the Blues. Photo / Getty Images.
Tana Umaga, head coach of the Blues. Photo / Getty Images.
No one at the Blues will be underestimating the importance of their next match, against the Sunwolves in Tokyo, because a loss to Super Rugby's worst team will make it difficult for the franchise's board to justify the retention of Tana Umaga as head coach.
Which is not to saythat Umaga will or should lose his job were the Blues to repeat their worst performance of 2017 with another defeat at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium on Saturday – just that a renewal of Umaga's contract will be a difficult sell.
The preference of the Blues' hierarchy before the season kicked off was obviously to add another couple of years to Umaga's contract. The former All Blacks captain had made progress in his first two years at the under-performing franchise – taking it to 11th of 18 teams in his first season and 9th in his second.
Umaga will have made plans for himself and the Blues beyond this year, the third and final of his current deal, and players are likely to have been told unofficially that the 44-year-old will be staying.
To that end, the wisest course of action as I have already argued might have been to announce his contract renewal before a ball had been kicked, or even after the Blues' extraordinary fightback against the Lions in Johannesburg four weeks ago, a 38-35 win sealed in the final seconds when the visitors took the lead for the first time.
Because with only one victory from six matches, and a current table position of 14th out of 15 teams, the Blues' season appears to be in tatters, their playoff hopes gone before the competition's halfway mark.
Auckland Blues Rugby coach Tana Umaga. Photo Doug Sherring
Umaga's defenders will say that he hasn't become a bad coach over the past three months, and, for what it's worth, I agree. It's the inconsistency which hurts the team on the field and their supporters off it, and it's difficult to see how a new coach next year will help with that, even should the Blues find someone suitably qualified at this stage.
They showed admirable grit and determination to fight back from a poor start against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday to lead from the 36th minute to the 74th, but their inability to launch a single attacking foray into enemy territory in the second half cost them dearly.
There was a sense of inevitability that the Chiefs would eventually score to take the match and they did with their penalty try from a collapsed scrum while Blues lock Josh Goodhue was in the sinbin.
That defeat was probably acceptable in terms of performance, but three of the five others weren't. Leaking 63 points at home to the Sharks isn't okay, and nor was their effort in losing 37-20 to the Stormers in Cape Town a week after their triumph over the Lions.
Losing to a re-arranged Chiefs team who lost lock Brodie Retallick and fullback Shaun Stevenson before kick-off at Eden Park in round two was also negligent to say the least.
The likelihood is that Umaga will stay, and that wouldn't be a bad thing in my view. There may be changes in terms of structure or even support personnel next season, but the knowledge that Umaga has gained while with the franchise shouldn't be thrown out.
His treatment of Rieko Ioane – moving him from wing to centre to second-five and back to centre – is slightly worrying, but Umaga's other selections can't be faulted.
He has the ear of his players, and they are mostly letting him down; do so again in Tokyo on Saturday and the situation will be difficult for everyone connected to the franchise.
Record: v Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium (34-41 loss), v Chiefs at Eden Park (21-27 loss), v Lions at Ellis Park (38-35 win), v Stormers at Newlands (20-37 loss), v Sharks at Eden Park (40-63 loss), v Chiefs at Waikato Stadium (19-21 loss).
