Tana Umaga has quit as assistant coach of the Blues to pursue a business venture. Photo / Photosport
Tana Umaga has quit as assistant coach of the Blues to pursue a business venture. Photo / Photosport
Tana Umaga is all in. Only this time, his career change requires a leap of faith.
On the rugby field, and as a coach, Umaga's commitment was never questioned. Having dedicated much of his life to the game where the revered former All Blacks captain made his name, Umaga hasmade the surprise decision to leave rugby behind, for now.
After re-signing as Blues defence coach last year Umaga reached the end of this season, when the team won the transtasman title, their first in 18 years, and had a change of heart; realising he could no longer juggle two time-consuming lives.
Umaga and documentary-making wife Rochelle launched a supplements range harnessing traditional Māori and Pasifika ingredients such as manuka leaf and horopito, under the brand Viktual+, in late March.
Since then, their budding business has snowballed to the point the Umagas have decided to throw everything, including the family home, into making the venture a success.
"Once the season finished it really dawned on me that, actually, as I've done in my rugby career, I'd rather give it everything and then accept what the outcome is," Umaga told the Herald of his decision to step away from rugby.
"I'm pretty risk-averse. I've got family to look after so when the opportunity came I probably didn't think the whole thing through in terms of the business. I thought I could do both but by the end of the season, I realised I couldn't.
Leon Macdonald and Tana Umaga ahead of the 2019 Super Rugby season. Photo / Photosport
"We're going to have to make sacrifices. I'm going to be out of a job so we've got no wage coming in soon. We've decided to free up some funds - we're going to sell our house and create that way.
"Once I'm in, I'm all in. You also want to show that you have to sacrifice; our kids will have to sacrifice and we want to build that resilience to show them taking a dream is not a bad thing you've just got to make sure you've got a plan around it and do it for the right reasons."
The Blues have left the door ajar for Umaga to return to the coaching team at some stage, and the 48-year-old is thankful head coach Leon MacDonald and chief executive Andrew Hore understood his reasoning for moving on.
"I'm really fortunate that NZ Rugby and the Blues have allowed me to do this. It was a bit of a surprise, but they could see what it meant to me and what I wanted to do. It wasn't as if I was going to another club or team so that sat better with them."
When Umaga sat down to ponder his future he kept coming back to the advice he gives players around having no what-ifs. Ultimately, to be true to his word, Umaga needed to follow his heart and step outside the only comfort zone he's ever known.
"The leap of faith and the risks were something I had to get through in my mind. I talk to our players a lot about how rugby is really your plan B. It sets you up for plan A. You can't play the game all your life, and not everyone can get into another rugby job so for our players to understand that rugby can give you pathways to other things.
"When I looked at it I wasn't out of my comfort zone because I've been in rugby all my life. A bit of that was taking my own advice. I'm very much about walking the talk if I can. Thinking about it I can always go back to rugby. That's the plan, too. I still love the game. Yet right now the timing is best for me to concentrate on this rather than let it go and have regrets."
Umaga, the 74-test veteran, has always been reluctant to leverage his profile and never wanted to be seen as someone whose value is confined to rugby - since retiring he's been regularly active in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But as the face of the new family business – he says his wife is the brains – Umaga is learning his presence is the major initial lure.
Tana Umaga played 74 tests for the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
"That's something I've had to come to grips with too. I've always been mindful of how I use my profile. Being contracted there are guidelines and parameters you have to work within. Now being free of those I can do what I want, and in a way I want it to be done.
"In essence, I get to be my own boss and that's what everyone should be striving for. I've always worked for someone but now I get an opportunity to show players and even my own kids that if you've got an idea; you believe in it and you're passionate about it then chase it.
"All that might happen is it doesn't work out. You need to give it a crack if you want it to be successful and people need to see that.
"I'm not just someone who has played and coached rugby. I'm more than that. Sometimes I've tried to keep that to the side but you learn you've got to use what you've got."
