Blues head coach Tana Umaga. Photosport
The ball is in Tana Umaga's court as to whether he will remain Blues head coach past the 2019 Super Rugby season.
Umaga's reign has been extended until the end next season, with the likes of Wales coach Warren Gatland and Ireland mentor Joe Schmidt looming as possible options beyond
that.
Blues CEO Michael Redman told the Radio Sport Breakfast that Umaga had put a lot of good things in place at the Blues.
"Tana is just finishing his first three-year term and everyone is aware, and he acknowledges that the outcomes at this point are not where he or we would want them to be. But at the same time we think that experience has been valuable and hard-earned and there's still more contribution he can make – and for him and initial one-year extension," Redman said.
"In that time a lot of good things have been put in place both by Tana and the club. We're certainly very happy with the squad of players, so in a perfect world we would have had those outcomes by now but there have been a number of extenuating circumstances, and in this year in particular if you think about some of the injury tolls we've had, which we haven't been able to cope with, we think four years is long enough to be able to understand whether Tana is the man to lead us further. And hope he does."
