All Black Umaga, the Mana man, has no rivals as rugby union's greatest-ever

Mana is the Maori terminology for a special or unique power, a quality of spirit – the ability to execute in any given situation, giving the individual great respect, power and the authority to bind others to his will. Umaga had this in droves. Some fantasy-based theorists will also state that Mana is an indication of magical power or ability of spell casting. Whichever definition we choose to wield, the All Black captain was an impressive figure on the rugby field.

Jonathan Falefasa Umaga was born in Lower Hutt, Wellington, on May 27, 1973. His early sporting career was actually in rugby league, rising through the Wellington junior team ranks, before being named in the Junior Kiwi side of 1991 before his 18th birthday. That same year he became a Newcastle Knight, being signed on a multi-year contract. He was homesick, though, and quickly returned home to the land of the long white cloud.

In 1994 Umaga switched to union, first making club appearances for Wellington side Petone, playing alongside his older brother Mike. The same year he was elevated into the Wellington Lions, the capital city’s then premier provincial team. For three consecutive years he was the leading try scorer for the domestic team, playing wing and gaining representative honours with the New Zealand Colts team.

In 1996 the Super 12 was created and Tana was quickly the incumbent winger for the Hurricanes team. He took his game to a higher level, being regarded as a quality finisher and a blinding attacker with a huge step. The following year Umaga scored 12 tries, then a tournament record, and his brilliant form was threatening All Black wingers Jonah Lomu and Jeff Wilson.

Umaga was regarded by some as small, especially when compared with the giant Lomu – but at six foot two and over 100kg, the dreadlocked winger was becoming an imposing man in New Zealand rugby.

In 1997 Umaga was named as an All Black debutant, the 961st man to wear the black jersey. With Lomu ill, he made a quiet Test debut, not remembered, as it was the end of the era for another legendary All Black, the original iceman Michael Jones.

When Lomu returned Umaga lost his Test spot but was selected to tour in the 1997 outfit to the UK, but only played in the midweek games. He was not selected again for the highest honours until two years later – ironically it was in 1998 when the All Blacks had their worst ever Test match year, suffering an unprecedented five straight losses.

In 1999 Umaga was recalled, and despite beginning to play games in the midfield, was victim to John Hart’s controversial selection style which saw him move first choice fullback Christan Cullen to the vexed outside centre position in order to accommodate Lomu, Wilson and Umaga. Many consider this a crucial reason for the All Blacks 1999 World Cup exit.

2000 would be an interesting period for Umaga, where he led the Wellington Lions to a fourth provincial championship, breaking Auckland’s stranglehold on NZ rugby. He also became a permanent fixture in the All Blacks midfield – and was named New Zealand’s player of the year. But the following couple of years would be noted for Wallaby dominance after their 1999 Webb Ellis win.

2002 and 2003 were difficult years for Umaga, with many New Zealand scribes vocal in their disapproval with Tana’s role in the midfield. Coaches John Mitchell and Robbie Deans consistently selected Canterbury players in the national midfield despite Umaga’s domestic form. This snubbing led to Umaga being asked to represent a Barbarians team against the New Zealand Maori, and being ignored as a captaincy candidate when Reuben Thorne was injured, as well as playing club matches for Petone while the All Blacks played Tri-Nations games.

In 2003 Tana was named Wellington’s captain, and led the Hurricanes to their second semi-final appearance. He was named All Black vice-captain in 2003, being instrumental in his side’s posting of 50 points against the Wallabies and Springboks in their own backyards. In the World Cup, he played only in the opening game against Italy, as coach John Mitchell opted to wheel out his strongest XV. A knee injury forced Tana out for the majority of the cup, but he was declared fit to play for the Blacks in the semi-final against Australia. However, he was snubbed in favour of fullback Leon Macdonald, and the New Zealanders suffered another humiliating exit.

In 2004 Tana became the first Pacific Islander to lead the All Blacks – but despite the NZ dominance early in the season, the ill-fated flat back line attack led to back-to-back defeats against their old Tri-Nations foes at the end of the series – although the end of 2004 saw the performance labelled the massacre at Stade de France, crushing Les Bleus 45-6.

2005 saw Umaga lead the All Blacks in arguably their greatest year outside of their 1987 World Cup victory. They whitewashed the British Lions, retained the Bledisloe, won the Tri-Nations, and secured a remarkable Grand Slam victory.

In January 2006 Umaga announced his retirement from international rugby. He continued playing for the Hurricanes, being instrumental in taking Wellington to their third semi-final in four years, and making the Grand Final for the first time – eventually losing to the Canterbury Crusaders. The same year he signed the most lucrative deal ever for a rugby player, being paid quarter of a million pounds to play seven games for Pro D2 French team Toulon, who won every game which he played.

He became director of rugby at the club in 2007. He finished with 74 Tests for the All Blacks, 21 of them as captain. He scored 36 Test tries and is regarded as the greatest All Black captain alongside Sean Fitzpatrick.

He will forever remain one of the most influential men in New Zealand rugby, and will, with some luck, be the All Black coach for the World cup attack in 2011.