they could not reclaim the Tri Nations or Bledisloe Cup in 2000 or 2001. This led to his sacking and the hiring of former All Black mid-week player and successful Chiefs coach John Mitchell. 2002 and 2003 Moving Umaga to the centres wasn't to everyone's liking claim this as a reason for his loss of pace. Despite this Umaga was named as captain of the Wellington Lions and vice captain of the All Blacks under Anton Oliver in John Mitchell's first squad. Early on, John Mitchell and assistant coach Robbie Deans favoured Crusader Mark Robinson in the midfield. The squad to play against Italy and Ireland as well as compete in the Tri Nations did not feature Umaga. Despite news reports about him carrying a knee injury, on the day when the All Blacks were to take on Italy, Umaga played for his club Petone. Umaga, along with Taine Randell the All Blacks 1999 world cup captain, were asked to play for the New Zealand Barbarians against the New Zealand Māori. Randell himself was Māori and did not wish to play against them, and Umaga was placed on the wing a position stated he didn't want to play. After the game Umaga received a call-up to the national team to play Fiji, but injured his knee mid game. Umaga told the coaches he was fit for selection for the Bledisloe match tie against Australia but was again no selected, Daryl Gibson taking the spot on the bench. Umaga again turned out for Petone. Umaga came off the bench against South Africa at his home ground Westpac Stadium. Umaga would go on to make the Tri-Nations XV; a team based on Zurich world player rankings. Many considered him a good chance to take over the captaincy on the end of year tour from injured regular captain Reuben Thorne, but that role was instead handed to Taine Randell. Umaga was to lead the Hurricanes in 2003, taking over from Gordon Slater, under coach Colin Cooper. The Hurricanes made the semi-finals for just the second time in their history after winning a team record seven times in a row, shedding the inconsistent tag that had plagued them since the competition's inception. His form was recognised and he was rewarded with a spot in the All Blacks, named as vice-captain under Reuben Thorne who would lead the team to the World Cup. In a