of second on the points table. Counties ended the season in ninth. Umaga was widely tipped to sign on as head of the Blues franchise for the 2016 Super Rugby competition, following the resignation of Sir John Kirwan from this role in June 2015. It was confirmed on 23 June 2015 that Umaga would take over as head coach of The Blues at the end of the 2015 ITM Cup Season. Umaga held the position of Head Coach between 2016 and 2018, when he was replaced by Leon MacDonald, but would remain as part of a stable coaching set up as Defence coach. Family Umaga's brother Mike has represented Samoa at both rugby union and rugby league. Their cousin Jerry Collins was also an All Black. Nephews Peter and Thomas Umaga-Jensen have also represented Wellington at rugby at senior level. Romanian international Jack Umaga and Samoan international Sinoti Sinoti are also close relatives of Umaga. Umaga is married to Rochelle; the couple have four children together. Personal life After retiring from professional rugby, Umaga began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In 2022 he earned a silver medal as a brown belt at the IBJJF Masters Worlds competition. Shortly after this achievement, Umaga was promoted to black belt in the sport by his coaches at Alliance Jiu-Jitsu in Auckland, New Zealand. Umaga has an aviation waypoint named in his honor. UMAGA is a waypoint located south 10 nautical miles south of Wellington Airport's Runway 34. It is the Initial Approach Fix for most approaches into Runway 34. The exact coordinates are 174° 47' 43.12" E 41° 29' 54.63" S. References Bibliography External links New Zealand Rugby Museum article on Umaga Rugby Club Toulonnais NZ Herald article on Umaga retirement ABC article on Umaga retirement Samoan Bios: Tana Umaga profile |- |- 1973 births Expatriate rugby union players in France Chiefs (rugby union) players Counties Manukau rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Junior Kiwis players Living people New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit RC Toulonnais coaches RC Toulonnais players Recipients of the Pierre de Coubertin medal Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Lower Hutt Wainuiomata Lions players Wellington rugby league