Photo: Damien Blake / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Tana Umaga is a name I associate with a particular era of fearless, physical rugby. Captaining the All Blacks is about as high as the sport goes, and what strikes me is that he did it as a player of Samoan heritage who carried that identity proudly, later using the chiefly title Fa'alogo, meaning the listener. I like that he didn't drift away after retiring. Moving into coaching, leading Moana Pasifika and working on the All Blacks defence, shows someone still invested in the game's future. The Pierre de Coubertin Medal and his Order of Merit honour suggest a man respected well beyond the scoreboard.
Overview
Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; Samoan pronunciation: [ˈtana ˈuːmaŋa]; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player and captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. He is head coach of Moana Pasifika in the Super Rugby competition, and defence coach for the All Blacks. He was granted and uses the Samoan chiefly honorific title of Faʻalogo, meaning "the listener".
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Tana Umaga
- Name (Japanese)
- タナ・ウマガ
- Reading
- たな・うまが
- Born
- May 27, 1973 (age 53)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Ox
- Origin
- Lower Hutt, New Zealand
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 187 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- rugby league player / rugby union player / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Wainuiomata High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
- 2003 Pierre de Coubertin Medal
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Rugby union player — see all → · More people from New Zealand →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.