Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga ONZM (/ˈtɑːnə ˈuːmʌŋə/; Samoan pronunciation: [ˈtana ˈuːmaŋa]; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks.

[3] Umaga returned to New Zealand after the 2009–10 French season to become a player-coach with Counties Manukau and played with the Waikato Chiefs in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.

[8] The brothers played on opposite teams in a Test match between Samoa and New Zealand in 1999 during which Tana scored two tries (the All Blacks won 71–13).

Umaga scored more tries than any other player within the team for three successive years,[6] and in 1996 was selected for the original Hurricanes squad.

[9] In his second season playing for the Hurricanes he scored a New Zealand record of 12 tries[10] (now broken by Rico Gear)[11] and earned a call up to the national team at the expense of an ill Jonah Lomu.

While the Smith era introduced a number of new players into the New Zealand team, they could not reclaim the Tri Nations or Bledisloe Cup in 2000 or 2001.

[16] Early on, John Mitchell and assistant coach Robbie Deans favoured Crusader Mark Robinson in the midfield.

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.

[19] 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.

[23] 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 test match against Wales on 21 June 2003, Welsh captain Colin Charvis was knocked out in a tackle from All Blacks forward Jerry Collins.

He placed him in the recovery position and for this act, the Council of the International Fair Play Committee awarded Umaga the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy for outstanding sportsmanship.

Spencer came out unhurt but unfortunately Umaga suffered a damaged posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and was forced to leave the field.

Graham Henry was the former coach of the Blues and was told he would never receive the top job after leaving New Zealand shores to take up a contract with the Wales national team.

Henry's experience in New Zealand and overseas, as well as the skill shown in turning around the Welsh team worked in his favour and he secured the job.

Graham Henry's first choice as captain of his team was Umaga, and after a disappointing Super 12, in which the Hurricanes came 11th, was selected to replace Reuben Thorne.

One of them, a 36–3 win at Carisbrook in Dunedin, was at the time the heaviest loss ever by the team that won the most recent Rugby World Cup.

Early in the Test, Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu upended Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll in a post-ruck clean-out.

[31] The independent citing commissioner found that neither Umaga nor Mealamu had a case to answer at the time due to inconclusive evidence,[32] but after viewing new amateur footage of the incident, Greg Thomas, communications manager for the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), described the incident as "unacceptably dangerous" and stated that IRB was instructing referees to suspend players for three to six months for such offences.

The IRB shortlisted Umaga for their 2005 International Player of the Year award (an honour eventually won by fellow All Black Dan Carter).

After playing 74 test matches for his country, Umaga confirmed his retirement from international rugby at a press conference on 10 January 2006.

"[37] For the 2006 Super 14 season Umaga handed the Hurricanes captaincy to All Black number eight Rodney So'oialo to focus on his own game.

[39] In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Umaga was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby.

On 29 October 2006, Umaga started in his first game three days after arriving in Toulon scoring his team's only try in a 22–16 victory against Lyon.

Umaga was named in the Chiefs' starting line-up for their opening Super Rugby fixture of the 2011 season to face the ACT Brumbies.

This was confirmed on 27 January 2009, with Umaga taking on the role as player/manager at the age of 35, and at the same time announcing he would not return as head coach for the following season.

On Friday, 12 March 2010, Counties Manukau announced that Umaga had signed for the province as a player coach for the Air New Zealand Cup.

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.

[50] Shortly after this achievement, Umaga was promoted to black belt in the sport by his coaches at Alliance Jiu-Jitsu in Auckland, New Zealand.