Times interview in full - John Westerby January 21 2020.
The moment Jacob Umaga realised his life was about to change came yesterday evening when he was cooking stir-fry at the home of a girl he is seeing. He had just met her mother and, to demonstrate his worthiness as a suitor for her daughter, was showing his hand in the kitchen when he looked down at his phone and saw that his name had been added to an unfamiliar WhatsApp group. The Wasps fly half stood staring at his phone in disbelief and his female friend — he does not wish to divulge her name, as she cannot yet be classed as his girlfriend — wondered what was wrong.
“I had a look at who was in it, I saw Launchers [Joe Launchbury], Elliot [Daly], Jonathan Joseph,” Umaga, 21, said. “I thought I was being pranked. But then I had a phone call from Matt Everard [the Wasps transition coach] and he said, ‘We’re buzzing for you!’ It was surreal.”
And so, having only made his Premiership debut in October, the penny dropped that Umaga had now been named in Eddie Jones’s squad for the Six Nations. He would not, now, be preparing with Wasps for the game at Worcester Warriors on Saturday, but travelling to Pennyhill Park tomorrow and then on to Portugal for the build-up to England’s opening game against France in Paris a week on Sunday.
The son of Mike, the former Samoa full back, and the nephew of the former All Blacks captain Tana, the surprise is not so much that Umaga has matured into a fly half of international calibre, merely that the summons, after only four Premiership starts, has come so soon. “It was absolutely out of the blue,” he said. “This time last year, I was playing for Yorkshire Carnegie [on loan from Wasps] against Richmond. It’s been a whirlwind of a year.”
Once he had recovered his composure and checked that the stir-fry had not burned, he discovered he was not the only one to question whether news of his call-up was a joke. His mother, Michelle, a former player and coach, found the news difficult to digest. “My mum didn’t believe me at first, she said ‘You’re talking nonsense!’” he said. “So I called her back and said, ‘It’s real.’ I heard my dad screaming in the background. He’s really proud.”
Umaga Sr, born and raised in Auckland, came to England in 1995 to play rugby league for Halifax, the town where Jacob was born. He crossed codes to play for Rotherham before moving to coach with Coventry when Jacob was six. Jacob played his junior rugby with Kenilworth and spent time in Leicester Tigers’ academy before joining Wasps in 2016, going on to represent England at under-18 and under-20 age groups.
A goal-kicking fly half, combining Samoan solidity with the skills of a player who has grown up with a rugby ball in his hands, he is also capable of playing at full back or, at a push, in the centre, standing 6ft and weighing 14st 5lb, perhaps with a little filling out still to follow. “I’ve played a lot of full back, I’m pretty happy to play there,” he said. “I don’t mind playing in the centres if I’m asked to, but No 10 for the moment is where I want to be.”
In 2018, at the age of 19, he travelled to New Zealand to play for eight months. He overcame a broken arm to play in the Auckland side that won the Mitre Cup and he was mixing with rugby royalty.
He was living with his uncle, Tana, and being coached by two other former All Blacks: Alama Ieremia and Filo Tiatia. It was an important experience — and not just on the rugby field. “My uncle was always working, my auntie was working, my cousins were at school, so it was like properly living on my own,” he said. “Meeting a new group of people, moving to another team, it was a good learning experience.”
The Kiwi influence has continued at Wasps in the past couple of years, where he has learnt from experienced playmakers in Jimmy Gopperth and Lima Sopoaga. There will be raised eyebrows at Jones selecting a fly half with such scant experience, but Sopoaga, the former All Blacks fly half, hopes that Umaga demonstrates in England training the verve that has marked out his Wasps appearances.
“His strength is his confidence,” Sopoaga said. “His natural instinct is to back himself, not thinking too much about it. I know from when I went into the All Blacks camp for the first time, it can be daunting, so I hope he doesn’t lose that. There are players he’s watched for his whole life, now he’ll be sharing a changing room. Be yourself, do what’s got you there and don’t change who you are.”
Umaga has an impressively broad skillset that is developing. “His catch-pass is good, he’s very well balanced, he’s got a good kicking game, he can goal-kick really well,” Sopoaga said. “He’s not the finished product, but he’s got a bit of everything.”
Now the next step in Umaga’s rugby odyssey will come alongside English rugby royalty, joining the squad who were beaten in the World Cup final two months ago. “I just want to take in as much as possible,” he said. “To learn from guys like Owen Farrell and George Ford, build to become the best player I can be. Any chance I get, I’ll try to take it.”
His extraordinary family
Father Mike Umaga Brother of Tana, won 13 caps for Samoa, and played in the Premiership for Rotherham Titans.
Mother Michelle Umaga Played and coached rugby league and represented England in touch rugby World Cup.
Uncle Tana Umaga Legendary centre, who won 74 caps for New Zealand
Father’s cousin Jerry Collins Won 48 caps for the All Blacks and played for Ospreys.
Topic: Times Umaga interview (Read 1181 times)
Always a Wasp