Times again :
Much like his elder rivals for England’s No 10 jersey, Umaga was brought up steeped in professional rugby and in his first full season, he has become his side’s first-choice fly half, writes John Westerby
The surname rings a bell in every corner of the rugby world and the illustrious family footsteps in which Jacob Umaga is following are widely recognisable. As the son of Mike, the former Samoa full back, and nephew of Tana, one of the All Blacks’ greats, the Wasps fly half grew up steeped in the game and the exploits of his forebears, but there is another influence close to home that is all too frequently overlooked. His mother, Michelle, whom Mike met when he was playing rugby league for Halifax in the late 1990s, was a gifted touch rugby player. “She was good, she toured Australia with the England touch rugby team,” Mike says of his wife. “Everyone tells me that’s where Jacob gets his skill from.”
Whether the genetics owe more to his mother or father’s side of the family, Umaga’s skill has been clear for all to see in Wasps’ rise up the Gallagher Premiership this season. Just as his side have made a remarkable run to reach the final against Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham, so Umaga, 22, has come of age with alacrity in his first year of Premiership rugby. This was a season in which the he was supposed to play second fiddle to Lima Sopoaga, the former New Zealand fly half, waiting his turn and learning his trade.
Instead, his smooth passing and balanced running to the fore, he has been Wasps’ first-choice No 10 for most of the season and Umaga starts the biggest game of his short career at Twickenham, with Sopoaga on the bench. Even those lining up alongside him have been taken aback by his progress. “The way Jacob has evolved in the last six months, we all knew he had that flair that could break up a game out of nothing,” Dan Robson, the Wasps scrum half, said. “But his control and kicking, his passing game, have all massively improved, and you can see that in the way we play now.”
The duel between Umaga and Joe Simmonds, the 23-year-old Exeter No 10, will be a contest to savour. Both are vying to catch the eye of Eddie Jones, the England head coach, to establish themselves as the front runner of the next generation of fly halves emerging to challenge Owen Farrell and George Ford. Umaga has his nose in front, receiving a surprise call-up to the Six Nations squad in January, only three months after his Premiership debut for Wasps. Since the Premiership’s resumption in August, Wasps have been playing some thrilling rugby, winning nine matches out of ten, and Umaga has been at the creative hub.
He has much in common with Farrell and Ford. Around the time they were born — Farrell and Ford to the west of the Pennines, Umaga a few years later in Halifax — their fathers were playing against each other in Super League and all three have become coaches in the 15-man game. Andy Farrell is the head coach of Ireland, Mike Ford is at Leicester and Mike Umaga, who played union for Rotherham after leaving Halifax, coaches at Bishop Burton College near Hull. Another link joining the eras was that Umaga joined Halifax at the same time as Fereti Tuilagi, who went on to be the first of the brood of brothers to play for Leicester, the youngest of whom was Manu.
“I played against Andy Farrell at Wigan and Mike Ford at Castleford plenty of times, I think I once got sin-binned for a high tackle on Mike,” Umaga Sr says. “The boys all grew up around rugby, being exposed to how a professional lives and works, having a ball in their hands. When Jacob was born, the first thing was a small rugby ball being put in his hands.”
That was not the only unsubtle pointer as to the future direction that Umaga Jr might take. “He was also given a black jersey with a silver fern on it, most of us Kiwis do that,” his father says. “That was the hope, but I think it’s gone by the wayside now. I came over here from New Zealand for two years for my contract with Halifax. Twenty-five years later, I’m still here.”
Jacob’s uncle, Tana, won 74 caps for New Zealand
PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES
Having spent his early years in West Yorkshire, Umaga grew up in the West Midlands after his father moved to coach at Coventry. He initially spent four years at Leicester Tigers’ academy before moving to Wasps and playing for England age-group teams.
The international shirt may be white rather than the black his father had initially hoped for, but one of Umaga’s most formative experiences came from spending a season in New Zealand in 2018. He stayed with his uncle Tana and played for an Auckland Mitre 10 Cup team coached by two other former All Blacks, Alama Ieremia and Filo Tiatia, both of whom were previous team-mates of his father. There was an early setback when Jacob broke an arm, but he stayed to play an eye-catching role in Auckland’s progress towards winning the tournament.
“When he broke his arm, he was talking about possibly coming back to England,” his father says. “But in fact it really galvanised him, it was tough, but a really good learning for him on and off the pitch. He really warmed to the more expansive game over there, he played No 10 and No 15, and it gave him a different perspective on the game. He came back fitter and stronger, and mentally tougher.”
He had to wait another year for his breakthrough for Wasps, but Umaga has taken to the Premiership with conspicuous maturity, benefiting from the counsel of Jimmy Gopperth, another Kiwi, outside him at No 12. After a difficult first half of the season, as a team in transition, Wasps have surprised almost everyone with their progress and it has been their younger players leading the way. “When you’re around these younger guys, they’ve got no fear,” Joe Launchbury, the captain, said. “Jacob might make a couple of mistakes, but you know full well it’s not going to knock his confidence, he’ll keep coming back for more, putting his hand up to lead the side around the pitch.”
A famous name can come with baggage, but Umaga bears the load lightly. He is not the only one continuing the family traditions as his sister, Leilani, is a talented netball player and brother Caylen, 12, is already a budding fly half blessed with a sweet left boot. Both for Wasps and with his family, Umaga is following great names who have come before him, part of a rich sporting tapestry, to which he is adding his own distinctive threads.
Always a Wasp
Topic: Wasps’ young fly half Jacob Umaga weaving his way into rich family history (Read 860 times)