Former All Black captain Tana Umaga has extended his coaching contract with the Blues until the end of the 2021 super rugby season.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Umaga is the side's defensive coach and brings his contract into line with the rest of the Blues coaching staff including head coach Leon MacDonald.
Umaga joined the Blues as head coach in 2016 but was replaced by MacDonald in 2019 and then took up the assistant coaching role.
Umaga's work as defence coach helped the Blues top the Super Rugby Aotearoa statistics for tackles made and number of dominant tackles.
"We have a strong coaching group and we enjoy feeding off each other as well as the benefit of some open and honest discussions about our game plans."
MacDonald was impressed with the work Umaga has done with the Blues defensively.
"Defence is the cornerstone of our success, not just with the alignment and communication, but our goal-line scramble defence was outstanding in terms of our system and strength of will.
"A big part of that was the character and sense of purpose that Tana has played a major part in developing with this squad."
The Blues enjoyed a renaissance this season after years of disappointing results finishing second in Super Rugby Aotearoa