The Herald reports;

Thanks Tana, we know the real truth about that tackle

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer January 11 2006

Tana Umaga, the New Zealand captain, yesterday made the long-expected announcement that his Test appearance against Scotland at Murrayfield in November was his last.
Umaga led the All Blacks to grand slam glory that day and the venue was an appropriate one considering his close connections with Scotland.
His big brother, Mike, played for GHK in the 90s before representing Samoa at Test level while Umaga's long-time friend, Marty Leslie, with whom he grew up in the Wellington suburb of Lower Hutt, subsequently crossed the globe to make 37 Test appearances in navy blue.
Particularly fitting, though, was that a fine ambassador for the sport should end his career in momentous fashion.
Umaga, 32, was a member of the All Black squads that were favourites to win the World Cup in 1999 and in 2003, but fell short of the feat. Yet the achievements of his side were probably the greatest ever by an international side in a calendar year.
What was supposed to be the best prepared British & Irish Lions ever were swatted aside with contemptuous ease. South Africa proved tougher, inflicting on New Zealand their only defeat of 2005 during the Tri-Nations Championship, but they recovered to win the return match and the title.
Perhaps most impressive of all, however, was how four very different All Black sides were sent out on four successive weekends in November to defeat the Home Unions and achieve only New Zealand's second grand slam ever.
Shining through in every campaign was the regard in which the captain was held by team-mates and management. History should consequently show that following the Brian O'Driscoll episode, which could have tainted his final year as an international player, it was the reputations of those who sought to besmirch his good name rather than that of Umaga which truly suffered.
It was an education to watch close up the work of Alastair Campbell, a spin doctor of cynical renown, as the Lions management deflected the media agenda from their abject failure in the first Test in Christchurch last June.
Much more shameful than Campbell's efforts was the behaviour of those who willingly swallowed their line on how O'Driscoll, the Lions captain, was forced out of the tour.
In particular the English press, who could not believe their world cup-winning coach would fail so spectacularly and the Irishmen who were shocked that their hero's Test series had been cut short, seemed only too ready to fuel misplaced outrage.
Lions apologists still routinely, and erroneously, refer to an admittedly reckless challenge on O'Driscoll as a "spear tackle".
Awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Trophy by the International Committee for Fair Play after stopping play to put an unconscious Colin Charvis into the recovery position during a Test against Wales in 2003, the first non-Maori of Polynesian heritage to lead the All Blacks, did so with exemplary dignity at all times. Unlike his detractors, Umaga will be remembered primarily as an inspiration.

This article was originally posted on 11-Jan-2006, 08:28 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 11-Jan-2006, 18:56.