Tana Umaga

[nanila]

Jonathan Ionatana Falafesa “Tana” Umaga is a former captain of the New Zealand All-Blacks. He played 74 test matches, in which he scored 36 tries, and under his captaincy the All-Blacks won 19 of their 21 games. He looks fierce in this first photo and, obviously, when doing the haka*, but most of the time he is smiling in his lovely crinkly-eyed way with his dreadlocks flying everywhere. ♥



( Tana Umaga doesn’t look that fierce all the time. )

Tana Umaga leads the haka before a rugby match. (YouTube, 00:55)

* Scary ancestral pre-battle war dance performed by the Maori that the All-Blacks always do before rugby matches. Other Polynesian groups have similar dances, such as the Tongan Sipi Tau.