Why didn't Tana get a parachute earlier?

OPINION: The biggest mystery about the decision to give Tana Umaga a security blanket for his coaching at Toulon is that it took so long.
Tana puts on his jersey again

Umaga's inability to transfer a stellar playing career into the coaching arena is no surprise given that he served no apprenticeship for his new role.

Playing successful rugby one day and coaching to the same levels of success the next day just doesn't happen. Ask another All Blacks great in the form of John Kirwan.

To be thrown in at the deep end of the rugged French championship was a massive ask for Umaga.

Now he has a lifesaver in the form of Frenchman Philippe Saint-Andre, like Umaga a former international captain but a coach who has served his time in England with Sale and is now ready to return to home shores.

Saint-Andre will have the over-seeing role of being the club's director of rugby next season and Umaga will continue as manager.

Outspoken and hands-on club owner Mourad Boudjellal will step aside from his ineffective recruiting role to concentrate on finances.

It looks like a far more sensible setup than the one that rushed Umaga into his unaccustomed position, saw him win the French second division title with a World XV and then fall flat on his face in the hurly-burly of the Top 14 championship this season.

When World Cup winning coach Jake White was called in to offer a bit of advice late last year, he was somewhat bemused at the operations at Toulon. There's little doubt that some of his advice has been taken on board in this revamp.

Of course there is plenty to do before this all actually falls into place.

There is a Top 14 position to be saved first of all.

To help that cause Umaga will don his playing boots once again. At the ripe old age of 35 and with almost two years out of active service, the All Blacks legend will bolster the struggling Toulon midfield and attempt to get his side off the bottom of the table.

While there have been many doubts over Umaga's coaching abilities, there have never been any over his playing.

But there will be a few now given his length of inactivity. He has all the instincts and skills but does he have the speed, can his body take the punishment?

Desperate times calls for desperate measures and when a club is staring down the barrel of relegation desperate is the right word to be using.

So Tana is getting sized up for his team jersey. It might need to bear the big S of Superman given the task in front of him.

He is clearly admired in Toulon despite the club's struggles although one can't help thinking that Umaga has had a bit of a charmed existence in France. A man of lesser standing would surely have been axed by now given the shocking run of results this season.

Of course that would be an expensive exercise, not that cash is a problem for Boudjellal, who perhaps more than Umaga is the architect for the side's current problems.

Toulon are proof that money can't always buy success.

Experience is a crucial ingredient.

If Umaga can get Toulon through this tough year he will be all the better for the experience, just as he will be for the experience of having a helping hand like Saint-Andre to call on next season.

And everyone in management in the club might do well to gather around their beloved Kiwi and tell him to cool it on the PR front.

When this latest structure at Toulon was announced on Tuesday, not surprisingly journalists apparently asked for some comments from Umaga. He declined and suggested that the media could continue to invent stories like they had always done.

No journalist has invented the scorelines that have embarrassed Toulon this season and put the microscope on their rookie coach.

What do you think of the new management set-up at Toulon? Can Umaga still cut it as a player? Will they avoid relegation? Have your say below.

- © Fairfax NZ News