All Blacks great Tana Umaga says he was drawn to the Moana Pasifika job despite having reservations about a return to a head coaching role after time with the Blues as an assistant coach.
Umaga was on Sunday unveiled as the Super Rugby Pacific franchise's new coach following the departure of Aaron Mauger, the 74-Test All Blacks back charged with turning around the fortunes of a team that tasted victory only once in 2023.
He is also fully aware that it will require greater dedication - and probably result in fewer hours sleep - than what he has most recently been accustomed, at least since he was replaced as Blues head coach by Leon MacDonald in 2019.
Still, the chance to work with Pasifika players and link with his own heritage at the same time was too good to refuse.
"What it means to a lot of people, what it means to a lot of players, the opportunities for our Pacific Island nations, the purpose was strong, and it drew me to it and made me put my name towards it," Umaga said of his decision to throw his hat in the ring.
While fellow expansion franchise Fijian Drua improved in its second season of Super Rugby Pacific, securing an historic first finals berth, Moana Pasifika regressed and left it to the competition's final round before they defeated the Waratahs for their only win of 2023.
They went close on several other occasions and almost pulled off an almighty upset over the Blues in Auckland, but they were often brought undone by an inability to hang in the contest after halftime.
Umaga said that would be a key work-on in 2024
"Pacific Islanders, we love contact, we've just got to make sure that we can do it for a long time - 80 minutes would be great - and we work on our discipline and our accuracy around what we do," Umaga said.
He will also face a challenge when it comes to the ongoing issue of recruitment and retention, after hard-running centre Levi Aumua opted to join the Crusaders from 2024 in a bid to make the All Blacks.
While the franchise has still contributed more than 20 players to the Tonga and Samoa wider World Cup training squads, Aumua's decision to spurn the franchise raised questions over whether it was truly serving one of its key objectives.
"It's one of the risks when you sign players that haven't been capped," Umaga noted.
"We need to make sure that whatever we do as Moana gives them something that they feel connected to, that they want to go on and represent the country of their birth, or grandparents' or parents' birth.
"Obviously the lure of other international teams like the All Blacks, there's a bit of work for us to do there in terms of that, but we can't discount how much that'll mean to them. I can't look at my own path through rugby and say it's not a good one."
Umaga's is the second Super Rugby coaching announcement in the space of the week, after the Blues confirmed former Scotland and Fiji coach Vern Cotter would replace Leon MacDonald, who will join Scott Robertson's new-look All Blacks setup after this year's World Cup.