“I have a mission for my town and I offer Umaga to Toulon.”

June 24, 2006

Chris Rattue at the New Zealand Herald looks at the alleged deal that sees world's best midfielder Tana Umaga plying his trade for the French club Toulon.

Umaga's deal the best ever

Tana Umaga's French club contract is likely the best rugby deal ever on a per game basis.

Umaga has yet to put final pen to paper but formalities should be completed within weeks.

All the indications are that the former All Black captain's impending contract with second division club Toulon will earn him $1.45m after tax for up to 10 games over two months, a tidy $140,000 or so per match.

Umaga is expected to get a clearance early next month from the New Zealand Rugby Union, allowing him to join the nearly 100-year-old club on the southern French coast after the NPC.

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The extravagant short-term offer has allowed Umaga to cash in and take a break with his family by briefly donning the red-and-black of Toulon.

Toulon, by any stretch of the imagination, are paying well over the odds.

The money is coming directly from their two new investors and "co-presidents" Mourad Boudjellal and Stephane Lelievre. The pair took over the club in May.

"I am paying for Umaga myself ... I feel I have a mission for my town and I offer Umaga to Toulon," Boudjellal has said.

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By our standards, Umaga is king.

Source: NZH