Tana Umaga has spoken out in support of beleaguered All Blacks coach Wayne Smith saying the players, not coaches, are to blame for the two losses to Australia this year.

Umaga, the unofficial vice-captain of the All Blacks, said Smith and assistant coach Tony Gilbert should be left to take the team through to the 2003 World Cup.

"I think Wayne Smith is a great coach and I'd like to see him get the job again," Umaga said. "I've been associated with him for a couple of years and I think he and Tony have got what it takes to take the All Blacks further on."

Smith has remained silent, apart from a brief written statement, since the news broke on Saturday that he had told the New Zealand Rugby Football Union he did not want to coach the All Blacks, only to change his mind the next day.

But the embattled coach has agreed to talk Thursday and will front the media at the Canterbury Rugby Union offices in the afternoon.

Umaga has come to his defence, saying he felt the coaches had taken too much of the blame for the loss to Australia in Dunedin and the dramatic last-minute defeat in Sydney.

"I don't know what it is, but it seems the coaches always seem to get the chop when the players aren't doing well. I feel as a player maybe you need to take a look at us first. They (the coaches) can only do so much.

"We're the ones that go out and play the games. Those last 90 seconds against the Australians, we were the ones out there, not them."

Umaga's feelings have been backed by former Springbok coach Nick Mallett, who said Smith was going to be sacked because of Anton Oliver's poor lineout throwing.

Mallett, in his regular Internet column, criticised the NZRFU for its handling of Smith. He said a lineout specialist was needed, not new coaches.

"I think you (New Zealand) were only a minute or two away from a pretty successful season this year. A little bit went wrong in Sydney (when the All Blacks lost their final Tri-Nations Test against Australia on September 1) and you lost.

"But if you had won that game, which the All Blacks should have, then I don't think any question would have been asked about Wayne. These days the margin between winning and losing and success and failure is so tiny - people have to understand that."

Smith's job became available after he was interviewed by an NZRFU review panel comprising former All Blacks John Graham, Brian Lochore, Tane Norton, Richie Guy and Andy Dalton, and union president Lane Penn and chief executive David Rutherford last Tuesday.

The panel agreed to advertise the coaching position and was initially told by Smith that he would not stand again. However, the next day he changed his mind and said he would apply if the job was advertised.

Applications close on Thursday and a decision is expected to be made before the end of next month. The All Blacks tour Ireland, Scotland and Argentina in November and, for now at least, Smith and Gilbert are expected to take the team on that tour. - Sapa-NZPA