John Kirwan quit Friday as head coach of the Auckland-based Blues after the team's 14th-place finish in Super Rugby this season.
The Blues won only three of 16 matches in their worst-ever season in 2015, following 10th place finishes under Kirwan's coaching in 2013 and 2014.
Pressure has been mounting on the Blues' board to remove Kirwan, who had been appointed to great fanfare in 2013 as the answer to the problems of an under-performing franchise. The former All Blacks winger, who previously coached Japan and Italy, was expected to revive a team which won the most-recent of its three Super Rugby titles in 2003.
Former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga is reported to be close to signing a three-year deal as Kirwan's replacement.
Kirwan said Umaga, who has coached French team Toulon and Counties Manukau in New Zealand's National Provincial Championships, and is currently coaching the New Zealand Under-20 team at the junior World Cup in Italy, would be "fantastic" for the Blues role.
"I think Tana is an outstanding young man," Kirwan told a news conference Friday. "He has a similar pathway to me — he is a guy who I think would be one of the candidates who would be fantastic for here."
Kirwan said he had faced a "perfect storm" of circumstances this season, including injuries to key players, which led to the team's poor performance.
"What I do know is that the person who comes on board will find a club in better shape than what I did and I think that's important," he said. "As a colleague of the next person who comes in I am totally available to support (that person) and give any intellectual property ... so whoever that might be they can just pick up the phone and I'll be there."
Kirwan said professional rugby is "a results-based industry" and "when you're a coach you are here to bring results and I didn't bring those and I always said to fans and players that if I'm not delivering that then it's right that I step aside".
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.