Rotorua's Allan Bunting is already eyeing world dominance with the Black Ferns sevens team after being appointed the side's new head coach.
The former Rotorua Boys' High School student continued the Bay of Plenty connection with the national women's side after he replaced Tauranga's Sean Horan yesterday for the next four-year cycle culminating with the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
The former Steamers player had been the assistant coach of the team since 2012 during which time he helped them to three World Series titles and silver at the Rio Olympics.
"Obviously I am very honoured and privileged to be in this position, definitely very excited about the challenges we have ahead of us," Bunting said.
"We are very lucky and blessed here in New Zealand to have such potential and talent, not just players but coaches and resources.
"I am really excited about maximising what we have and seeing it showcased on the world stage.
"I've loved working with the team over the last five years. I've got good relationships with the players and I know we can achieve even greater success."
Bunting said he had already set the target of winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics and believed the side had the potential to push on for "world dominance".
"Four years ago there wasn't even a programme here for the women but now there is a really clear pathway for players to naturally grow into.
"There is no reason why we can't have world dominance."
But Bunting warned getting the right people involved would be the biggest challenge to achieve that vision.
"I want to build on the existing culture and grow a player-led environment that thrives on being challenged and is focused on enjoying our journey; a team culture based on whanaungatanga [relationships]," he said.
"My focus for the first part is getting the right support people and players in place and building key relationships which will be vital in forming the foundations for long-term success.
"I also want to help grow the depth of athletes playing sevens. It doesn't matter if you are not a rugby player, if you have the desired attributes then I'm interested to see how you go playing sevens."
IN ACTION: Allan Bunting in his former Steamers playing days. PHOTO/FILE.
Bunting added he would like to see a centralised sevens programme based at the High Performance Centre at Mount Maunganui, akin to what helped the Australian women reach the top podium at Rio.
"Consistency, time together and that real internal competition with everyone competing every day holistically no matter what we are doing, means you are going to get some pretty good growth," he said.
New Black Ferns Sevens coach Allan Bunting and captain Sarah Goss. PHOTO/ JOHN BORREN.
Black Ferns captain Sarah Goss is delighted with Bunting's appointment.
"He is a big believer in having a great culture in our side. I think that is what our team is going to need to grow moving forward if we are to have great success.
"Allan is very respected around the girls. He has great rugby knowledge, he has played a lot of rugby around the world and I am just excited to be beside him."
Finally for Bunting allowing the players to develop and gain personal confidence will be key to his approach.
"Over the years it has been about consistency and giving the players as much chance and as much opportunity to gather that experience, so that when they do get to that big stage they are pretty confident in what they are doing.
"It is almost like you let them loose and it is building that confidence over time."
