Rugby: New Black Ferns director of rugby Allan Bunting looking to keep ball rolling after 2022 World Cup success

Allan Bunting has his sights set on the future.

Confirmed as Wayne Smith’s successor as the Black Ferns director of rugby yesterday, Bunting takes the reins looking ahead to the World Cup in three years’ time.

A decorated coach with the Black Ferns Sevens team, Bunting said he embraced the opportunity to follow Smith’s footsteps in not only leading the national team but also continuing the growth of the women’s game.

“He brought an absolute gift to our women’s game; just an empowering, attacking game that our ladies absolutely fell in love with,” Bunting said of Smith. “It captured the hearts of me, our ladies and the nation. He knows people really well, and I think it’s our responsibility as individuals, as a team and as a nation to continue and build off that.”

Bunting has had a long involvement with women’s rugby in New Zealand. While spending much of that time working in the sevens environment, he led Chiefs Manawa to glory in the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season and was involved in the Black Ferns’ 2022 campaign as manager of culture and leadership.

With the Super Rugby Aupiki competition expanding to a slightly longer format this year and talks of some sort of crossover being set up with Australia’s Super W competition in the near future, Bunting said he was excited about the opportunities to build on the country’s depth over the coming years.

“There’s plenty of opportunity to play now. For me, it’s about how we really build that depth. As Black Ferns, there’s nothing more that drives performance than when you’ve got someone snapping at your heels. That’ll really raise the standards in our group which is really important.

“I get absolute joy and fulfillment when I see people grow, realise their potential, and start reaching that on and off the field. That’s where I see myself focused.”

With a director of rugby now in place, New Zealand Rugby will begin the process of building a team around him. Bunting said he hadn’t had the chance to touch base with 2022 Black Ferns assistants Wes Clarke and Whitney Hansen about where they sit, and confirmed he was not in a rush to fill his support roles – with a focus on finding the right people.

“(I want to) take the greatness out of what happened and keep that going,” Bunting said of his vision moving forward.

“If there are different people, hearing what they think they’ve got to give to this team. We want to keep moving fast. As a national team, the country expects this team to do really well so we need to make sure we can get to the intensity we got to at the end of the World Cup whenever we get on the field, and make sure we’ve got the right people in support underneath it.

“The biggest thing with coaching is trust, and trust takes time. Showing general care, connecting with people, getting around when they’re not in our environments because that’s where most of our growth is going to be built.”