BUNTING BEST CHOICE FOR BLACK FERNS

VANIA WOLFGRAMM LOOKS AT THE IMPACT NEW COACH ALLAN BUNTING WILL HAVE ON THE BLACK FERNS.

Throughout this year, you will hear many people refer to the opportunity in front of women’s rugby.

The high of the Rugby World Cup tournament itself, amplified by the Black Ferns triumph, has seen unprecedented interest and support in the women’s game, and every person involved in rugby in any way knows that we must capitalise on this increased engagement.

The appointment of Allan Bunting into the Director of Coaching role was New Zealand Rugby’s first big move following the World Cup, and one I endorse and am excited about. His experience in the women’s game, understanding the specific needs of coaching women and his cultural understanding is what sets him apart. Having come from the Sevens environment, “Bunts” has professional standards and knows what it takes to succeed as he oversaw World Series success and an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. After he moved out of the Sevens environment, he became Head Coach of Chiefs Manawa in the first season of Super Rugby Aupiki, winning the COVID-impacted tournament last year. And of course, most recently, he was involved in the successful World Cup campaign as Manager of Culture and Leadership. As a result, he has spent time around The Professor, Wayne Smith, and witnessed everything that group went through in 2023. He saw what it takes to come from a low place on and off the field and grow to be the best. He has had the opportunity to get to know the players and the environment from an off-field perspective, and help translate that into success on the field.

He will also know what it looks like when women’s rugby is fully resourced. Not only from the professional Sevens environment, but from what was invested into the Rugby World Cup campaign. Bunts, along with all the players, will now have an expectation of the resources that are available, and the support the country can give the team, and aim to maintain both for as long as possible. There will be some challenges and limitations, but I know that NZR are focusing on putting in place good structures and support for women’s rugby. Former Black Fern Hannah Porter coming into the role of Women’s High Performance Manager is a great example, as we’ve never had permanent resource in that type of position.

I met Bunts right from his first “Give it Go” campaign, when he was leading the work to secure athletes for the emerging Sevens programme. He’s really open and easy to work with. Something that impresses me is his ability to see the bigger picture. During lockdown, a Sevens tournament was organised to help the Black Ferns Sevens’ preparation. We entered a Moana Pasifika team. He was enthusiastic, welcoming towards our team’s involvement, and was willing to assist our team.

What excites me also is the notion from Bunts to really want to interact with schools and club coaches. He’s put his hand up for this right away. It shows his holistic thinking about all of women and girls’ rugby – getting in right at the grassroots will filter through to high performance. He’ll be able to build a coaching group that supports that as well.

I admire the way he has woven in Māori culture into team environments, it’s really refreshing. The Black Ferns review brought to life the cultural deficits within the environment, and Bunts has a track record of authentically bringing cultural aspects into his teams and encouraging players to bring their whole selves into the group. He is able to get the genuine ‘buy-in’ from his players, which is vital given the number of Māori and Pacific players in the Black Ferns.

Bunts will need a strong coaching team around him specifically to bring forth the XVs experience in the level of detail that is required. We do have a long way to go in getting female coaches to that level of experience that the Black Ferns coaching role requires also. We need depth in coaching numbers and capability. We have to enable our women access to get the required experience as well as the qualifications. In my role at NZR, we have recently held our Ako Wāhine Performance Coach Course (World Rugby Level 3), which is the highest qualification in coaching. It’s a prestigious, in-demand course, so we have intentionally built a women-specific session to give our wāhine the opportunity for development. We want and need to do more of that. We’re exploring online options to take it to even more people. It is going to take time to get enough women to the right level, but I believe we will get there.