Rugby: Greg Smith appointed coach of Black Ferns

1008NZHGBWAIKATO1 Greg Smith at Waikato NPC training on Tuesday before this Saturdays round one game against Southland. 10 AUGUST 2004 DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG BOWKER/NEW ZEALAND HERALD BO

Former Chiefs hooker and Waikato coach Greg Smith has been appointed head coach of the New Zealand Black Ferns team through to the next Women's Rugby World Cup in 2017.

New Zealand Rugby General Manager Rugby Neil Sorensen today announced Smith's appointment effective from the beginning of 2015.

"We are very excited about Greg coming on board as he will bring an extensive mix of playing and coaching experience to the Black Ferns programme," Sorenson said.

The former Chiefs, Waikato and Fijian international has been an active coach since hanging up his playing boots in 2005.

For the past two years, Smith has been a resource coach for the Black Ferns, and recently was an assistant coach to Manu Samoa. He coached in Japan for five years, and held a number of provincial coaching roles including time as a specialist resource coach for the Chiefs.

As a player, Smith amassed 48 Super Rugby Caps with the Chiefs, ran out 70 times for Waikato and made 46 international appearances for Fiji over nine years - eight of those as captain - including at two Rugby World Cup tournaments.

"Greg brings some fresh thinking and he will challenge players to remain competitive for spots in the team," said Sorensen.

"The Black Ferns programme for 2015 is still being finalised but we hope to announce early in the New Year an exciting schedule that will see the Black Ferns travel off-shore for at least two test matches. Greg will spend this summer working with Provincial Unions to identify candidates for Black Ferns development training camps early next year.

"We know that the Black Ferns were disappointed with their Women's Rugby World Cup results in France this year, but we also know there are some very talented, dedicated and hard working players out there.

"We hope they will continue to push for a place in the 2015 Black Ferns team under Greg's leadership," Sorensen said.

Smith said he was looking forward to the new role.

"This is an exciting challenge - there's some work to be done to get us back to being the best in the world, but I'm really looking forward to that.

"There are some very talented athletes out there - I have been keeping an eye on competitions this year, and I know that as well as the experience we have in abundance, there is plenty of undiscovered talent, and that's always exciting."