KEY POINTS:
According to tradition, he should have been named Frank Bunce, too. After all, three generations of Bunce boys were.
"My mum and her best friend were watching a show and I think I was named after a cowboy," Chance Bunce says. "I was supposed to be named Frank. . . but my mum flipped the script."
So has Chance. Instead of being a rugby union player like his famous All Black father - he dabbled with it briefly at high school - Chance has predominantly played rugby league and today he will start off the interchange bench for New Zealand Maori against the All Golds.
The 22-year-old has yet to really make his mark in the sport and this year played for the Southern Sydney Sharks, a feeder to the Cronulla Sharks, in the Jim Beam Cup.
Like his dad, he's a centre who can also slot in at fullback or on the wing, but prefers to rely on footwork and pace rather than solid defence and strong ball running.
Chance is still not sure where and in what division he will be playing next season but is determined that will all change after today.
"This game is all about opportunities for me to get my name out there on the big stage," he says. "This is going to be a good test. If I can hold myself well, I could be a chance to get a [NRL] contract."
He's been told the Cowboys might be interested and he's put together a highlights package of himself on You Tube that he also hopes to circulate around other NRL clubs.
It's something Frank tuned into recently because he hasn't seen a lot of his son playing in the flesh but he will be in the stands at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth today.
"I think he's got all the talent and skill in the world," Frank says, "although I might be biased.
"The big plus for him, and it's something I never had, is his speed. Many people were quite keen on him following an athletics career because he's got real speed. I think he's got everything but he just needs a break.
"If I have one criticism of him, and it's something other coaches have said, is he doesn't have the killer instinct."
It can be difficult growing up in sport with a famous father.
Chance's parents split up when he was two and he moved to Sydney with his mother when 10 but, inevitably, the comparisons are still made.
"It has its advantages as well as disadvantages," he says. "I might get opportunities because they think of the pedigree and hope that I might have some of that in me. But then again with dad being who he is it's a disadvantage because you have to live up to what he achieved."
