Rugby: Local Gibbs gets nod as Bay assistant

The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union have appointed former Steamers player Rodney Gibbs as assistant coach for this year's ITM Cup.

Gibbs takes over the role vacated by John Walters who resigned to return to the Waikato and will assist head coach Kevin Schuler for the 2013 ITM Cup.

The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union selected Gibbs, who was in the Steamers team who won the NPC Second Division crown in 2000. He has worn the blue and gold of the Bay of Plenty with pride as a player and more recently in the coaching ranks.

Fifteen years in the Te Puke Sports premier side set the platform for a move to coaching Te Puke for three years.

His passion to play rugby took him to Scotland and Wales to add to his player CV.

Gibbs started his representative coaching apprenticeship with the Bay Colts before taking charge of the Bay of Plenty Development team.

"I am delighted to be part of the Steamers coaching set-up for the coming season, as I have a lifelong passion for Bay of Plenty rugby since I first laced on boots," Gibbs said.

"My belief is that it is hugely important to have a solid background in local rugby, which is particularly important in building relationships with the players, fellow coaches and administrators in the union."

The new assistant coach will also have specific responsibilities as the union's resource coach for age group and secondary school rugby.

"I see the identification of the young talent in the region as crucial to the continued success of Bay of Plenty rugby."

At the same time, Bay Rugby has announced the appointment of Chad Tuoro as the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union coach and player development manager.

The former New Zealand Sevens star brings a huge amount of rugby experience to his new role, which coupled with secondary school teaching and rugby development background makes him the ideal person to deliver the union's development objectives.

Tuoro's role will be to facilitate the development of coaches from the Small Black programme to club and representative coaches.

He will also lead the player development programme, including player camps, rep team selection and talent identification - including the Bay Women's sevens and 15s programmes.

"I am very excited about my appointment to build a rugby programme that will produce further high quality players and coaches in the Bay of Plenty region.

"I am proud to be from the Bay region and look forward to working with key community stakeholders to achieve a high level of success across all levels of the game in the Bay of Plenty."