Frank Bunce
New Zealand / Samoa
player portrait
Full name Frank Eneri Bunce
Born February 4, 1962, Auckland
Current age 62 years 44 days
Major teams Bristol Bears, New Zealand, Samoa
Position Centre
Height 5 ft 11 in
Weight 209 lb

Test career
Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop Won Lost Draw %
All Tests 1991-1997 59 59 0 100 21 0 0 0 44 13 2 76.27
Samoa 1991-1991 4 4 0 4 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 50
New Zealand 1992-1997 55 55 0 96 20 0 0 0 42 11 2 78.18
Bledisloe Cup 1992-1997 12 12 0 30 6 0 0 0 9 3 0 75
IRB Rugby World Cup 1991-1995 9 9 0 14 3 0 0 0 6 3 0 66.66
The Rugby Championship 1996-1997 8 8 0 20 4 0 0 0 8 0 0 100

Career statistics
Test debut Wales v Samoa at Cardiff, Oct 6, 1991 match details
Last Test England v New Zealand at Twickenham, Dec 6, 1997 match details
Test Statsguru Main menu | Career summary | Match list | Most points | Most tries | Tournament list

English Premiership
Team Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop Won Lost Draw %
All matches 1999-1999 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 58.33
Bristol Bears 1999-1999 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 58.33
Profile

Bunce was born and raised in New Zealand, making his debut for Auckland in 1986. But he was first capped at international level for Western Samoa. The hard-hitting midfielder played four games for Western Samoa as they reached the quarter-finals of the 1991 Rugby World Cup in England.

Bunce's impact at international level brought him to the attention of All Blacks coach Laurie Mains, who selected him for the All Blacks in 1992. Bunce became the immovable man in the All Blacks backline, missing just one game (against Japan in the 1995 Rugby World Cup) before bowing out of the international arena against England in 1997.

The outside centre struck up a formidable partnership with Walter Little in the All Blacks' midfield, which reached a peak at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The duo helped New Zealand to the final where they lost to South Africa. Bunce scored 20 tries in 55 games for the All Blacks.

From 2001 to 2003 he coached Italy before taking up a role with Auckland as defensive coach and then technical advisor to Samoa in 2005.

Latest Articles
Not big, not clever (Jul 1, 2010) South Africa's triumphant homecoming (Jun 24, 1995) Controversial Fox kick devastates Lions (Jun 12, 1900)
Latest Photos
Jul 19, 1997
Frank Bunces smashes Danie Van Schalkwyk
Frank Bunces smashes Danie Van Schalkwyk
©  Getty Images

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