Anscombe to coach Baby Blacks

Auckland ITM Cup head coach Mark Anscombe has been appointed as coach of the New Zealand Under-20 team for their 2011 campaign.

Anscombe has been part of the highly-successful New Zealand U20 coaching combination with Dave Rennie, who steps down from the coaching role after three seasons with the team. 

Anscombe has been with the team for all three of their IRB Junior World Championship wins, having come on board as a development coach for the first campaign in 2008 before stepping into the assistant coach role for the past two years.

Former Sharks and Wellington assistant coach Chris Boyd has been appointed as Anscombe’s assistant coach.

NZRU General Manager of professional rugby Neil Sorensen said that the appointment was a natural progression for Anscombe.

"Mark has been involved in three very successful campaigns and we saw him as a natural fit to step up into the head coach role.

"The team, under the guidance of Dave and Mark, have become one of our most successful teams and I am sure that Mark and Chris will continue achieving the same high standards," he added.

Boyd returned to New Zealand earlier this year after two seasons with the Sharks Super Rugby team in South Africa.

Prior to that, Boyd spent six years with Wellington Rugby in various coaching roles including coaching the development and academy teams and four years as the assistant coach of the Wellington Lions.

The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship takes place in Italy in June.