Former New Zealand U20s assistant coach joins Western Force

Former New Zealand U20s assistant coach Craig Dunlea will head to Perth later this month after signing with the Western Force for the new Super Rugby Pacific season. With this appointment, the Force have completed the team’s coaching group ahead of the 2026 campaign.

Dunlea joins the Force’s coaching staff along with defence coach Brad Harris, assistant coach James Stannard, and head coach Simon Cron. The former prop has spent the last four NPC seasons with Canterbury, looking after the forwards scrum and ball-into-contact areas.

New Zealand have also competed at the last two U20 World Championships with Dunlea as an assistant coach, focusing on scrums as a specialist. With Dunlea among the coaching ranks, the New Zealanders finished second at the 2025 event.

Am on returning Boks

Am on returning Boks

Dunlea’s coaching journey started with Mid-Canterbury Heartland in 2012-2017, before taking up opportunities with Lincoln University as an assistant coach, and the Junior Crusaders forwards coach in 2020.

In 2021, Dunlea served as the Crusaders B forwards coach and the Canterbury scrum coach in the NPC. Dunlea would take up roles as the Crusaders U20 forwards coach and Crusaders Academy forwards coach the following year.

“It’s great to get Craig on board, the feedback from players and staff that have worked with him is he’s very detailed which is important for us,” Force coach Cron said in a statement.

“We’ve got a lot of young, developing props and we want to provide them with as much opportunity to develop as possible.

“He has cut his teeth working for four years in the NPC with Canterbury and two years with the New Zealand U20s.

“He’s a really good operator at lineout time and he’ll work well with our key lineout leaders and continue on from Sas (Tom Donnelly) with the development there.”

The Force missed out on the Super Rugby playoffs in 2025, finishing ninth. They had started the season with back-to-back wins, sitting inside the top six at one stage along with the other three Australian teams.

In the all-new Super Rugby AUS, the Force continued to show signs of improvement, hosting the Grand Final in Wanneroo. While they were beaten by the NSW Waratahs 33-26, backrower Vaiolini Ekuasi and fly-half Max Burey were among the tournament standouts.

Dunlea joins a Force side that features a mix of rising stars and established Wallabies. This will be Dunlea’s first role with a Super Rugby side, and the assistant coach can’t wait – set to head west after Canterbury’s NPC season.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” Dunlea explained.

“In the conversations I had with Crono and Goody, I can feel their enthusiasm about the franchise and where it’s going. From afar, you can see the positive trajectory the squad is going and now it’s about taking that to the next level.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of Super Rugby and to working with the players and staff to keep building on the strong foundations already in place and drive the Force to new heights.

“My coaching philosophy is built around the love and enjoyment of rugby, along with a focus on hard work and the technical side of set-piece and installing domination among our forwards.

“On a personal side, I’ve never been to Perth but have only heard good things about the city, so I cannot wait to get over there and get into it.”