Auckland Rugby is pleased to announce JP Faamausili as the head coach of the Auckland Storm for the upcoming Farah Palmer Cup.

Faamausili has been with the squad for the past two season in an assistant coaching role and replaces Dean Bickerton who stepped down for personal reasons.

Faamausili has held several coaching roles in Auckland over the past five years, a resource coach for Blues Schools and a talent identification selector for New Zealand Schools. He currently works as a Rugby Development Coach in Secondary Schools for Auckland Rugby.

“The Auckland Storm is one of the most successful teams in the game so this role will be a great challenge,” said Faamausili.

“We have a lot of talented players within Auckland and I am looking forward to getting them together to build the campaign.”

The Farah Palmer Cup draw for 2017 has yet to be released but Faamausili said plans for the season are already coming together.

Nomination forms have been sent out to clubs in advance of creating a wider training group in early June. The pre-season schedule will be confirm when the draw is finalised.

Eleven Storm players are currently training with the Black Ferns in advance of the final squad naming for the World Cup in August.

Faamausili will be joined by Chris Tautiaga as assistant coach and Allie Wright as manager.

Auckland Rugby Coach Development Manager Shane King said Faamausili was in a pool of strong candidates for the role.

“It was seen as a natural progression for JP following the work he had done with this group as an assistant for the past two years,” said King.

High Performance Manager Ben Meyer echoed those sentiments and highlighted how important the team is to Auckland Rugby.

“We are committed to seeing the Storm back at the top and to continue their legacy in the women’s game. This management group has a big job ahead of them but we trust their ability to succeed.”