Leicester Tigers have named Michael Cheika, former head coach of Australia and Argentina, as their new head coach.
The 57-year-old takes over from fellow Australian Dan McKellar, who departed the Premiership club by mutual agreement last week.
Cheika, who led Leinster to European victory against Leicester in the 2009 Heineken Cup final, recently stepped down from his role with Argentina after steering the Pumas to a fourth-place finish in the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“Honestly, I wasn’t looking at the Premiership and didn’t have the desire to coach in it until Leicester Tigers came to me,” Cheika toldย the club website.
“But, the opportunity to coach at Tigers and lead this group of players turned my head.”
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We are pleased to confirm Michael Cheika as Leicester Tigers Head Coach. pic.twitter.com/g5gk5jMNPd
โ Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) June 27, 2024
Michael Cheika previously led French club Stade Francais and guided the Australian side Waratahs to a Super Rugby title before moving to international rugby as the Wallabies head coach.
He spent five years leading the Australian national team and, after leaving in 2019, took an assistant coaching role with Argentina before becoming their head coach in 2022.
While coaching Argentina, Cheika also managed the Lebanon national rugby league team, leading them to the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup.
Cheika’s appointment at Leicester Tigers marks his return to club rugby for the first time in a decade.
He becomes the eighth head coach for the Tigers in under eight years, following Richard Cockerill, Aaron Mauger, Matt OโConnor, Geordan Murphy, Steve Borthwick, Richard Wigglesworth, and Dan McKellar.
Borthwick led the Tigers to their 11th Premiership title in 2022 before leaving for the England head coach position. Under Wigglesworth, the club reached the play-offs in 2023.
McKellarโs sole season as head coach ended with Leicester Tigers finishing eighth in the Premiership, exiting the European Champions Cup in the second round, and losing the Premiership Cup final.
Despite the underwhelming season, McKellar’s departure was unexpected, especially since he had recently completed his coaching team by adding Australian Peter Hewat as the attack and backs coach.
The coaching setup has had to be restructured, with scrum coach Dan Palmer resigning just before Cheika’s appointment.
Tigers chief executive Andrea Pinchen said Leicester feel Cheika is the “right person to take this team, this club, back to where we know we should be”.
โI also accept that the past week is not what fans expected, and nor did we, but the decisions we have made are for the long-term benefit of Leicester Tigers and after lengthy, detailed and very honest conversations with Michael in recent days, we are on the same page about what is now necessary to see this club back on top,” Pinchen said.