The former Leicester Tigers centre Aaron Mauger will return to Welford Road as the new head coach, his current club, the Crusaders, have confirmed.
The 33-year-old former All Black, who made 53 appearances for the Tigers between 2007 and 2010 before retiring, has signed a three-year deal with the Midlands club and will take the role, recently vacated by Paul Burke, for the 2015-16 season. He will arrive after next year’s Super Rugby competition when he will leave his current post as the Crusaders assistant coach.
“I have awesome memories of my time at Leicester as a player and it is a place I will very happily return to,” said Mauger, who won 46 caps for New Zealand. “I feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to do that as the head coach for the club and the timing is right for me to grab that opportunity. My aim is to help create the framework for Leicester to once again be amongst the top clubs in European and world rugby.
“I am loving being part of the coaching team at the Crusaders and still learning so much here, so it was not an easy decision to make. But I still have a whole Super Rugby season ahead of me to enjoy with this team, and then I know that the move to Leicester is the right thing to do for my coaching career. I would love to come back and coach in New Zealand long-term and I believe that this overseas experience will help me to do that and to become a better coach.”
Mauger arrived at Leicester following the 2007 World Cup and helped the Tigers to the Premiership title in 2009 before a back injury forced his retirement in March 2010.
Burke left the role of Leicester head coach in October, after just over a year in the position, having replaced Matt O’Connor, who left to take the reins at Leinster in 2013. Burke’s departure left the Tigers director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, short of experience on his coaching staff but Mauger’s capture will be seen as a major coup for the 10-times Premiership champions.
“Aaron played at the highest level with club and country, and he has an excellent knowledge of the game and impressive ideas on how he wants to see it played,” said Cockerill. “He made a very valuable input during his time here as a player and has developed as a coach during his time back in New Zealand.
“We have been looking for the right person to take on a very important job and help to take us forward as the game is always evolving. Aaron will be a real asset to this club as head coach with our coaching team.”
The Crusaders head coach, Todd Blackadder, added “Aaron is a highly valued and much loved member of this Crusaders coaching team and we will hate to see him go. But in saying that, we all know that this is an opportunity that should not be passed up so we are 100% on board with Azza’s decision and wish him the very best for this next stage in his coaching career. He is an outstanding coach and he is ready for this head coach role.”
Leicester have endured an injury-hit start to the season but Sunday’s victory over London Welsh moved the Tigers back up to fifth in the table.
