Michael Cheika: Who is he and where has the Leicester Tigers boss coached?
Leicester Tigers this week announced that Australian Michael Cheika will become the new head coach after parting ways with Dan McKellar.
But who is he, where has he coached, and what has he said about his appointment?
Who is he?
Cheika, 57, is an Australian rugby coach who spent his career at Randwick in his native homeland.
He was World Rugby Coach of the Year in 2015 and is the only head coach to win a major club rugby competition in both hemispheres – Super Rugby with the Waratahs and Leinster in the Heineken Cup.
Where has Cheika coached?
Cheika started his career in Italy with Petrarca Padova between 1999 and 2000 before heading Down Under to Randwick between 2001 and 2005.
He then headed to Ireland to coach Leinster before hopping the Channel to take on Stade Francais.
Two years at the Waratahs between 2013 and 2015 was followed by a five-year stint with Australia, where they reached the final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Speals at Argentina and Japan’s Green Rockets followed while he also served as a consultant for Lebanon’s rugby league team.
He is now, though, at Leicester Tigers.
What has he said about his new role?
“I want Leicester competing on as many fronts as we can, every time we go out and play together. It’s just one step at a time, together, to build the foundations,” Cheika said.
“Every player and every team want to win trophies – you aren’t playing the game if you don’t want to win – but there is a difference between wanting to win and doing what’s necessary to win. That is what I’ll be doing.
“English teams have been well represented in the top tier of Europe for a while now and we want to get ourselves up to that place as well now, making sure that Leicester are back to competing for the biggest trophies.”
He added: “Honestly, I wasn’t looking at the Premiership and didn’t have the desire to coach in it until Leicester came to me. But the opportunity to coach at Tigers and lead this group of players turned my head.
“I want this to be my best coaching yet. I want the preparation and the way we lead the team, to be at my best level.
“If I can bring my best level, other people will bring their best level and good things will start to happen around us.”