Monday 20 March 2017 19:03, UK
Matt O'Connor will return to Leicester in the role of head coach from the start of April.
The Australian will replace Aaron Mauger, who is departing the club after this weekend's Premiership game against Northampton.
O'Connor was part of the coaching staff for the Tigers' Premiership title wins in 2009, 2010 and 2013 and has since worked with Leinster, Queensland Reds and Tonga.
He will work within a new management structure at Welford Road, and chairman Peter Tom said: "We are delighted that Matt O'Connor has accepted an offer to return to Welford Road.
"The club has conducted an exhaustive search to find who we feel is the right person to take the team forward and this brought up the names of a number of potentially very good coaches.
"One of the most significant factors in our deliberations was experience of the Premiership and what it takes to win the competition.
"Matt has that experience as head coach during a successful period which brought three league titles, an Anglo-Welsh Cup and the club's most recent appearance in the European Cup Final.
"The team also topped the try-scoring figures in the Premiership four times in that five-year period with Matt in charge of the attack."
Mauger has been head coach since the start of the 2015/16 season and stepped up to take overall charge on an interim basis following director of rugby Richard Cockerill's January departure.
Tom said: "While preparing to welcome Matt, we are also disappointed to lose Aaron. Matt's strengths are in his work with players on the training pitch and we are making changes to our organisational structure to enable him to focus solely on the success of the team.
"We thank Aaron for his commitment to the club over the last two seasons as head coach and especially in his time in interim charge of team affairs in recent months. We wish him well for the future."
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