Stade Français have turned to Michael Cheika to replace Jacques Delmas as the club's head coach next season.
Parisians turn to Leinster coach
Stade Français have turned to Michael Cheika to replace Jacques Delmas as the club's head coach next season.
Stade announced on Friday that Delmas would leave the Parisians at the end of the season after a disappointing spell in charge.
And owner Max Guazzini has moved quickly in naming a successor, with Leinster coach Cheika set to take over.
"He is reigning European champion," Guazzini said. "Cheika speaks French fluently, even better than (former coach) Nick Mallett.
"He has a project over several years and a real natural authority."
Cheika, who spent a season in Paris as a player back in the early 1990s, led Leinster to the Heineken Cup title last season.
However the Australian announced that this would be his last season in Dublin, having replaced Declan Kidney in 2005 - with Josef Schmidt confirmed as his successor.
He had been linked to the coaching position at the Melbourne Rebels before Rod Macqueen was appointed, while he was also rumoured to be wanted by the Waratahs.
Cheika, though, has now been charged with turning Stade around - with the side currently looking like missing out on the Top 14 play-offs and qualification via the league for the Heineken Cup.
