Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has signed as the new head coach of English rugby club Leicester, just days after former Brumbies coach Dan McKellar was sacked by the Premiership outfit.
The appointment spells the end of Cheika as a candidate for the Waratahs head coach vacancy, and puts an end – for now – to his aspirations of coaching in the NRL.
Cheika was linked with the South Sydney Rabbitohs job after Jason Demetriou’s axing in April, and was interviewed for the Parramatta Eels job as well. He has previously been linked with the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Wests Tigers, too.
The Tigers (the Leicester variety) announced on Thursday night they had signed Cheika on a deal of unspecified length. He will be joining the club with immediate effect and be head coach for the 2024/25 season, at least.
How we got here
After finishing up with the Wallabies in 2019, Cheika worked as a consultant with the Sydney Roosters and Argentina. In 2022, he became head coach of the Pumas, and he helped Argentina claim some major scalps, including beating the All Blacks for the first time in New Zealand, and a record victory over the Wallabies, too.
Michael Cheika shakes hands with Eddie Jones during a Argentina-Wallabies clash in 2023.Credit: Getty
Having taken the Pumas to the semi-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup (which was his third consecutive finals appearance at a World Cup, after two qualifications with the Wallabies in 2015 and 2019), Cheika began looking for another job.
McKellar beat Cheika to the Leicester job last year but after the Tigers had a mediocre season and finished eighth, the club sacked McKellar last week. Cheika was immediately linked to the vacancy, and the speed of his appointment a few days later would indicate the club were well advanced with their plans. Former Wallabies scrum coach Dan Palmer, who was on McKellar’s staff, also resigned from the club on Thursday.
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