Leicester Tigers are delighted to announce that former All Blacks centre Aaron Mauger has agreed to join the club as head coach.
Mauger, who played 45 Tests for New Zealand, had three seasons as a Leicester Tigers player following the 2007 Rugby World Cup and will return to the club in his new role at the end of the 2015 Super 15 season in the southern hemisphere.
A member of Tigers' 2009 and 2010 Premiership title-winning squad and the team that reached the European Cup Final in 2009, when he was also named Supporters' Player of the Year, Mauger returned to New Zealand after his retirement as a player in 2010 and joined the coaching team at the Crusaders.
Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: "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.
"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."
Mauger, 33, will complete his third Super Rugby season as assistant coach with the Crusaders in 2015, before returning to Leicester in time for the start of the 2015/16 season.
"I have awesome memories of my time at Leicester as a player and it is a place I will very happily return to," he said.
"I feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to do that as head coach for the club and the timing is right for me to grab that opportunity."
Mauger, who played 45 Tests for New Zealand, had three seasons as a Leicester Tigers player following the 2007 Rugby World Cup and will return to the club in his new role at the end of the 2015 Super 15 season in the southern hemisphere.
A member of Tigers' 2009 and 2010 Premiership title-winning squad and the team that reached the European Cup Final in 2009, when he was also named Supporters' Player of the Year, Mauger returned to New Zealand after his retirement as a player in 2010 and joined the coaching team at the Crusaders.
Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: "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.
"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."
Mauger, 33, will complete his third Super Rugby season as assistant coach with the Crusaders in 2015, before returning to Leicester in time for the start of the 2015/16 season.
"I have awesome memories of my time at Leicester as a player and it is a place I will very happily return to," he said.
"I feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to do that as head coach for the club and the timing is right for me to grab that opportunity."
