• Australian is back for a second spell • Club languishes fifth in Premiership

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Leicester have announced the Welford Road return of the Australian Matt O’Connor as their coach. He is set to begin work early next month, subject to a visa, with Aaron Mauger leaving the club.

The 46-year-old worked at Leicester between 2008-2013, initially as a backs coach and then as the coach. During that period, they won three Premiership titles.

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Mauger will leave after the game against Northampton on Saturday and his departure closes a painful chapter for the club, fifth in the Premiership, after Richard Cockerill, the former director of rugby, was sacked in January.

Mauger freely admitted after Cockerill’s exit he had “fundamental differences” with the Leicester legend but it is the New Zealander who is now following him out of the door.

The Leicester chairman, Peter Tom, said: “The club have 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 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.”

Since leaving Welford Road in 2013, O’Connor has worked with Leinster, who he led them to the Celtic League title in his first season, Queensland Reds and Tonga.