Leicester appoint Australian Hewat as attack coach

Leicester Tigers last won the Premiership title in 2022

Leicester Tigers have appointed Australian Peter Hewat as attack and backs coach after an underwhelming season for the 11-time former Premiership champions.

The 46-year-old leaves his job as head coach of Japanese top-flight side Black Rams Tokyo to be reunited with Tigers boss Dan McKellar, having previously worked alongside his compatriot at the ACT Brumbies in Australia.

Leicester finished third from bottom in the Premiership, with the fourth worst attacking record coupled with the third best defence in the league.

"I really enjoyed being head coach, we made some really good improvements, but an opportunity presented itself where I could team up with Dan again," Hewat told BBC Radio Leicester.

"Also, Leicester being Leicester, it's a huge club with a big history and amazing supporters, so I wanted to take the opportunity to challenge myself in terms of coaching in the Premiership.

"It is an awesome opportunity and one that I couldn't knock back."

Parr returns to Tigers staff

Hewat, a former full-back who played in the Premiership with London Irish, moves to Tigers as a full-time replacement for Alan Dickens who, BBC Radio Leicester understands, was placed on leave during the season amid an investigation by the Rugby Football Union, which went on to find him not guilty.

McKellar has previously lamented not having a complete coaching set-up at his disposal in his first season in the job, having relied on Matt Smith as an interim replacement for Dickson.

Smith now returns to his role as skills and lead academy coach.

"It's been challenging, in my first year, not having a collective group of coaches I thought I would have," McKellar said.

"It's been incredibly tough. I look forward to be able to have a quality, experienced group around me."

Tigers have also brought former prop Matt Parr back to the club as head of athletic performance after more than two years working in rugby league at French club Catalans Dragons.

“Matt’s gone away to Catalans Dragons in the past couple of seasons to upskill himself and to be ready to take on this role - after our conversations and speaking to those who have worked with him before, he’ll be able to start day one with the relationships and knowledge of the club to help us hit the ground running," McKellar told the club website.