Former All Blacks assistant coach Leon MacDonald is reportedly in the running to take over the coaching reins at Premiership outfit Leicester Tigers at the end of the season.
According to a report in Australian publication The Roar, the 47-year-old is on a two-man shortlist to replace Michael Cheika as the Tigers’ new head coach.
Former Munster head coach Graham Rowntree, who made nearly 400 appearances for Leicester during his playing career, is believed to be the other candidate on the shortlist.
Currently working as a consultant for the Western Force
MacDonald is currently working as coaching consultant at the Western Force and was appointed to that position shortly after the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific campaign kicked off in February.
The 47-year-old previously worked alongside Chris Goodman, the Force’s general manager, during their respective stints with the Crusaders and Tasman academies.
Prior to his role with the Force, MacDonald coached the Blues at Super Rugby level from 2019 to 2023 before taking up a position as one of All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson’s assistants ahead of the 2024 international season.
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However, he left left New Zealand’s coaching set-up ahead of their back-to-back Rugby Championship Tests against the Springboks in South Africa last year with ‘differing views’ cited as the reason for his departure.
Clashed with Robertson
Robertson and MacDonald clashed over the direction of the team, with the former admitting that their rugby philosophies did not align.
MacDonald, who was also the All Blacks XV’s head coach when they faced Ireland ‘A’ and the Barbarians in Europe in 2022, was appointed as the All Blacks’ attack coach in 2024 but, in the end, his stint with the national team lasted just five matches.
He was part of Robertson’s backroom staff for a two-Test series against England in New Zealand, a clash with Fiji in San Diego and back-to-back Rugby Championship clashes on home soil against Argentina.
Former Wallabies boss Cheika is the Tigers’ current head coach but the Welford Road-based club confirmed earlier this year that he will vacate his position at the end of the 2024/25 season.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ex-all-blacks-coach-on-shortlist-to-replace-michael-cheika-at-leicester-tigers-report
