Heyneke Meyer - Head Coach

Heyneke Meyer

The only man to coach winning teams in the Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup and Super 14 in South Africa, Heyneke Meyer was announced as Leicester Tigers head coach in the summer of 2008.
He started coaching at the age of 20 and enjoyed success at all levels, gaining a reputation for innovation and developing talent. Heyneke led the Vodacom Bulls to the 2007 Super 14 title – the first South Africans to win the trophy - and won four Currie Cups in five years as well as leading his team to four Vodacom Cup finals.

He was nominated as national coach of South Africa and served as an assistant coach to the team which reached 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-finals.

Heyneke is sponsored by Independent Insurance Bureau, please phone for personal quotes.

Richard Cockerill - Forwards Coach

Richard Cockerill

Now in his second spell with Leicester Tigers, Cockerill gained 27 Test caps for England in his playing career with the club before enjoying a two-year spell in France with Montferrand.

Richard hails from Rugby, was educated at Harris Church of England School and played rugby for Warwickshire Schools, England Under-21s and England A on his way to his senior international debut in 1997. He played in the 1998 and '99 Five Nations and the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
A member of the Barbarians squad on their 2001 summer tour of the UK, he captained the famous invitational XV at Welford Road in the Neil Back Testimonial game in March 2003.

Richard started the 2007/08 season as acting head coach, guiding Tigers to an impressive start to the campaign despite the absence of 12 players through World Cup duty.
Richard is sponsored by  http://www.gtma.co.uk/         

Matt O'Connor - Backs Coach

Matt O'Connor

The son of a former rugby league professional, Matt played most of his club rugby in Canberra with ACT and then the Brumbies, while also fitting in a spell in Super League and a couple of seasons in Japan.

Matt coached in Japan before his return to Australia where he worked for four years with the exciting Brumbies backline which included national team skippers George Gregan and Stirling Mortlock.

His abilities were further recognised with three years working with Australia A before joining Heyneke Meyer at Welford Road in time for the start of the 2008/09 season.

Matt is sponsored by Cushing IP Limited. Email: cushingipltd@aol.com

Paul Burke -Kicking Coach

Paul Burke

An international fly-half with 13 caps for Ireland in a playing career which saw spells with Cork Constitution, London Irish, Bristol, Cardiff, Harlequins, Munster and finally Leicester Tigers before retiring and joining the coaching staff in the summer of 2008.

Paul started Leicester’s EDF Energy Cup Final victory against the Ospreys in 2007 and played for Quins in the finals of the 2001 European Shield and 2004 Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

He was capped by England at all age groups but qualified for Ireland through his parents and made senior international debut against England in 1995, going to the Rugby World Cup in the same year.

Dusty Hare - Chief Scout

Dusty Hare

Dusty was a professional cricketer from 1971-76, before seeing the light and moving to rugby union. He represented Tigers between 1976 and 1989, playing 394 games for the club. By the time he retired, Dusty was the world's highest points-scorer, achieving 7,137 points in total, with 4,507 scored for Tigers alone. He was capped 25 times for England and was a British and Irish Lions tourist in 1983.

He served on the Barbarian Committee between 1989 and 1992 and was awarded a MBE in 1989. In 1993, Dusty took on the role of Director of Rugby at Nottingham, before coming back to Tigers in 1994 as Development Coordinator.

Before becoming full-time at Tigers, Dusty was a farmer. He was also awarded an honorary Bachelor of Arts degree from Leicester University in 1990. 

Dusty Hare is sponsored by

'Click here to see the 2007-08 coaching profiles'