Australia’s World Cup campaign has been plunged into crisis after Wallabies forwards coach Dan McKellar was appointed to the top job at English Premiership side Leicester.
McKellar, who was in charge of the Brumbies between 2018-2022 and had been considered the heir apparent to former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, has informed Rugby Australia he is joining the Tigers at Welford Road.
According to sources with knowledge of the move, who spoke on condition of anonymity, McKellar intends to take up the role before the Rugby World Cup, which starts in September.
However, the Australian is contracted until the end of the year, which may complicate his exit from the Wallabies set-up. The parties were locked in discussions on Monday.
The English season begins in mid-October, after the start of the World Cup, but pre-season training for Premiership clubs begins in July. Australia’s first Test in the Rugby Championship is against South Africa on July 8.
The development is a result of Jones’ shock return as Wallabies coach in January.
Dan McKellar is taking up the Leicester Tigers job.Credit:Getty
In Rennie’s early years in Australia, McKellar was publicly and privately positioned to take over in 2024, given the New Zealander was unlikely to extend his deal.
But Jones’ sacking by England led Rugby Australia to swoop for the former Wallabies coach with a deal that lasts through to 2027.
That left McKellar, 46, considering his future, and a vacancy opened at Leicester when Steve Borthwick replaced Jones as England coach.
Jones also pitched a succession plan to McKellar but it appears to have been unsuccessful. The Wallabies coach is under pressure to assemble a quality coaching line-up, with less than seven months until their opening World Cup game against Georgia.
Eddie Jones’ appointment by Rugby Australia has led to a coaching exodus at the Wallabies.Credit:Cole Bennetts
McKellar reportedly beat Michael Cheika and Rassie Erasmus to the Leicester job. Reports also said Tigers officials had consulted Borthwick on whom he believed should get the job.
McKellar and Borthwick have a relationship and the forward-oriented style of the ex-Brumbies coach is seen as a good fit for Leicester, one of the historically dominant clubs in England.
Jones is left with the task of replacing him as a forwards and set-piece coach. The Wallabies coach said last week he wasn’t concerned he had not signed anyone yet and would contemplate recruiting Super Rugby coaches for a “smash and grab” mission at the World Cup.
Current Brumbies forwards coach Laurie Fisher last week revealed he would not continue in an assistant coach role with the Wallabies.
Rennie’s former staff have now all moved on, with Matt Taylor and Scott Wisemantel leaving last year. Wisemantel has agreed to help Jones as a consultant, and former Wallabies back Berrick Barnes is set to join RA as a skills coach.
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