McNamara to succeed Cullen as Leinster head coach

Noel McNamara will replace Leo Cullen as Leinster's head coach from next season, the Irish province have announced.

Cullen said in June that he would leave his role at the end of the current campaign after a trophy-laden 12 years with Leinster.

McNamara is currently attack coach at Bordeaux Begles, who defeated Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup final last season.

The 43-year-old previously spent five years at Leinster in a number of roles, including Leinster 'A' head coach and as academy manager.

He joined the Sharks in South Africa in 2021 as attack and backs coach before taking on his current role with Bordeaux in 2023.

Since moving to France he has helped Bordeaux win consecutive Champions Cups and they have twice been runners-up in the Top 14.

In May, Leinster were second best as they struggled to deal with Bordeaux's McNamara-led attack in Bilbao, with the French side running out dominant 41-19 winners.

McNamara, who also coached Ireland to an Under-20s Six Nations Grand Slam in 2019, said that the job was "one of the most prestigious roles in world rugby".

"It is an honour to be given this responsibility," he said.

"We have a very exciting season ahead with UBB and I am fully focused on that before moving back to Leinster next summer."

Shane Nolan, Leinster's chief executive, said: "Noel has a long association with the club and emerged as our preferred candidate very early in the process.

"His transition into the role will be seamless and we look forward to welcoming him here next July after this season reaches its conclusion."

The IRFU's performance director David Humphreys said McNamara has a "deep understanding of Irish rugby".

"Noel brings a wealth of coaching experience, strong leadership qualities and a proven track record of developing players and coaching successful teams," Humphreys said.

"I'm looking forward to working with him to ensure Leinster's continued success, while supporting the development of players for the Ireland national team."

Since he took over in 2015, Cullen has led Leinster to six league titles and the Champions Cup in 2018, but his side subsequently lost five finals in the competition, including four in the past five years.