Leicester lose out on first-choice Michael Cheika replacement

Paul Gustard won’t be returning to his former club, Leicester Tigers, next season and will instead be seeing out the final year of his deal with Stade Francais.

Gustard, 49, was part of the Tigers side that defeated Stade to win the Heineken Cup in 2001 and was Tigers’ first-choice to replace Michael Cheika when he leaves Welford Road when his one-year contract runs out this summer.

The Tigers had settled on Gustard, an ex-London Irish and Saracens flanker, after speaking to other coaches, including Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith, who also has another left to run on his deal.

Like with Smith, the Tigers’ reluctance to pay realistic compensation for the last year of his Stade contract was in sharp contrast to them receiving massive payouts when Steve Borthwick, Kevin Sinfield, and Richard Wigglesworth left for the RFU.

Fixture

Gallagher Premiership

Leicester

22 - 29

Full-time

Saracens

All Stats and Data

It has cost them their man and sent them back to the drawing board to find an alternative with the clock ticking towards when Cheika leaves the hot seat.

Gustard spent seven years coaching at Saracens before becoming England’s defence coach in 2016 has worked abroad since leaving Harlequins, where he was head of rugby for three years, in 2021.

He spent a season as an assistant coach at Benetton before moving to Paris in 2022 as defence coach before being promoted to head coach when they sacked Karim Ghezal last September, just four games into their Top 14 campaign.

Gustard was handed sole control of team affairs in February after director of rugby Laurent Labit was moved aside when they slumped to the bottom of the table after defeat against Toulon and Vannes, beating Montpellier.

But he has plotted a mini-revival in fortunes that has seen him move into 11th place with an eight-point gap between them and bottom-placed Vannes.

Capri-Sun king Hans-Peter Wild told Canal+ during last weekend’s 31-27 win over Bayonne at Stade Jean Bouin that he wanted Gustard to stay in Paris for next season, and he looks to have got his wish.

It would appear that Stuart Lancaster, also touted for the job, is looking to move back into international coaching, leaving the Tigers to what is looking like an increasingly desperate search.