Matt O'Connor (rugby player)
| Full name | Matthew Gerard O'Connor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 29 January 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Canberra, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Head Coach | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current team | Leicester | ||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1994 | Australia | 1 | (0) |
| Teams coached | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 2017–pres. 2016 2013–15 2010–13 |
Leicester Queensland Reds (interim) Leinster Leicester |
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Matt O'Connor (born 29 January 1971) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international player. He is currently the head coach of the Leicester Tigers. O'Connor has held head coaching positions with the Queensland Reds (co-head coach alongside Nick Stiles during 2016); at Irish province Leinster, where he won the Pro12 in 2013–14; and in a previous stint with Leicester, where he won the Premiership in 2013.
O'Connor played rugby for the ACT in the 1990s and was awarded a single cap for the Wallabies against Ireland in 1994.
He signed for rugby league club the Hunter Mariners in 1996, but the club's existence was threatened by the Super League war, so he played in only several trial matches that year. He played for Paris Saint-Germain in 1997. O'Connor spent three years in Japan playing for and then coaching Kubota Rugby Team. He lived in Japan with his wife and three children.
Returning to Australia, O'Connor joined the Brumbies as a backline coach in Canberra. He was appointed head coach of Australia A for the Pacific Nations Cup competition.
O'Connor joined the Leicester Tigers as the backline coach under Heyneke Meyer, replacing another former Australian centre, Pat Howard. Leicester won the English Premiership in 2009. O'Connor remained as attack coach when Richard Cockerill took over as head coach for the following season with the club going on to win the Premiership again in 2010. Cockerill was promoted to the position of director of rugby and O'Connor was appointed head coach of Leicester in July 2010, and he was extremely influential in the Tigers Premiership win of 2013.
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