London Irish appoint Tom Coventry

As revealed exclusively by The Rugby Paper yesterday, have appointed Tom as their new Head Coach for the start of the 2015/16 season.
Coventry, who is thought to have signed a three-year deal, is currently assistant coach of the franchise the Chiefs and will remain so until the end of the 2015 Investec Super Rugby season.
He will take over at Exiles from Brian Smith who was granted a compassionate leave yesterday and left the club immediately. Glenn Delaney will act as head coach until the end of the season.
Coventry was part of the coaching set up who won back-to-back title in 2012 and 2014.
Waikato born and raised, Coventry played 52 games for Waikato between 1988 and 1994, scoring 14 tries and winning the NPC in 1992 before his coaching career began with Otago University.
He said: “I had lengthy discussions with the Board of Directors at London Irish and with the significant investment that has been put into the Club, especially with the new training facility, it made my decision to join a straightforward one. The owners have a clear vision of where they want to take the Club and it is a challenge I am immensely excited by and I cannot wait to get stuck in when I join.
“I have enjoyed my time with the Chiefs and will continue to do so until it is time to go, but I think to stay fresh as a coach it is important to immerse yourself in new environments, new challenges and experiences which is what I am going to do.”
London Irish Rugby Development Director Bob Casey added: “The Club's rugby committee has undertaken an extensive international search to find a top calibre coach to take London Irish forward.
“Tom Coventry proved to be an outstanding candidate given his individual character and rugby experience. He comes from the best rugby environment in the world where he has had much success and worked with two of New Zealand's leading coaches in Wayne Smith and Dave Rennie.
“It is a great coup for London Irish to secure a coach of Tom's calibre to lead our rugby programme over the coming seasons. We look forward to welcoming Tom and his family into the London Irish family.”

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