Top 14 outfit Montpellier have announced that Philippe Saint-Andre will take over the role of director of rugby next month.
The former French head coach has been out of the game since the 2015 Rugby World Cup and has since gone on to set up PSA Academies which coaches rugby to young players across England, Ireland and France.
However, despite being out of the professional game for some time he has landed the job the club’s president Mohed Altrad confirmed in an interview with L’Agglorieuse.
“We changed coaches, (Xavier) Garbajosa arrived. (Jean-Baptiste) Elissalde has arrived (as an assistant). Next month, Saint-Andre will arrive. And we will continue to progress,” he said.
Saint-Andre will take the reins from current director of rugby Vern Cotter and does have experience in the position having performed the role at the likes of Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Toulon previously. Under his watch the Sharks went on to win the Premiership title in 2006 so fans will be hoping for a similar result.
However, his arrival means that former Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika has missed out on the appointment having been favourite to take the role at one point. Cheika has been out of work since calling time on his career with the Wallabies and we will now have to wait and see where his next job lies.
