Leinster appoints Noel McNamara as rugby head coach
McNamara will succeed Leo Cullen on 1 July 2027, after finishing the 2026/27 season as Bordeaux-Bègles' attack coach.
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McNamara will succeed Leo Cullen on 1 July 2027, after finishing the 2026/27 season as Bordeaux-Bègles' attack coach.
Leinster has appointed Noel McNamara as its next head coach, bringing him back to the Irish rugby team for the 2027/28 season. He is due to take charge on 1 July 2027.
McNamara will succeed Leo Cullen, who announced in June that he would leave at the end of the current season. Cullen remains in charge until then, while McNamara stays at Bordeaux-Bègles as attack coach.
McNamara worked at Leinster from 2016 to 2021, including as academy manager and head coach of Leinster A. He also coached Ireland to the Under-20s Six Nations Grand Slam in 2019.
He joined the Sharks in South Africa as attack and backs coach in 2021, then moved to Bordeaux in 2023. During his time there, Bordeaux won consecutive Champions Cups and twice finished runner-up in the Top 14, BBC Rugby Union said.
One of those Champions Cup wins came against Leinster: Bordeaux beat Cullen’s team 41–19 in the final in Bilbao in May 2026, with McNamara overseeing its attack.
Leinster chief executive Shane Nolan cited McNamara’s long association with the club and said he became the preferred candidate early in the selection process. Irish Rugby Football Union performance director David Humphreys praised McNamara’s experience, leadership and record of developing players, and said he looked forward to working with him on Leinster’s success and the development of players for Ireland.
Cullen took charge in 2015 and has led Leinster to six league titles and the 2018 Champions Cup. The team subsequently lost five finals in that competition, including four in the past five years.
Before returning to Leinster, McNamara said he is fully focused on completing Bordeaux’s current campaign.
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