Stephen Larkham has turned his back on a coaching extension with Irish club Munster, paving the way for his return to Super Rugby with the Brumbies.
Larkham, who joined Munster as senior coach in 2019, has announced he will be returning to Australia at the end of the season next June for family reasons.
Current Brumbies coach Dan McKellar, will oversee the side in Super Rugby Pacific next season before relinquishing his role to focus on the Wallabies, where he is forwards coach under Dave Rennie.
Larkham, 47, said it was time to put his family first and take up a “coaching opportunity closer to home”.
“I only recently spoke about my desire to remain with Munster and continue working with my fellow coaches and playing group,” the former Wallabies great said in a statement.
“That hopefully gives some indication as to how difficult a decision this has been for me. The staff, players, fans, and facilities are world class here and I am grateful to have had this opportunity.
“My family made a number of sacrifices in joining me on this move to Ireland and my girls’ adjustment over here, particularly with COVID, has been difficult.
“I have to put them first now, and with a coaching opportunity closer to home this is the right thing for my family at this time.”
The Brumbies are yet to announce McKellar’s replacement but it’s believed favourite son Larkham, as well as Japan-based Simon Cron, were the frontrunners.
After 127 appearances for the Brumbies and 102 Test caps Larkham’s coaching career began in Canberra in 2011 before he was elevated to the head coach role at the Super Rugby side.
He joined then Wallabies’ coach Michael Cheika’s 2015 World Cup campaign as attack coach, splitting his time between the Test and Super Rugby role.
Larkham then joined the Wallabies coaching set-up but was controversially sacked by Cheika in early 2019 after a string of poor results.
Malo
Guest
Didn’t get $700k for an assistant role plus a huge payout when he got sacked by RA. Great to see RA will be burned again by this coaching Premaddona.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Interesting development, Bernie coming back to the job he left a few years ago.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Larkham seems like a good Assistant but HC, I'm not sure.
Darren WA
Roar Rookie
That would be an awesome line up, but Stephen Larkham will not go for a roll that is not a head coach position.
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Not yet wigeye..DR needs to stay until 2027..then my guy can take over hopefully...
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Yeah that is better..my guy is not yet ready..i was hoping he stayed a little bit longer in NH...
wigeye
Guest
Maybe he had the smarts and cheika couldn't handle it
Adsa
Roar Rookie
Geez how desperate are the Ponies?, getting a coach who was sacked by Chieka cause he was no good.
wigeye
Guest
larkham wallaby coach after world cup eh
Chas
Roar Rookie
Agree with all of that. Always struck me as one of those guys that makes a good assistant coach. Georgina says he will have Seib and Fisher as assistants, don't know much about Seib but apparently Fishers mop is camouflaging a fairly astute rugby brain. (Note: Disclosure without prejudice: I have no hair.) Anyway, good luck to all of them, as a Kiwi looking in from outside, Brumbies seem to have an admirable culture which is important not only to Australian rugby culture but rugby culture as a whole. And just on that, try not to get too good while my mob flounders around, seemingly without any obvious direction - Nah, stuff it, go for it. Maybe it will speed up the inevitable across the ditch. See how I turned a discussion about Larkham/Brumbies into a comment on NZR/Foster appointment - not that I'm concerned or anything
Tooly
Roar Rookie
I hope that he has expanded his knowledge by talking with Andy Farrell and Eddie Jones. Laurie Fischer is the best coach in Australia.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
MD, he is a smart guy and he will have learnt a lot from his time in Ireland. I am hopeful but who knows? The Brumbies have a great set up and he will fit straight in, I’d be surprised if he took a minor coaching position.
Hooter
Roar Rookie
Head Coach: Simon Cron Backs Coach: Stephen Larkham Forwards Coach: Laurie Fischer Scrum Coach: Dan Palmer That sounds like a good mix to me.....
adamv
Roar Rookie
Would have liked to see Cron have a go. Brumbies have a good list, excellent support staff (The Lord for example) and a great culture. Having an outsider (who is smart) come in might just be the difference between a good team and a great team.
adamv
Roar Rookie
Family.
Marshy
Guest
Interesting development. I note that McKellar is moving back to Qld.
moondoggie
Roar Rookie
I want to believe in Larkham, but he just didn't inspire in his last stint as coach. Unfortunately the Brumbies went backwards under his tenure. Classic case where the master player, a master coach does not make. Hopefully he's added a few strings to his bow since then.