McKenzie to coach Stade Français

Former Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie will take over at the helm of Parisian club Stade Français it was announced on Thursday.

Former Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie will take over at the helm of Parisian club Stade Français it was announced on Thursday.

Stade Français, the defending Top 14 champions, have been searching for a new coach for some time now after current coach and former France scrum-half Fabien Galthié announced that he would be stepping down from the post at the end of the season.

Various names have been banded about from former Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer to retired Stade player Pieter de Villiers. Club president Max Guazzini however decided on the former Wallaby prop, announcing the news on the Stade Français website just three days before the Parisian club's semi-final against arch rivals Toulouse in Bordeaux on Sunday.

McKenzie, Australia's most capped prop, took the Waratahs to the Final of the Super 14 this year but was unable to hang onto his job in Sydney. His name was the first to crop up on the list of possible coaches in the French capital but is said to have hesitated due to family reasons.

The 43-year-old arrives in Paris without assistants and he is widely expected to be aided by current forwards coach Fabrice Landreau while veteran Stade Français wing Christophe Dominici will assist with the backs.

McKenzie spent two years living in Paris between 1982 and 1984 playing with Paris Université Club and speaks relatively good French. The Australian follows in the footstep of two other foreigners at the helm of the French giants, John Connolly and Nick Mallet.