Former Bath and Stade Francais coach Steve Meehan will join Bernard Laporte's backroom staff at Toulon next term.
Meehan has been drafted in to replace the Lyon-bound Pierre Mignoni. Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal has confirmed the news with Meehan joining the Champions Cup holders on a two-year deal after his time with the Reds in Super Rugby has come to an end.
Meehan will bring a wealth of experience having coached in the Top 14, Aviva Premiership and in Super Rugby. He worked under Nick Mallett and Fabien Galthié at Stade from 2002 through to 2006 and then joined Bath as backs coach.
Bath were in a transition period at the time and he was soon promoted to head coach, a position he held until 2011. In 2013 he linked up with former Bath coach Michael Foley at the Western Force and after a season in Perth he joined the Reds as attack coach for the 2014 and 2015 campaigns.
At Toulon Meehan will work under Laporte for the forthcoming season before Diego Dominguez then takes over the reins for the 2016-17 campaign. Dominguez will arrive at Toulon in January, 2016, to spend time with Laporte before assuming control for the following season.
Meehan's coaching style favours a heads-up approach to rugby with an emphasis on running the ball from deep as opposed to kicking. At Bath this mantra helped them to the 2008 Challenge Cup, their first piece of silverware in 10 years.
