Omar Mouneimne

As speculated here on rugby-talk recently by one of our French contributors it has been confirmed that Cell C Sharks Defence Coach, Omar Mouneimne is on his way to France.

He has requested an early release from his contract, which was granted, to pursue an offer with French Top 14 side, Stade Francais.

Commenting on his departure, Director of Rugby Gary Gold said: “Omar has worked tremendously hard on our defensive structures over the past few months.  His efforts resulted in us being one of the top defensive teams in the 2016 Super Rugby competition.

“We thank him for his invaluable contribution to the team, in a short space of time, and wish him the very best for this new opportunity he has decided to pursue.”

Mouneimne added: “Never in my life have I felt this truly accepted as I did at The Sharks.  This is truly a wonderful family environment and I would like to thank Gary Gold for giving me the wonderful opportunity to join this team.  My thanks are also extended to John Smit for always having an open-door policy and assisting me, The Sharks staff for being unbelievable, but most of all I would like to thank the players for their tireless work ethic and for accepting my methods.  This place is world-class.”

Mouneimne has not been known for letting the grass grow under his feet. He joined the Southern Kings in 2012, after a spell with Nick Mallet’s Italian national team as the defensive coach in 2010 and 2011.

Since then Mouneimne has been unsettled, bouncing around different clubs  and franchises – having left the Kings in 2013, followed Allan Solomons to Edinburgh, returned to the Kings at the end of 2014, before leaving them again to take up a coaching consulting position at Lyon and then became the High Performance Coordinator at the Pumas in 2015 before joining the Sharks in October 2015.