Wallabies legend Stephen Larkham is returning to Australian rugby on a two-year contract to coach the Brumbies from 2023.

Larkham, who first coached the Brumbies from 2014-2017, will take charge for a second time when his contract with Irish club Munster expires in July next year.

He will succeed Dan McKellar, who will join the Wallabies set-up full-time at the end of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

“It’s exciting to know I’ll be returning home to the Brumbies and to Canberra with my family after finishing up my time in Ireland,” Larkham, who played for more than a decade with the ACT-based franchise, said.

“Playing for the Brumbies as a Canberra local was obviously a special time in my life and the club were very supportive in my transition into coaching so I want to thank Phil (Thomson, CEO) and the Brumbies board for giving me this opportunity to come back and represent the club again as head coach.”

The 47-year-old Larkham has coached Munster since 2019.

“I’ve developed and learnt a lot both as a person and as a coach in these past couple of years, and I’m looking forward to bringing that experience back to the Brumbies to ensure their continued success,” he said.

Thomson said that Larkham had proved to the “strongest candidate” through the club’s recruitment process for a coach to take over from McKellar.

“Making this appointment now puts us in a position where we have certainty for the players, and it is also important that we have continuity and stability for our existing staff and the organisation moving forward,” Thomson said.

After 102 Test caps, Larkham’s coaching career began in Canberra in 2011 as an assistant before he was elevated to the head coach role three seasons later.

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.

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