Stephen Meehan is an Australian professional rugby union football coach. He is currently an assistant coach at Toulon in the Top 14 competition in France, and was formerly in charge of

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

in the English Premiership. He was head coach of the Queensland Country team for the inaugural season of Australia's National Rugby Championship in 2014.

Early life

Stephen Meehan grew up in Brisbane, the second youngest of six. He attended Marist College Ashgrove in the 1980s, along with brothers Bryan, Kevin and David. The college, which also produced John Eales and

Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed batting order (cricket)#opening batsman, opening batsm ...

, was a hothouse of ideas on running rugby. The first team was coached by former Wallaby centre Barry Honan and his mantra – "running and passing as opposed to kicking" – was a major influence on Meehan's ideas about rugby.

Coaching

Meehan began his coaching career in Queensland in 1999, working variously as Queensland Reds Under 19 selector, head coach of the Brisbane representative team, Combined States Under 19 backs coach, and head coach of the Brisbane Cyclone team when they became the East Coast Series champions. From July 2002 he worked as Assistant Coach (Backs and Skills) at

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

, first under Head Coach

Nick Mallett Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was the ...

and from 2004/05 with Fabien Galthié. During his tenure, Stade reached the Final of the French Championship three years running, winning in 2002/03 and 2003/04, and losing in extra time to Biarritz Olympique in 2004/05. Stade Français were also finalists in the 2005

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. Meehan joined Bath as the new backs coach in June 2006, before being temporarily promoted to head coach in August 2006. His role was made permanent in December 2006 and he went on to lead the club to their first silverware in 10 years, when Bath won the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

in 2008. In October 2009, Meehan signed a contract extension, to keep him at Bath until 2012. However, following the appointment of Sir Ian McGeechan as director of rugby at the club in 2010, and his subsequent assumption of responsibility for coaching, Meehan and the club reached an agreement whereby he would leave at the end of the 2010/11 season Returning to Australia, Meehan joined the Western Force on a one-year deal for the 2013

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

season as attack coach under Michael Foley. At the end of 2013, Meehan signed with the Queensland Reds as attack coach for the 2014

season. He was appointed as head coach of the Queensland Country team for the inaugural season of Australia's National Rugby Championship in 2014. Meehan joined Toulon as an assistant coach for the 2015–16 season of the Top 14 in France. Meehan joined Japanese Top League side, the Kintetsu Liners, as Backs Coach under Head Coach Akira Tsuboi in April 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meehan, Steve Living people Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union coaches 1966 births Rugby union players from Brisbane