Thursday 26 March 2015 10:42, UK
Rotherham head coach Lee Blackett is leaving the Championship club at the end of the season to join Wasps.
He will become the Aviva Premiership club's backs coach, replacing Stephen Jones who is returning to Wales with the Scarlets.
Blackett, who became the youngest coach in the Championship when he took up the role of head coach in 2013 at the age of 30, earned widespread respect in the game for leading the Titans to fourth spot in the Championship last season – the first time the club had reached the semi-final play-off positions in the modern championship era.
Blackett said: "I am really excited about the new challenge ahead with Wasps next season.
"Even watching from the outside, you can see how much the club is moving forward and it's an exciting time for Wasps. Any coach would jump at the chance to work with the calibre of players Wasps have at their disposal.
"When you watch Wasps playing at their best, at pace, you see how devastating they are. The number of tries and points Wasps have scored this season shows what a quality outfit they are and I'm very much looking forward to being a part of that next season.
"I'm also really looking forward to working with Dai Young and the Wasps' coaching team. I enjoy talking to coaches world-wide and I view this as a massive opportunity to learn from coaches who have enjoyed success at the highest level.
"I'd like to thank the Rotherham directors who gave me the opportunity as head coach and I hope I've repaid them. As a coach, you are very reliant on players and a massive thank you must also go to them for how hard they have worked and played. I'm very appreciative of all the support I've been given by directors, players, supporters and everyone involved at Rotherham."
Young added: "We always knew the time would come when Stephen [Jones] would want to return to Wales with his young family. He's done a great job for us, after moving straight from a player to backs coach when Shane Howarth left.
"There were two options; option one was to recruit a vastly-experienced backs coach who has been there and done it, option two was to get the best up-and-coming coach out there.
"The vastly experienced option was a non-starter really, simply because there is no one of that level on the market at the moment, so we decided to look at the most promising young coaches coming through the game, who have the potential to succeed at the highest level and who possess the work ethic and ability to take us to the next stage.
"Lee [Blackett] is one of the brightest young coaches in Britain, who has won admiration throughout the game for how he's turned Rotherham Titans into one of the strongest teams outside of the Premiership."
