Aaron Mauger in 2007
Aaron Mauger of the Crusaders of New Zealand runs over the top of Rocky Elsom of the Waratahs from Australia during their Super 14 rugby union match in Sydney March 31, 2007. Reuters

Aaron Mauger has signed a three-year deal to become the head coach of the Leicester Tigers,the professional club he played for from 2007 to 2010. The signing was officially announced on the Tigers official website on Monday.

"I have awesome memories of my time at Leicester as a player and it is a place I will very happily return to," Mauger said via leicestertigers.com. "I feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to do that as head coach for the club and the timing is right for me to grab that opportunity.”

Mauger is a former New Zealand rugby national team or the All Blacks member suiting up for his country from 2001 to 2007 with 46 caps. He spent four years for the Tigers from 2007 to 2010 playing in 53 club games. Mauger was the captain of the NZ Under-21 national team in the International Under-21 tournaments in 2000 and 2001 before landing with the senior team.

“Aaron played at the highest level with club and country, and he has an excellent knowledge of the game and impressive ideas on how he wants to see it played,” Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockeril also said in the team website. "He made a very valuable input during his time here as a player and has developed as a coach during his time back in New Zealand.”

Cockeril is confident that Mauger is “the right person to take on a very important job” and considers him to be a “real asset” to the Tigers franchise in his function as a head coach. Mauger, who retired from playing in 2010 because of various injuries, is currently an assistant coach with the Crusaders in the Super Rugby league and will move to Leicester for the 2015-2016 rugby season.

Mauger, despite being younger than players he will handle, declared that age “won’t be an issue”. He will handle the likes of Brad Thorn and Scott Hamilton, both of whom also played for the New Zealand NT. His coaching experience include stints with the High School Old Boys club and the Canterbury NPC aside from his coaching time with the Crusaders.