Former Leicester Tigers player and boss Pat Howard has returned to the club as a mentor to the coaching team.

The Australian left his role as Cricket Australia's general manager for team performance in November 2018 and was involved with Tigers in a support role at the end of last season.

Howard, 45, led Tigers to Premiership and EDF Energy Cup success in 2007.

Chairman Peter Tom said Howard's part-time role will help develop "culture, infrastructure and personnel."

"Pat understands the club very well and, alongside his personal experience of the transition from playing into coaching at the top level, he has worked in elite environments in two sports," Tom told the club website.

"He visited us at the end of last season and his new role is an extension of that, allowing him to identify areas where the club can continue to develop in terms of infrastructure, culture and personnel."

Howard, who won the European Cup as a player during a three-year spell with the club from 1998, will work alongside head of elite performance recruitment Jan McGinity and head of performance pathway and talent identification Ged Glynn as part of a major overhaul of the coaching set-up.

After leaving Tigers in 2007, Howard worked at Australia Rugby's high performance unit before taking over as Cricket Australia's general manager for team performance in 2011.

Tigers only narrowly avoided relegation from the Premiership last season and have been put up for sale for about £60m.