Defence coach at centre of Bristol Twitter accusations joins Exeter

Exeter have announced the appointment of Omar Mouneimne as defence coach. Mouneimne, who spent the last two years with the Chiefs’ Gallagher Premiership rivals Bristol, takes over from Julian Salvi following his departure in April.

“I wanted to get a bit of a change in vibe in the coaching room, as well as the actual tactics and techniques we would be using,” Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter said.

“I’ve known Omar around the Premiership for a few years now and knew he was available, so I met up with him and had a very good meeting.

“He has a lot of experience, whether it be club level or at international level, which I think will be very important to us.

“Having a fresh voice for the players, whether it be in the way he talks or the way he challenges them, it will be good to have that little something different.”

Mouneimne had been the centre of accusations regarding social media prior to his mid-season exit from the Bears.

It was widely reported last month that the defence coach had been accused of using a burner account to criticise Bristol DoR Pat Lam anonymously online.

According to reports, at least one player had confronted Mouneimne after they claimed that information shared on the anonymous Twitter account could only have been imparted by someone from within the organisation. He denied that he was behind the burner account.

He left Bristol by mutual consent before their final game of the season.

Prior to Bristol Bears, he had worked with the Italian national team and Worcester Warriors.

additional reporting RugbyPass