Damien Hill to succeed as Melbourne Rebels' coach

Assistant coach Damien Hill will take over from Rod Macqueen as head coach of the Melbourne Rebels for two seasons from next year, the club said. The Rebels said former World Cup-winning coach Macqueen would continue as a director of coaching at the club until the end of 2013. Macqueen, 61, would also be invited to join the club's board of directors after this Super 15 season, officials said. Hill was recruited from the Sydney University club where as head coach the Students won three Sydney premierships and he also coached in Japan with Suntory. "The succession plan put in place when Rod Macqueen agreed to lead the Rebels almost two years ago was always about setting up the club for the long term," Rebels chairman Harold Mitchell said in a statement. Macqueen, who coached the Wallabies to the 1999 World Cup, said he had full confidence in Hill to lead the new club into its next phase. "When selecting the coaching staff we always had succession planning in place," Macqueen said. "Damien is very respected by peers and players alike, and he strongly reflects the culture that we are endeavouring to build at the Rebels." Hill will take charge of the Rebels bolstered by the recruitment of exciting young Wallabies' stars, Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor. The Rebels will finish their inaugural Super Rugby season against the Western Force in Melbourne on Friday and cannot finish better than last in the five-team Australian Conference, headed by the Queensland Reds.