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Georgia have strengthened their coaching ranks ahead of the upcoming one Rugby World Cup 2027 by appointing the former All black people the great Jerome Kaino.
Lelos will share Pool B with South Africa, Italy and Romania in a little less than a year.
The two-time Rugby World Cup winner has joined the Lelos coaching staff for the November international window, where he will work as assistant coach to Pierre-Henri Broncan.
Kaino’s brief will focus on contact areas and attacking holes as Georgia continue their month-long preparations, which include tests against Canada, Tonga and the USA.
The appointment reunites Cain and Broncan, with the pair previously working together at French heavyweights Toulouse.
Despite being linked with the Georgian national team, the 43-year-old will retain his existing role at Toulouse.
Georgia confirmed the appointment in a statement, describing Kaino as a specialist addition to Broncan’s delegation team for the November program.
Born in America Samoa In 1983, Kaino moved to New Zealand with his family at the age of four and would go on to establish himself as one of the outstanding back-row strikers of his generation.
After developing through Auckland system, also represented Auckland and Blues between 2004 and 2018, becoming a mainstay of New Zealand rugby during one of the most successful periods in the nation’s history.
His rise first accelerated in 2004 when he helped the Junior All Blacks win the Under-21 Rugby World Cup and was subsequently named Under-21 Player of the Year.
The same year brought his senior All Blacks debut. He won 81 Tests, two Rugby World Cup triumphs in 2011 and 2015 and five Rugby Championship titles.
The 6’5, 113kg Kaino was named New Zealand’s Player of the Year in 2011 after playing a key role in the All Blacks ending their 24-year wait for a World Cup on home soil.
After finishing his Super Rugby career, Kaino moved to France where he spent the last three seasons of his playing career in Toulouse. The energy lifted loosely Top 14 titles in both 2019 and 2021, and it also helps Toulouse won the Champions Cup in what turned out to be the final season of his playing career.
Kaino immediately moved into coaching and has spent the past five years at Toulouse working on skills development and in the club’s under-21 programme.
