Manly and North Harbour Rays coach Phil Blake poached by English club Leicester Tigers

LEAGUE legend turned rugby coach Phil Blake has been poached by English club Leicester Tigers.

Manly Marlins rugby coach Phil Blake ahead of Saturday's first game. He says there are no excuses this year.

LEAGUE legend turned rugby coach Phil Blake has been poached by English club Leicester Tigers.

Blake will become Leicester’s defence coach under head coach Richard Cockerill in a deal to be formally announced in a few hours.

Blake has led Manly to a 10-game undefeated start to the Shute Shield season and was recently announced as the inaugural coach of the North Harbour Rays, who will compete in the newly formed National Rugby Championship starting in August.

But the opportunity to coach one of the giant clubs of English rugby is a massive boost for the burgeoning career of Blake, who has previously coached Western Force and was the Wallabies assistant coach in 2010.

Blake’s defection at the end of the Shute Shield season has forced the Rays to scramble for a new coach.

It appears that either Rays assistants Scott Fava or Geoff Townsend will step up to the top job in place of Blake, with a decision to be made this week.

Blake is highly rated in rugby circles and has transformed Manly into the most dominant club team this year with the perfect start which includes victories over last year’s grand finalists Sydney University and Eastwood. They are six points clear at the top of the table over northern beaches rivals Warringah, who they have also defeated this season.

Blake played 272 first grade rugby league games in the 1980s and 90s for a host of clubs including Manly-Warringah, Souths, St George and New Zealand Warriors, while also playing one State of Origin game for NSW and a match for NSW City.

After retiring, he briefly coached the Rabbitohs in the NRL before turning to rugby, where he started as an assistant for Southern Districts in the Shute Shield in 2006.

Blake coached Manly to the semi-finals in 2010, prompting then Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to appoint him to the national side as defence and skills coach.

Blake joined the Force the following year, and when head coach Richard Graham was forced to leave mid-season after agreeing to join Queensland, Blake guided the Force for their final eight games before moving back to Manly.