Holden leaves Wasps to head home

Holden helped Wasps to win the 2007 Heineken Cup

Wasps assistant coach Leon Holden will be leaving the club at the end of the season as he makes plans to return to New Zealand.

Holden said he will leave to continue his overseas travels with his family, before returning to his home country.

Head coach Shaun Edwards told the club website: "Leon has been an integral part of Wasps' success over the last four seasons and a great team member."

Before joining Wasps in 2005, Holden, 38, coached in New Zealand and Japan.

Edwards added: "One of the things I think he will always be remembered for are those two set moves that helped us win the Heineken Cup in 2007, where he had obviously outfoxed the opposition.

Great credit should go to him for making our lineout stats the best in Europe

Head coach Shaun Edwards

"Great credit should also go to him for making our line-out stats the best in the Guinness Premiership and Europe, especially when you consider the great difficulty of our internationals coming in and out of the side."

Holden originally took over from Craig Dowd who also left the club for New Zealand.

Holden said: "The four years I have spent at Wasps have been some of the best years of my life on both a personal and professional basis.

"Having won a treble of trophies and two A League championships, my time with the club has been very special and I think there will be very few occasions in my career that can top our victory in the 2007 Heineken Cup - a moment that will remain with me for a very long time.

I take immense pride in the record number of Wasps forwards we have playing for England at all levels at the moment

Wasps assistant coach Leon Holden

"As well as success and silverware, I have also taken great satisfaction from my experiences here in helping and promoting our young players.

"As a forwards coach, I take immense pride in the record number of Wasps forwards we have playing for England at all levels at the moment and I am very proud of all our players.

"It has been a challenging season but I have great faith and belief in this club and our squad."

Director of rugby Ian McGeechan said: "Leon's been a fantastic coach here at the club and a key part of the continuing success that Wasps have enjoyed.

"After four years of very successful rugby, the players really appreciate him and he's been fantastic to work with.

"We've had a very good, very positive coaching set-up over the last four seasons and Leon has been a core part of that. The strength of that set-up has certainly carried over into all the things we have done and he will be missed by everyone.

"We wish him and his family well as they head back to New Zealand - however long it takes."

Wasps marketing and communications manager Nicky Done has also left, to return to Australia because of health reasons.