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Matt O’Connor is an Australian rugby union coach and a former international player. He was head coach of the Leicester Tigers where he won the Premiership in 2013, before being recruited to coach Irish province Leinster.

O’Connor played rugby for the ACT in the 1990s and was awarded a single cap for the Wallabies against Ireland in 1994.

He signed for rugby league club the Hunter Mariners in 1996 however the club’s existence was threatened by the Super League war so he only played in several trial matches that year. He played for Paris Saint-Germain in 1997. O’Connor spent 3 years in Japan playing for and then coaching Kubota Rugby Team.

Returning to Australia, O’Connor joined the Brumbies as a backline coach in Canberra. He was appointed head coach of Australia A for the Pacific Nations Cup competition.

O’Connor joined the Leicester Tigers as the backline coach under Heyneke Meyer, replacing another former Australian centre, Pat Howard. After the team won back to back premierships in 2009 and 2010, he remained as Attack Coach (after Meyer left) when Richard Cockerill was appointed new Head Coach of the Tigers for the 2011 season, and was extremely influential in the Tigers Premiership win in 2013.

He was signed as the head coach of Irish province Leinster in 2013, and won the 2013–14 Pro12 title in his first season. The following season, when the team missed out on a play-off spot in the Pro12 and lost at the semi-final stage of the Champions Cup, O’Connor departed Leinster after completing two years of a three-year contract.