Dave Ellis, the Yorkshireman who has masterminded France's defence in Test rugby for the past 10 years, has returned to the Guinness Premiership with London Irish. He begins work today as an assistant coach, under Toby Booth and alongside Mike Catt.

Ellis, who first worked with France under Bernard Laporte and will continue as one of Marc Lièvremont's team of coaches, has signed a one-year contract with an option to extend after leaving Brive.

Before that Ellis was at Castres. He last worked in the Premiership with Gloucester, in 2005. At London Irish he will be reunited with Ryan Lamb, one of the emerging talents at Kingsholm when Ellis worked with the then director of rugby, Nigel Melville, and will form part of one of the most innovative coaching set-ups in English club rugby.

"I've been looking to get back to England for a year or so," said Ellis, who worked with the All Blacks before the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2005. "However, I will continue to work with France because I see working at Test level as part and parcel of becoming a better all-round coach."

Brive, who now employ the England Test players Riki Flutey, Jamie Noon, Shaun Perry, Andy Goode and Steve Thompson, have just been sold. Their former, free-spending owner, Daniel Derichebourg, has disposed of his controlling interest to a group of so far anonymous investors. Derichebourg, who has owned Brive for three years, said the global economic crisis was the reason for his decision to sell.

The new owners, Brive Rugby SAS, are said to be a group of "personalities and businessmen" from the Corrèze region, Paris and Britain. Jean-Jacques Bertrand, the former head of the pharmaceutical company Aventis, has been named as the club's president and a new board of directors has been promised. However, the team management and players will remained unchanged.