The 35-year-old from Cape Town succeeds Dave Passmore, who will take up a new role as high-performance director early next year.

 

Revington was in charge of his native South Africa from 2001 until 2006 and oversaw both the 2004 Olympic and 2006 World Cup campaigns, during which time they moved from 14th to 10th in the world rankings.

 

Revington said: "It is an honour for me to be appointed.

 

"I have watched the Irish team grow consistently over the years and am excited to become a part this organisation."

 

Passmore said: "We can look back on the fact that we have made significant progress and laid the foundations for this group to now go on and get the results we came so close to achieving.

 

"The athletes have sacrificed so much over the past few years as have the staff, many of which are volunteers. 

 

"I hope they have enjoyed the journey [the highs and lows] as much as I have, and I look forward to watching the team achieving greater success moving forward."

 

Angus Kirkland, the chief executive of the Irish Hockey Association, said: “Having coached the South African men’s team qualifying them for the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Cup he is well placed to lead Irelands Men to the next Olympics. 

 

"He will take over a team that is shaping up well for 2012, thanks in large part to the hard work Dave Passmore has put in over the last four years. 

 

"It is an exciting time for Irish men’s hockey as we move forward with a world-class coach and for the first time a fully complemented high performance structure.”