One of Irish Rugby's closest rivals have secured the services of former IRFU High Performance Director David Nucifora in a shock coup.
Nucifora had presided over the most successful decade in Irish Rugby, ensuring Olympic qualification for both male and female sevens teams at the Paris Olympics as well as playing his part in the five Six Nations Championships Ireland's men's team have won since he came on board in 2014.
While Nucifora's tenure of Ireland concluded upon the completion of the Summer Olympics, his departure had been planned well in advance of this summer.
However, having enjoyed unprecedented success during their shared time in Irish rugby, Nucifora and Joe Schmidt had recently reunited Down Under, with Nucifora agreeing to a deal with the Australian Rugby Union that saw him brought on as a consultant, working two days a week restructuring Australia's professional contracts and pathway programmes - a key area of success during his Irish tenure.
8 July 2024; Performance Director David Nucifora during the Team Ireland Paris 2024 team training for Rugby Sevens ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the IRFU Outdoor Pitch on the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
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David Nucifora agrees on move to Scotland
With Nucifora's departure from Ireland agreed upon well in advance of this Summer, the Australian coach's skills were always going to be in high demand at the turn of the season, with many expecting him to stay in Australia.
However, Scotland have secured a significant coup taking Nucifora from his home country. The Queensland native will fill the vacant shoes of Jim Mallinder who stepped down as Scotland's Director of Rugby in June.
Nucifora's move to Scotland comes at a time when it's hard not to be infected by the feeling that Scottish Rugby is on the rise - and if the Australian has half the successes he had upon his landing in Dublin, Scotland could well announce themselves as a force to be reckoned with sooner rather than later.
However, for Australian fans who had hoped that Nucifora and Schmidt reuniting Down Under would spell similar successes to that of which they enjoyed in Ireland, now they can only hope that Nucifora finishes the all-important restructuring programmes he began before leaving in November.
12 March 2023; Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, left, and IRFU performance director David Nucifora before the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Scotland and Ireland at BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
The departure adds another tale to the complicated chapter of Nucifora's career in his homeland. Nucifora's playing career saw him represent his native Queensland before making the World-Cup winning Wallabies squad in 1991.
He then burst onto the domestic coaching scene, taking the Brumbies to three finals series, two finals as well as being named coach of the year for three consecutive seasons. Despite winning the Super 12 final in 2004, Nucifora was sacked by the club, becoming the first Super Rugby-winning coach to be sacked after winning a title in history.
Since then however, Nucifora has had little success in direct management, taking charge of relatively unsuccessful periods at The Blues and Australian U20s, instead, Nucifora has been focusing on the performance direction side of management where he has enjoyed a successful career, and where Scotland fans will be hoping his success continues.
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