He's got one of the most interesting jobs in Irish Rugby, but the vast majority of people aren't entirely sure what it exactly entails.
But Brendan Fanning of the Sunday Independent has given us a glimpse into one of the most powerful men in Irish Rugby.
In his short time with the IRFU, Nucifora has had quite an impact on the IRFU. Gone are the days are they completely blind about what's going on with the provinces. Nucifora has taken a hands on role increasing the communication between the four provinces and the IRFU - helping provinces recruit players, coaches, and with financial difficulties.
According to Fanning, Nucifora has helped figure out what players are Irish qualified throughout the world - a relatively simple database that was non-existent before his arrival two years ago.
It does mean though that there are more arguments between the IRFU and provinces over the viability of signing overseas players. Before, the IRFU would have no idea what was about to hit them when the provinces came calling to make a marquee signing. Now, Nucifora was able to point to the talents of Duncan Casey, Niall Scannell, and Mike Sherry as to why Stephen Moore wasn't signed. The Moore example shows that there is still work to do to accomodate the possibility of true world class players - but if it means that the number of mediocre overseas signings that prevent youngsters from playing reduces then that has to be a good thing in the long term.
The provinces are looking for further recruits from overseas to try to fix the damaging European seasons they all had. At the moment, the current non-Irish eligible rules state a province can had four player and a project player in their squad, but Nucifora is hoping to limit that due to financial concerns:
Realistically, can we afford four top-class international foreign players? I doubt it. I don't think that is achievable going forward. We might have to look at how we work it in balancing that out, or maybe look at it on a team-by-team basis as to what model might fit one of the teams better than another.
Of course, next season will be a big one for Nucifora. Having overseen Cian Kelleher's move west, and Sam Arnold's move south - he'll be seen as a genius should those moves work out, and we could see even more movement between provinces.
But if they backfire with neither player getting much game-time, how will it effect our opinions of Nucifora?
See Also: David Nucifora Confirms His Belief That Munster Must Now Emulate Connacht
Picture credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE
