The Scottish Rugby Union has landed a major coup by recruiting David Nucifora, who masterminded Ireland’s rise to the top of the world game as performance director.
Nucifora is set to join the SRU in a consulting role, despite already having agreed a similar advisory position with the Australian Rugby Union.
The 62-year-old will have a major say in overhauling the Scottish game as de facto performance director, filling the vacancy left following the departure in June of Jim Mallinder, who had the same job title at Northampton Saints.
Official confirmation of Nucifora’s appointment is expected on Tuesday, with the former Wallaby hooker and head coach at the ACT Brumbies and Auckland Blues set to take up his role in October on a two-year deal.
He left his job with the IRFU this summer after 10 years, during which Ireland won four Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams, and landed a series of firsts that featured victories over New Zealand, a Test in South Africa, as well as a Test series in New Zealand, three Under-20 Grand Slams. Ireland men and women’s Sevens sides also qualified for the Olympics in Paris this summer.
The fact that he will be working with one of Ireland’s Six Nations rivals is likely to be a cause for concern for his former employers in Dublin, given his wealth of knowledge of the Irish system, while the SRU will be hoping that he can have a similar impact in transforming the Scottish game.
Given that Scotland are also due to face Australia in November, it is likely to raise further questions about his role in consulting for two competing unions. He is also due to rekindle his working relationship with Joe Schmidt, the former Ireland head coach, in overhauling the game in Australia, a key role given the visit of the British and Irish Lions next summer.
Nucifora will also face a major challenge with Scotland, given their struggles on the international stage at age-group level, and the limitations of effectively picking a national side from two just professional club teams.
But it seems he will be given a licence to have a major input into the strategic planning not just for the national team but also in recruitment for Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as coaching development.
The SRU will hope he can replicate the success he generated following his arrival in Ireland in 2014, when he was effectively giving control of the professional game and transformed it by designing a central model that improved the pathway to the national side while allowing the provinces to retain their unique identities and rivalry.
While the provinces kept their autonomy, the IRFU centrally invested in staffing to ensure it had centrally monitored expert input in coaching, strength and conditioning training, analysis, nutrition and education.
He had complete oversight of all contracts – both for players and coaches – which ensured that the recruitment of overseas players did not impact the Irish qualified players development and also helped to keep the best home-grown talent in Ireland and formed a close working relationship with Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, while ensuring the Irish provinces were more aligned to the national side.
Article courtesy of
Source link
