Scotsattemptingtocopythe Irish template by hiring Nucifora
It’s not quite the same as a head coach jumping ship to a direct rival and handing over the playbook, but hiring a performance director with deep knowledge of the inner sanctum is not far off. When David Nucifora was clearing his desk at IRFU HQ to make way for David Humphreys, there was an assumption, from the outside at least, that he had a ready-made job waiting for him back home in Australia.
The writing was somewhat on the wall, however, when Rugby Australia (RA) announced last December that Nucifora would be taking up an ‘advisory role’ as opposed to being hired on a more permanent basis.
Reading between the lines, a stint at home following a largely successful 10year spell in Ireland made sense – but that’s not how things have panned out, much to the frustration of the Aussie rugby public. They had envisaged Nucifora and Joe Schmidt getting the old band back together and leading the Wallabies on a merry dance heading into next summer’s Lions series and their 2027 home World Cup.
According to RA chief executive Phil Waugh, the union were fully prepared for the likelihood that Nucifora would seek other challenges. Even still, few would have had Scotland on their bingo card.
That Nucifora’s short-term arrangement with Australia is set to finish at the end of November is a major blow to a nation already struggling ahead of a pivotal period for rugby in the country, while Scotland are sitting pretty having pulled off a significant coup.
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) have appointed the former World Cup-winning hooker in a similar role to the one he took up with Australia, but crucially, it’s on a two-year contract, and according to Australian sources, is more than what the cash-strapped RA could afford.
Glasgow’s URC win last season gave Scottish rugby a much-needed boost, but at Test level Gregor Townsend’s side continue to flatter to deceive.
Nucifora clearly likes a challenge and the one facing him over the next couple of years is sizeable, with the SRU laying out their expectations in black and white by saying his job is to “provide a roadmap for its next decade of player development”.
Given Scotland’s struggles at underage level, that is no easy task, but Nucifora’s track record, on the men’s side of the house at least, speaks for itself. Ireland and the Ireland U-20s enjoyed unprecedented success since his arrival in June 2014, with four Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams and three U-20 Grand Slams in the last five tournaments meaning he boasts an impressive CV.
The same cannot be said for the women’s game, which suffered during Nucifora’s reign, and it is telling that in their press release the SRU made a point of saying that his “remit will be to drive change in all areas of our development structure to ensure we nurture Scotland’s best male and female talent”.
Mistakes were made, but if Nucifora learns from them while building on the excellent body of work that he did with the men, then Scotland will surely thrive.
A notoriously no-nonsense character, Nucifora is not afraid to ruffle feathers, which could be exactly what Scottish rugby needs to kick on to the next level.
Dealing with two professional teams, Glasgow and Edinburgh, will be easier to manage than four Irish provinces, but just as Australia sought Nucifora’s expertise on aligning their rugby programme from the national contracting model to the player pathways, Scotland are looking for something similar.
Scotland have struggled at U-20s level for the last number of years, with regular bottom-of-the-table finishes laying bare the scale of the task facing Nucifora in terms of developing the talent pool, and with recruitment a key part of the job, it would not be a surprise if he leans on some of his Irish contacts, particularly when it comes to coaches.
While the Olympics felt like the natural end point for Nucifora, who reignited the Ireland sevens programme, his move to Scotland will have plenty of people north and south sitting uncomfortably, especially considering he has only just left a successful system that he helped build.
Favour
He knows what makes Irish rugby and its key figures such as Andy Farrell tick. Throw in the fact that the IRFU and SRU are not exactly best mates after Scotland did not support Ireland’s bid to host the 2023 World Cup, and that Ireland are likely to favour Aussie Brett Robinson ahead of Scot John Jeffrey in the race to replace Bill Beaumont as World Rugby chairman in November, and it makes the move all the more intriguing.
Scotland host Australia at Murrayfield on November 25 in what will be billed as the ‘Nucifora derby’ before Ireland travel to Edinburgh for their Six Nations clash on February 9.
By that stage, Nucifora’s feet will be well under his new desk. He’ll also have a much firmer grip on Scottish rugby’s attempts to follow the proven Irish template.