David Nucifora joins Scottish Rugby on advisory role
David Nucifora was Performance Director for the IRFU for over 10 years
©Steve Haag
Scottish Rugby has announced the appointment of former Australian international David Nucifora on an advisory role.
The 62-year-old will start working with Scotland in late October and is contracted for two years during which he will also guide the board in the appointment of a high performance director.
A part of 1991 World Cup winning Wallabies squad, Nucifora played two times for the Wallabies and started his coaching career with Brumbies in 2002 following which he moved to Blues in 2005.
Even though he aspired to coach the Wallabies, he was appointed General Manager of the ARU High Performance Unit in 2009 and coached the Australian U20 team at the IRB Junior World Championship in Japan later that year.
He is known for his high performance director role with Ireland which came in 2014 during which the team went on to top the World Rugby Rankingsand win four Six Nations Championships, including two Grand Slams. During his time, the Ireland Women's team also won the Six Nations title in 2015.
“I’m really looking forward to joining the team at Scottish Rugby," said Nucifora.
"I’m well aware of the ambition Scotland has as a rugby nation and the desire to nurture talent to ensure we can compete at the highest level over the long term.
"To ensure this ambition can be realised we will design and implement a structure which supports high performance outcomes.”
Scottish Rugby Limited Chair John McGuigan expressed delight on Nucifora's appointment and is confident that his experience will benefit the side as they look to build towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
“I’m delighted David has agreed to join Scottish Rugby at a time of fundamental change in the sport.
"To ensure we can compete at the highest level we need someone of David’s experience to design and implement, at pace, a structure that supports our best talent.
"David’s success with the IRFU speaks for itself and we now look forward to his expertise being applied to the development of rugby in Scotland.”
