The Scottish Rugby Union has confirmed the appointment of former Irish Rugby performance director David Nucifora in a new advisory role.
The Australian, who stepped down as the IRFU's performance chief this summer following a successful ten-year spell, is being tasked with strengthening the development structures for young players in the Scottish game, while he will also be involved in the appointment of the next permanent performance director at the SRU.
Nucifora has agreed a two-year deal with the SRU, which is set to begin before the end of 2024.
The former Brumbies coach had previously agreed to work with Rugby Australia as a consultant, although it’s been reported that will be a short-lived arrangement, with Nucifora set to work exclusively with Scotland from November.
"I’m really looking forward to joining the team at Scottish Rugby," Nucifora said.
"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."
Nucifora’s remit will be to improve Scotland’s development structures in both the men’s and women’s game, as they look to respond to their worrying decline at men’s U20 level in particular.
Scotland have finished bottom of the U20 Six Nations in three of the last four seasons, and have just one win in the competition in their last 20 games, while they have had to play in the second-tier World Rugby U20 Trophy in both 2023 and 2024 after being relegated from the top-tier championship.
During Nucifora’s tenure, Ireland’s U20 side enjoyed considerable success, winning three Grand Slams and reaching two World Rugby U20 Championship finals.
After spells as head coach with Super Rugby’s Brumbies and Auckland Blues, Nucifora was appointed general manager of Australian rugby’s high-performance unit in 2009, before joining the IRFU as performance director in 2014.
During his time running the IRFU’s high performance lead, the Irish men’s team won four Six Nations titles – with two Grand Slams – while securing a first ever Test win, and Test series win against New Zealand. Both men's and women’s Sevens sides also qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
However, while the Irish men's team thrived during Nucifora’s decade at the IRFU, the women’s XV programme fell into rapid decline between 2016 and 2022, culminating in failure to qualify for the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand.
Scottish Rugby Limited Chair, John McGuigan, said: "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."
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