Scottish RU statement: The two-year signing of David Nucifora

Scottish Rugby have officially confirmed their capture of David Nucifora, the former Ireland high performance boss. With David Humphreys recruited earlier this year as his successor in Dublin, the Australian finished up his 10-year stint in charge of the Irish at the recent Paris Olympics.

The 62-year-old posted to his LinkedIn account on his final work day in Dublin that he would be staying involved in rugby, writing: “In the coming weeks I will hopefully be able to communicate my next challenge as I seek to work globally on independent high performance advisory projects as they come to light. Thanks to everyone.”

It was last weekend in The Sunday Times when it emerged that his first advisory project would be with Scotland, a story that the SRU have now confirmed as accurate. A statement on his two-year advisory deal read: “Scottish Rugby has recruited respected performance director David Nucifora in an advisory capacity to provide a roadmap for its next decade of player development.

“Nucifora was performance director for the IRFU over a 10-year period from June 2014, which saw Ireland’s men’s team top the world rugby rankings and win four Six Nations championships, including two Grand Slams. Ireland women also secured the Six Nations title in 2015. His tenure concluded with Ireland’s 7s teams competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“David’s remit will be to drive change in all areas of our development structure to ensure we nurture Scotland’s best male and female talent. David is contracted for two years during which time he will also advise the Scottish Rugby Limited board on the appointment of a permanent performance director.”

Nucifora said: “I’m really looking forward to joining the team at Scottish Rugby. 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 added: “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.”