“Some people would say Scotland is way too small to be able to compete on the world stage. That was the same thing that Ireland said to me.”
These are the phrases of Scottish Rugby’s new efficiency director David Nucifora, who has been largely credited with Eire’s current success within the sport.
Throughout his 10-year reign as efficiency director on the IRFU, the lads’s staff climbed to the highest of the world rankings and received 4 Six Nations Championships, together with two Grand Slams. He additionally presided over the ladies’s staff’s Six Nations victory in 2015.
Now the Australian is hoping to copy his decade of dominance throughout the Irish Sea.
“I really didn’t have much intention to take something else on when I finished up in Ireland,” mentioned the 62-year-old.
“However I had a number of conversations with John McGuigan (Scottish Rugby Restricted’s Chair) and we had related ideas concerning the sport and the place it might go.
“I used to be satisfied there was a possibility right here to do one thing as a result of I’ve had an inexpensive quantity to do with rugby on this a part of the world.
“The temptation of being able to help reshape something that I believe has a very high ceiling was attractive to me. Hence, I took up the opportunity to get involved.”
David Nucifora surveys the scene alongside Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend
The previous hooker is tasked with offering a “roadmap” for Scottish Rugby’s subsequent decade of participant improvement in the course of his two-year contract. He may even help the SRU within the appointment of a everlasting successor.
“For the last five weeks, I’ve been here on the ground, and I’ve been really encouraged by what I’ve seen,” added Nucifora.
“I think there’s lots of potential. There are a number of things that can be attacked very early on to try and make some reasonably quick improvements.
“I actually haven’t got a magic wand, however I do see the constructions and the uncooked supplies are right here to work with. I take a look at it in a really optimistic mild and imagine we are able to obtain some actually good issues.”
David Nucifora helped Eire climb to the highest of the World Rugby rankings throughout his 10-year stint with the IRFU
The lads’s nationwide staff return to motion in opposition to Italy of their Six Nations opener in February.
When requested about Scotland’s probabilities of profitable the event, Nucifora replied: “Scotland are a difficult team to beat at any time.
“You look again to final yr, that they had some good wins, they usually dropped some video games they’d in all probability be disillusioned about. It is about consistency, and to realize that, you have to have a cohesive system.
“You can’t just pick out the national team. You’ve got to look at the whole parcel and go: ‘Okay, how do we improve this? How do we support what’s underneath it to make sure that they are at their very best all the time?'”
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