Scotland women’s head coach Bryan Easson has revealed that he met up with David Nucifora – the man brought in by Scottish Rugby this week in an advisory capacity to provide a roadmap for the next decade of player development – recently.
Respected performance director Nucifora will “design and implement a structure which supports high performance outcomes”, according to the governing body.
Australian Nucifora’s appointment is quite a coup for Scottish Rugby as he was performance director for the IRFU in Ireland over a ten-year period recently.
In that time Ireland’s men’s team went to the top of the World Rugby rankings and won four Six Nations Championships, including two Grand Slams while Ireland’s women secured the Six Nations title in 2015.
Despite that latter silverware, women’s rugby is one area where Nucifora’s legacy in Ireland is questioned by some, but Easson has no concerns whatsoever.
“I met him a couple of weeks ago, I had an hour with him,” Easson said.
“He asked a lot of good questions, challenging questions around the [Scotland women’s] programme. [Scottish Rugby Limited chair] John McGuigan also values the programme and sees value around the Scotland women’s game.
“The biggest thing is the progress we’ve shown going from 13 in the world to six. We’ve shown that we have backed women’s rugby [in this country] and it’s exciting to have someone of his ilk coming in.
“He’s clearly a very smart, hardworking performance director and there’s not many around the world who can say they’ve done the job as well as he has.”
Nucifora’s remit will be to drive change in all areas of Scottish Rugby’s development structure to ensure Scotland’s best male and female talent are nurtured.
Nucifora 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, something that has not been in place since Jim Mallinder left earlier this year.
“I’m really looking forward to joining the team at Scottish Rugby, Nucifora, who was capped twice by the Wallabies and was part of their Rugby World Cup squad in 1991, 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.”
Scottish Rugby Limited chair John McGuigan said on appointing the 62-year-old: “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.”
The Scotland women’s squad will meet up in a few days’ time ahead of the first Vodafone Series match with Wales on September 6.
Scotland women’s squad for the Vodafone Series and WXV 2 (uncapped in bold)
Forwards
Leah Bartlett (Leicester Tigers)
Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning)
Sarah Bonar (Harlequins)
Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears)
Lisa Cockburn (Gloucester Hartpury)
Eva Donaldson (Leicester Tigers)
Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears)
Jade Konkel (Harlequins)
Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning)
Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning)
Fiona McIntosh (Saracens)
Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier)
Lana Skeldon (Bristol Bears)
Aila Ronald (University of Edinburgh)
Alex Stewart (Corstorphine Cougars)
Emma Wassell (Loughborough Lightning)
Anne Young (Loughborough Lightning)
Backs
Leia Brebner-Holden (Gloucester-Hartpury/Cheltenham Tigers)
Coreen Grant (Saracens)
Caity Mattinson (Ealing Trailfinders)
Mairi McDonald (Exeter Chiefs)
Francesca McGhie (Leicester Tigers)
Rhona Lloyd (GB 7s/ Stade Bordelais)
Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning)
Emma Orr (Bristol Bears)
Rachel Philipps (Sale Sharks)
Lisa Thomson (GB 7s/Ealing Trailfinders)
Chloe Rollie (Ealing Trailfinders)
Lucia Scott (Hartpury University/Gloucester Hartpury)
Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears)
David Nucifora is pictured, thanks to Scottish Rugby
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