THERE HAVE BEEN fears in some quarters that David Nucifora’s position as performance director of the IRFU means he is answerable to no one.
The Australian came on board in 2014 in what was then a newly-created position with a very wide-ranging remit.
The job brief includes responsibility for all Ireland national teams’ performance – including the women’s team – as well as the provincial teams’ performance, player development, coaching development, refereeing development, succession planning, and a fair bit more.
Within the game, Nucifora is seen as the most powerful man in Irish rugby. He makes the big decisions on the big contracts for players, coaches, and other staff.
Nucifora’s own current deal expires next summer but last week, IRFU CEO Philip Browne confirmed that discussions have begun regarding an extension. The signs are that Nucifora will be sticking around.
That decision will be unpopular in some quarters, with Nucifora understood to have a difficult relationship with Leinster in particular, while many in the club game feel disenfranchised. Last week, it was also reported that the IRFU performance director had directly involved himself in the off-the-field controversy in women’s rugby.
All of that said, it’s unlikely anyone in Nucifora’s position would be uniformly popular. One of the reasons the IRFU hired him is because it could see he has thick skin.
And IRFU CEO Philip Browne insists that Nucifora is answerable to the union.
“He reports to me and he reports to the NPGB,” said Browne, highlighting the National Professional Game Board, which includes former Ireland scrum-half Eoin Reddan, ex-Ireland manager Mick Kearney, and high performance specialists Caroline Currid and Gary Keegan.
“The NPGB, myself, and the management committee decide whether his contract is extended or not,” continued Browne.
“He is challenged. The NPGB has independent members on it from outside of rugby and David himself is quite happy to be challenged.
“He would be the first to say, ‘I need to be challenged, I don’t necessarily have all the right answers’ and I think that’s a classic trait of people involved in high performance – that they’re all looking for improvements and for ways in which they can challenge themselves and the people who work in high performance.”
Browne said the IRFU is “very happy” with the job Nucifora is doing as performance director, but there are certainly areas that need attention.
Many of those in the club game feel they have been left out in the cold, but Browne pointed to the €4 million funding – which came from the Irish government – for clubs that the IRFU provided during the pandemic as a sign of good work in that department.
“I think we are doing our damndest, in many respects,” said Browne.
“We are pretty hopeful that the government will provide further funding. We have made submissions and we are waiting to hear back from that. I would imagine part of that will be funding for the club game.
“It is important for us that the club game should be in a healthy financial and sustainable position. In many respects, it is curious, Covid has changed the way a lot of organisations do their business.
“Our engagement with clubs is, curiously, probably better with the clubs as a result.”
Browne did point out that some clubs are struggling to attract volunteers back after the break during the pandemic but said other sports are encountering that issue too.
Meanwhile, at the top level, Browne is happy with the work being led by Nucifora.
Ireland’s win over the All Blacks last weekend was good for business and Browne praised Nucifora’s work in the pathway that helps to bring players through to the national team.
Nucifora relaunched the Ireland men’s 7s programme as a priority when he arrived in 2014, while the women’s 7s programme has also received plenty of attention and funding in recent years.
Browne said the IRFU is convinced that it’s getting a return on its investment in 7s, although he wouldn’t confirm how much the union is spending on it.
“I couldn’t give you a ballpark figure but I am happy,” said Browne. “7s is now an Olympic sport and it is a key part of World Rugby’s strategy in terms of developing the game and trying to give it a better global footprint.
“From that perspective, we got a fair degree of criticism at World Rugby level for not actually having a proper 7s programme at the time.
“So in essence in order to be a Tier One country and to get Tier One funding, part and parcel of that is having a Sevens team, both men and women.
“Having said that, the World Rugby sevens programme is being reviewed at the moment in terms of the World Series and how that’s going to run in the future because there are problems in terms of the cost of hosting tournaments.
“7s actually provides a really good development pathway for kids who are coming into the system. One of the difficulties that we have is that kids coming through our academy programmes sometimes don’t get enough game time or a lot of relevant game time.
“The 7s programme provides greater contact for players in terms of the basic skills of rugby because in 7s everything is magnified to the umpteenth degree.
“On the other side, in terms of the women’s game, for girls who come to the game late, the 7s programme provides an opportunity for accelerated development for rugby. Some will transfer across into the 15s game and that’s a policy followed by a number of unions across the world.
“If you look at the match last week between New Zealand and England, there was quite a lot of 7s players taken back into the 15s programme.
“It’s a means of accelerating the development of young players who otherwise might take longer. I’m not saying that they won’t develop ultimately but it might take a bit longer.”
- This article was updated at 11.20am to correct David Nucifora’s job title in the caption under the lead photograph.
Is Browne trying to convince the public or himself that Nucifora is doing a great job? Let the results speak for themselves in terms of whether he gets a renewal or not.
@Jim Demps: Bang on Jim. This lap dancing is patronising to the rugby public. The Nucifora news cycle is boring at this stage. Let the results warrant a new deal, not desperate PR
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: what do you mean by results? We have the 3 strongest sides in a 16 team, 5 nations league. Our international side has won 7 gsmes in a row. We have beat a world cup finalist and 2 teams who best us in the world cup and one of those is the best side in the world.
I dont really know what all the whinging is about.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: I just find it funny to see the CEO coming out saying what a wonderful job he’s doing when the metrics that were put in place in the last strategic plan to measure it say otherwise. For all the talk, Ireland and the provinces were far more successful in the 8 years leading up to his arrival than the 8 years after. And that’s just the men’s game. Look at the pit the women’s game is in at the moment.
@Chris Mc: Look at the distribution of central contracts, look at the unequitable academy system, look at the failing womens game, look at how little care is put into the club scene.
@Jim Demps: thats just not true. The mens team are as good since hes taken over as they have even been, our clubs are top 3 in a 16 team league and almost always get out of groups in Europe. As for the womans game the international side is poor fair enough but i have not been at a rugby club without seen a women’s /girls team playing or training in a few years. Not so long ago we had very very few girls playing the game.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: i’ll give you the club scene but the academy system is only as good as the willingness of the clubs to play these players. Leinster and ulster have a better history of giving game time to academy players and we see that in the players coming through. Munster have stepped up this season so fingers crossed .
Central contracts go to players not clubs, leinster have produced the better players so have more contracts, should leinster be punished for producing players.
The amount of under age players playing the game in leinster is massive and most of that comes from the work the leinster branch puts into the youths and school boys, should we tell these kids to piss off and play soccer Gaa or hurling becuase there sre too many good players coming from one part of the country.
@Jim Demps: ah come on Jim… how many time have we beaten the ABs since he arrived? Yes the WC is still a bugbear for us but no worse than we have done previously. Our men’s sevens team is doing well. The women’s game is a bit lopsided now with professionalism entering into France and England afaik. There are plenty of other positive examples…
@Trev: positives sure but I think peoples memories are perhaps a bit fuzzy. Nucifora began his job in June 14. For the preceding 7-8 years Irish club rugby dominated Europe with 5 heineken cups. We have had 1 in his time since. The number of pro14 leagues is roughly the same. The truth is that our clubs were far more successful prior to 2014 and there’s not even a question over that fact.
For the national side they won 3 six nations since his appointment, it was 2 in the preceding time frame and we still haven’t made it past the quarters of a RWC.
For the women, they have gone from a top four in the world finish at the RwC in 2014 to being an absolute mess at the moment and failing to qualify.
Beating NZ is certainly a good achievement, not enough to hang anyone’s cap on though.
The “learnings” and “findings” to take from the article is that “pathway” to Tier 1 funding is to ensure you have a sevens set-up. It opens the way for rugby into the Olympics and therefore makes it a much more saleable “product”. Those unfortunates at the lower end of the food chain, i.e. club rugby and women’s rugby get left behind until people start shouting or someone drops the management ball.
Is he suggesting that clubs should be grateful to the IRFU for the €4m funding?…… Which came from the government. The AIL really does get the rough end of the pineapple
He can keep his other job as chief scout for Munster
At the end of the current World Cup cycle and the end of Nucifora’s extension (if it is granted) then I wouldn’t be surprised to see Andy Friend replace him.