Departing Auckland Blues coach David Nucifora will take up the position of the Australian rugby Union’s (ARU) high performance manager in June, ARU chief executive John O’Neill told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
The announcement was widely expected within rugby circles, particularly after Nucifora confirmed on May 1 he would not be seeking to extend his stay with the Auckland-based Super 14 team.
The former Wallabies hooker will replace Pat Howard, who returned to Australia last year after a successful stint with English club side Leicester Tigers to take up the position.
O’Neill said Nucifora was just finalising schooling options for his children in Sydney before he could be formally introduced as the new high performance manager.
”David will take up his position in June,” O’Neill told reporters. ”There’s no other hurdles and, if that’s [schooling for his children] resolved this week, we will able to formally announce he’s joining the ARU at the beginning of June.”
Nucifora spent three seasons in charge of the Blues after initially joining them as a technical advisor in 2005. He led the ACT Brumbies to the 2004 Super 12 title, despite being told midway through the season his contract would not be renewed at its conclusion.
He had earlier ruled out applying for the New South Wales Waratahs job after current coach Ewen McKenzie was told his contract would not be renewed after this season.
Nucifora’s Blues, who had been Super 14 front runners in the early part of the season, faded badly in the middle section and had an outside chance of making the semifinals after they beat the Wellington Hurricanes 19-17 last week.
However, other results went against them and they finished sixth. – Reuters