He wasn't wanted by the Super 12 champion Brumbies, but he has been snapped up by the Blues, David Nucifora officially joining Auckland rugby on a three-year deal. The man who coached the Brumbies to three straight playoffs appearances and the title in 2004, but was axed midway through this year's campaign in controversial circumstances, essentially replaces Graham Henry in a role that sees him as a technical adviser for the Blues and Auckland NPC team. Nucifora's official title will be as high performance coaching adviser for Auckland Rugby and technical adviser to the Blues Super 12 franchise. Nucifora is to assist the Blues coaching staff in team selection, defence, analysis, game plan preparation and implementation and skill development. For the Auckland union his role will concentrate on the development of the union's elite coaches.
Why was he sacked? I never understood it when that happened. (It was eerily similar to the Los Angeles Galaxy firing Sigi Schmidt for Steve Sampson last week. The Brumbies went on to win the Super-12, I hope Galaxy don't win the MLS Cup. )
Our understanding on this side of the pond is that Nucifora got on the wrong side of some key Brumbies players, notably Joe Roff, and paid the price. He will find it easier to coach in NZ as the players here know who is the coach and know that the roles of the players and the coach are different.