Blues headhunt Brumbies reject

By WYNNE GRAY

Brumbies reject David Nucifora has hitched his coaching star to the Blues and Auckland Rugby Union.

In a shock decision, the Brumbies announced midway through their victorious Super 12 campaign that they would not be offering Nucifora any extension on his contract.

The Brumbies discard becomes a Blues asset today when he signs a three-year deal as technical manager for the franchise and high-performance manager for Auckland.

Nucifora flew into Auckland last night and will fill the positions vacated by Graham Henry when he was elevated to the All Black coaching job late last year.

Nucifora said his new roles would be an extension of his professional development as a coach.

"To be the first Australian to coach in New Zealand at this level is an exciting opportunity and the move to Auckland is one both my family and I are looking forward to," he said.

"Both Auckland and the Blues are known as two of the leading provincial teams in world rugby and have proud records of success.

"They have also been very impressive with their positive vision for the future. To have been approached to be a part of this, and to be able to contribute is both a challenge and a privilege."

Nucifora took over from Eddie Jones as coach of the Brumbies and led them to three successive playoff series - but was still axed.

After the Brumbies won their second title this season, Nucifora slated ACT officials but spared the players, despite reports that some senior players had pushed for his removal.

"I do, however, hold the board and the CEO responsible because ultimately they're the people in the position who have to make decisions and show a bit of leadership," Nucifora said.

"I really don't have much respect for them, to be honest."

Blues coach Peter Sloane has another year left on his contract but Bruce Robertson's backline assistant job has been advertised.

It was also decided that the Blues were more efficient when they had another coaching voice and Nucifora was headhunted after he was let go by the Brumbies.

That difficult decision, said ACT chief executive Rob Clarke at the time, was made in the best interests of the organisation.

"I know that to many people this may seem like a strange decision, but we as a board considered what we need to take us forward and we've decided not to offer David Nucifora a further extension of his contract," Clarke said.

"The task that David was employed to do for us was to introduce change to the squad, with a particular emphasis on the development of younger players.

"We believe that he has completed this task successfully and the next stage of the team and rugby programme development requires another set of skills."