Tragedy strikes former Blues coach David Nucifora with daughter's death days before Christmas

David Nucifora coached the Blues for three years. Photo / Photosport

Tragedy struck former Blues coach David Nucifora and his family when his daughter Katie passed away just days before Christmas.

The 21-year-old Brisbane native moved from the Gold Coast to Sydney late last month.

She died on December 20, and a funeral service will be held on Friday, according to a widely-shared post on social media.

Nucifora, Kate Frances (Katie) Passed away December 20, 2017 aged 21 years. Much loved daughter of Annabel and David....

Posted by Gregory & Carr Funerals on Monday, 25 December 2017

Dad David played two tests for Australia in the early 90s and has been based in Ireland since his appointment as Performance Director of the IRFU in 2014, with local media describing him as "one of the most powerful men" in Irish rugby.

He succeeded Peter Sloane as the Blues head coach in 2006 after being appointed technical director and high performance manager a year earlier.

He was replaced by Pat Lam in 2009 after opting out of his contract a year early for family reasons.

"I feel like I have been on the road for seven years now in this competition and dragging my family around," he said in May 2008.

"We felt that it was the best time to come back to Australia for the sake of my children. We are getting into their high school years and we wanted to settle down a bit."

Nucifora also coached the Brumbies to Super Rugby success in 2004 and was heavily linked to the Wallabies coaching job in 2007.

He joined the ARU's high performance unit in 2009.