Rugby Australia names a director of high performance while it starts looking for a new coach.

Sydney (AP) — After David Nucifora returned to Rugby Australia in an advisory capacity on Friday and Peter Horne was appointed director of high performance, Rugby Australia has begun the search for a new Wallabies coach.

After nearly 14 years of high-performance work for World Rugby, Horne will join Rugby Australia in March. Prior to that, he held positions with the British team Saracens, Samoan rugby, and Equestrian Australia.

Nucifora, a former coach of the ACT Brumbies, will assume the advisory role after returning home from his job as Ireland’s high-performance director. After the August Olympics in Paris, Nucifora will conclude his time with Ireland, the current global No. 2 team.

Horne will be in charge of organizing RA’s centralization of the national senior men’s and women’s rugby teams as well as the high-performance Super Rugby systems.

With Eddie Jones’ recent departure to coach Japan, he will also be engaged in the selection process for the next Wallabies head coach.

Even though the men’s team did not make it out of the group stage at the recent World Cup in France, Horne remained optimistic about the code in Australia.

In a statement, Horne stated, “Some really positive things are going on in Australian rugby.” “It’s evidently a huge year for them with the Olympics in July. Our women’s sevens team has won the first two rounds of the world series, and the men’s team showed great progress over those first two weekends.”

Phil Waugh, CEO of Rugby Australia, stated that Horne and Nucifora would both benefit Australian rugby.

According to Waugh, “Peter has a great understanding of how different countries have structured their high-performance programs, and he understands that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.” “In the meanwhile, Ireland’s recent achievements have demonstrated the benefits of such a system, and David has well-regarded experience establishing a successful, coordinated national high-performance rugby framework with them.”