David Nucifora, the performance director who helped mastermind Ireland’s rise to No 1 in the world, is to take up a key position in Andy Farrell’s management squad for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia this summer.

Aled Walters, who left his role as England’s head of strength and conditioning to take up a position as head of athletic performance with Ireland last year, is also set to join Farrell’s coaching panel.

Walters’ appointment was widely expected given his highly-regarded reputation as both a world-class head of conditioning and also his role as a motivational figure for the players, a role that was previously filled by Paul ‘Bobby’ Stridgeon, the former Wales conditioning coach who is now at Racing 92.

But Nucifora’s appointment is a fascinating one. The former Wallabies hooker, who was part of the World Cup-winning team in 1991, was the man who hired Farrell as Joe Schmidt’s successor as Ireland head coach in 2020 during a 10-year spell at the Irish Rugby Football Union that included four Six Nations titles, two of which were Grand Slams.

His tenure also included a series of firsts that featured victories over the All Blacks, a Test win in South Africa, as well as a Test series victory in New Zealand, three Under-20 Grand Slams. Ireland men and women’s Sevens sides also qualified for the Olympics in Paris last summer.

Nucifora joined the Scottish Rugby Union in a consulting role last August despite already having agreed a similar advisory position with the Australian Rugby Union. He has a close relationship with Farrell and will also provide valuable insight into Australian rugby, coached the ACT Brumbies to great success in the 2000s and was general manager of the Australian Rugby Union High Performance Unit from 2009.

It is understood Nucifora will fulfil a similar performance role with the Lions and will be seconded from the SRU to join Farrell’s team.