Former Wallaby star Brendan Cannon has said that Rugby Australia should be "mortgaging the bank and the house" to secure Ireland's High Performance Director David Nucifora.
Nucifora, also a former Australia international hooker, has been employed by the IRFU since 2014 to oversee the elite game in Ireland.
His five-year contract in Ireland expires next year, coinciding with Joe Schmidt's departure as the national team's head coach.
Cannon, capped 42 times before his retirement in 2007, says Nucifora has had a key role in "the most successful transformation of recent times of a national side", which now sees Ireland as a leading contender for next year's World Cup.
“Rugby Australia should be mortgaging the bank and the house to get David Nucifora back to allow him to implement carte blanche, free rein, a centralised system,” Cannon told AAP.
“He’s spent time overseas and is now looking back at Australia; he’s been a part of the most successful transformation of recent times of a national side.
“Throw the bank at him to get him back.”
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is under pressure after a disastrous 2018 campaign saw Australia lose nine of their 13 games, including a 2-1 summer Tour loss to Ireland.
Nucifora was employed by Rugby Australia until 2012, where his idea for a centralised player system, as he's implemented in Ireland, "ran into roadblocks".
