The most powerful man in Scottish rugby is in the building. Let the rugby revolution-or evolution at the very least -at Murrayfield begin.
Australian David Nucifora has kept a low profile since he officially started with the SRU less than a fortnight ago.
He will break cover to watch and analyse closely Scotland’s next match against his beloved Wallabies at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Sunday.
Up till now Brisbane-born Nucifora has been the invisible man to the fans but has held a series of meetings with the Murrayfield top brass - or the ones still there after the departure of chief executive Mark Dodson and a number of others after the SRU made 35 members of staff redundant in a cost-cutting exercise.
He is being paid a hefty salary to be the man in charge of the playing side of Scottish Rugby from the top down.
That he is working on a freelance basis and can help out other rugby nations is a cause for concern. Scottish rugby needs someone in charge all the year round, not someone who comes and goes and can work for other people. Hopefully there are no future conflict of interests for Nucifora and his main focus is always on Scotland.
The tip of the iceberg of his work at Murrayfield is the national team which is why there is pressure on Gregor Townsend to show him it is heading in the right direction by beating Australia in their next outing.
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The former hooker, who was part of Australia’s 1991 World Cup winning squad, wouldn’t have been terribly impressed by what he has seen so far from Townsend’s Scotland in the Autumn Nations Series
The matches against Fiji and Portugal were won with ease as expected. The one real challenge they faced against world champions South Africa was lost.
To make it a decent November series, and to round off the year on a high with a win over the Wallabies is imperative.
Townsend will know Nucifora needs to be convinced that he deserves to stay in his job. The Scotland head coach may be contracted until April 2026 but whenever a new man takes over there is a tendency for him to bring in his own people.
Seven years is a long time to be in charge of the national team and the Australian is unlikely to tolerate any more losses or indifferent performances from Scotland on Townsend’s watch.
The new man at Murrayfield helped Ireland become one of the top teams in the world during his decade as head of elite performance.
Winning was everything to him when he was based in Dublin which is why he is sure to have been puzzled and possibly even concerned that Townsend described the loss to South Africa as “one of the best performances” during his time in charge.
Nucifora will want to secure good-natured bragging rights next time he talks to his Australian family and should get them as his adopted national side Scotland should have enough to beat the Wallabies provided the players all play to their full potential.
Especially the one world class Scotland player Finn Russell and the four that have it in them to reach his level. Russell was kept in check against the Springboks and never given the chance to show his talents. He surely has a great performance still in him. Let’s hope it comes against Australia.
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu, who was born and raised in Australia, was the best player on the park for his team in the loss to South Africa and will want to show his worth against the country of his birth that never capped him.
Prop Zander Fagerson did his best against South Africa and will be vital against the Wallabies.
Sunday is a trial run for all five men against an Australian side they may all come up against in a British and Irish Lions jersey next summer. That should give them added incentive to do well at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell will watch the game with interest.
A Scotland win and top class performances from Russell, Tuipulotu, van der Merwe, Kinghorn and Fagerson means they can look out their passports straight away for the tour Down Under.
Looking at the bigger picture a Scotland win will put a gloss on a year that promised so much after the first Six Nations game then in good old Scottish style became mired in mediocrity.
Heading into the final Scotland international match of the year you are looking at eleven games and seven won. Sounds good but it isn’t really.
Things started well with a one-point away win over Wales which was a big deal at the time but following the slump from Warren Gatland’s side, it should just be classed as a victory over a poor team.
A hat-trick from van der Merwe - the first by a Scot in the history of the fixture - made it four wins in a row against the Auld Enemy. That statistic is one to be proud of.
That was followed by a 31-29 defeat to an ever-improving Italy side followed by a 13-7 loss to Ireland in Dublin.
The one thing to take from that Six Nations is that Scotland can’t put together a run of wins against the Tier-One countries.
They can do it against lesser lights as the 73-12 win over Canada, the 42-7 victory over the USA, 52-11 success over Chile and 31-19 victory over Uruguay proved over the summer.
It was all a bit of a waste of time in terms of player development as the matches were so one-sided.
A Fiji team missing most of their top players was dispatched 57-17 at Murrayfield earlier this month. Once they got all their players back for their next game they went on to beat Wales in Cardiff.
The match against the South Sea Islanders was all too easy for Scotland before they fell in their first real challenge after the Six Nations when they lost to South Africa.
For all Townsend’s positive words, they still lost 32-15 conceding four tries without scoring one of their own. That was followed up with the easy victory over Portugal at the weekend.
Going into the Australia game, there will be an extra spring in the step of utility back Tom Jordan which is a good thing from a Scotland point of view as he can be a game changer.
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He has been the breakthrough player for Scotland since he qualified through residency and debuted against Fiji.
He is already being mentioned as a possible British and Irish Lion for the tour to Australia.
It will be a big blow to Glasgow Warriors that Jordan will join Bristol Bears next season but taking on a new challenge will improve his game and can only be a positive for the Scotland national team.
The reputed £300,000 a year salary will also help his bank balance.
He should feature against Australia and can be one of the men who can lay the foundations for a much-needed victory that would ease the pressure on Townsend who needs to show Nucifora he is the man to take Scotland forward.
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