 In April 2004, he was sacked by the ACT Brumbies because the Brumbies' management believed that Nucifora introduced changes to the squad and the development of younger players and that his job was done and that the development program required another set of skills.As a result of this, Nucifora became the first ever coach in Super Rugby history, to be sacked after winning the title.In 2005 he joined the Auckland Blues team as a technical advisor and high performance manager, with the positions previously held by former All Blacks coach Graham Henry.