Has this man taken the toughest job in Australian rugby?

Highly respected administrator Peter Horne has been signed by Rugby Australia as its new director of high-performance rugby.

The news comes just days out from Christmas and is a welcomed present for Wallabies fans as the team looks to rebuild after its abysmal Rugby World Cup campaign.

Alongside Horne, Rugby Australia announced David Nucifora will return from Ireland next year to join the governing body in an advisory role.

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Horne returns Down Under off the back of 14 years working with World Rugby as its director of high-performance.

Horne has a wealth of experience having worked as the general manager of Premiership Rugby side Saracens. He also held high-performance roles with Samoa's rugby union, the Equestrian Federation of Australia, and Australian Canoeing.

With Rugby Australia, Horne will be instrumental in leading the Wallabies, Wallaroos, Sevens, and the alignment of Super Rugby Pacific clubs. 

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Horne will provide high-performance programs to the above teams with a particular focus on coaching, strength and conditioning, player development, and "setting the systems and structures that will create a successful future" for the sport in Australia.

Nucifora's signing is a welcomed one fresh off leading Ireland to becoming the top men's side in world rugby.

He will finish up with Ireland following the Olympic Games in 2024.

"There are some really positive things going on in Australian Rugby," said Horne.

"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 – it's obviously a huge year for them with the Olympics in July.

"The Wallaroos finished the year on a high, finishing third in World Rugby's WXV competition – they have made great strides, and RA is strengthening that program with a new full-time head coach and dedicated HP manager.

"We are seeing growth in participation at the community level – especially with women and girls, which shows the extent of the opportunity in women's rugby.

"We have an opportunity to purpose-build a new Wallabies program from scratch.

"And there is universal agreement across the Super Rugby clubs that the high-performance systems and pathways need a major overhaul to ensure everyone is pushing in the same direction; to deliver sustainable success for our Wallabies, Wallaroos and Sevens teams.

"To have this sort of agreement and understanding on the path forward is exciting and I look forward to working with the Australian rugby community."

Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh hailed the signings a landmark occasion.

"Peter has a great understanding of the way nations around the world have structured their high-performance programs, and he understands that it cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach," Waugh explained.

"We need to build a more aligned system that is tailored to the nuances of the game here.

"Peter understands Australian rugby, and he has a keen sense for what we need to do to get everyone working towards the same goals.

"Combine that understanding with strong expertise of high-performance environments and he is clearly the right person for the job all five Super Rugby clubs agree; they have all expressed their support for Peter's appointment and enthusiasm at the prospect of working with him.

"Meanwhile David has well-regarded experience delivering a successful, aligned national high-performance rugby structure with Ireland – whose results in recent years have shown the benefits of such a system.

"We have been clear that we do not want to copy systems from around the world – rather we want to take ideas and concepts from similar structures and apply them locally.

"We know Australian rugby is quite unique in its structure, and we need to be conscious of that as we build something more fit-for-purpose, that delivers better performing Wallabies, Wallaroos, Sevens and Super Rugby teams."