Scottish rugby open up on David Nucifora future, ticket prices, hotel plans, Murrayfield concerts and R360

Chief executive Alex Williamson left media in attendance in a post-AGM briefing of little doubt that Townsend retains full support from those above him.

However, there were other topics of conversation to note in a sit-down with Williamson and the sport’s chief finance officer David White. We pick out the best bits:

The future of performance director David Nucifora

The Australian’s contract expires next year and Williamson said: “I haven't had any of those conversations. But I am confident that on the basis that we are working well with David, that we are not under pressure to change that circumstance.

“But we haven't made any commitments one way or another. We have plenty of stuff to get on with for the time being.”

Sean Everitt and Edinburgh Rugby

Everitt is also out of contract at the end of the season and has intimated that he is willing to stay at the Hive Stadium beyond that. Williamson confirmed that talks are ongoing.

“We're in conversation with Sean right now and we'll update you once we've got through those conversations,” he said. “But as we talked about, we planned on doing it this side of the November Tests, in late autumn going towards Christmas, so that's where we are and we'll update you.

“We talked about continuity at the time and I don't want to pre-empt what we're talking about with Sean but continuity in our coaching group was a really important part of our evolution.”

The next women’s head coach

Scottish Rugby has yet to appoint a replacement for Bryan Easson, who left the Scotland set-up after this summer’s Rugby World Cup.

“We have interviews shortly – final interviews shortly,” updated Williamson. “We've been through a long process so we anticipate being able to announce something in the coming weeks.”

The appointment of Gemma Fay

Former Scotland footballer Fay became the union’s first managing director of the women’s game last month. It was put to Williamson that she may have been better suited to a performance role.

“It is interesting that that is the perception because I have never seen her like that,” Williamson reacted. “She has never really intended to be in the high-performance space and certainly has never been involved in the selection of players, for instance. She has been more involved in the creation of strategy. In fact, her title was strategy.

“So, strategy and driving the women's game from a commercial and also an international point of view, plugging into the more global game. She is an exceptional talent because she is very strong-willed. She is highly-articulate and she is really intelligent.

“She understands the game from World Rugby all the way down through our pathway into the club game. I cannot think of anybody who would be better that I have come across, right across world rugby, than Gemma to run our women's game.”

The threat of R360 to status quo

While Williamson was keen to point out that details are thin on the ground for R360, a new competition that could be launched next October, he was keen to stress he is against it and does not want Scottish involvement.

“It's difficult to assess because we're really talking about something that's almost impossible to pin down in many respects,” said Williamson. “It's a number of presentations rather than a real thing and, of course, it hasn't gone to World Rugby and therefore it lacks a degree of substance.

“But I guess the position that we hold at the moment is because there's so little information as to how it can do anything other than be harmful to the game, we've taken a reasonably strong position in line with the majority of the rest of the high-performing unions and also now the British and Irish Lions.

“I think our biggest concern from a Scottish perspective is the fact that we can't see how that money would filter back into the domestic, into the club game. So, on that basis alone we're really concerned.

“I'm not familiar with anyone who's actually signed up.”

The role of concerts at Murrayfield

Scottish Rugby continues to mine different revenue streams. While the loss this year was £3.7 million - a major improvement on last year’s £11.3m - costs are tight. The likes of Oasis and Taylor Swift have played at Murrayfield and that has boosted finances.

“Zach Bryan is an example who sold one night out in double quick time,” explained White. “We're on to night two. His monthly streams on Spotify are not far off what Oasis does. He's not necessarily UK-centric, he's not on UK radio, but there are people capable of selling out this stadium and what we have to do is make sure that this stadium becomes the go-to place for big events.

“We are competing with Hampden, but we are much better placed than Hampden for multiple reasons.”

Ticket prices

One fear among rugby fans in an increase in ticket prices for some matches. Williamson set out the lie of the land.

“If you take New Zealand and England and France, you probably don’t want to go much harder on price,” he said. “They are absolutely top-tier games. The average ticket price for a US or Tonga game is below £30.

“When you think about the Nations Championship and the potential of the team that will be playing in that tournament home or away, you start to think there is probably more opportunity one tickets without it becoming impossible for people to come. And there’s a delicate balance between those two things.

“Also, it’s very important to keep open-minded to the whole organisation – Edinburgh and Glasgow can both improve their returns on a game-by-game basis. The women’s game is growing, as is the fan base.”

Could there be a hotel at Murrayfield soon?

“I think we’re at a very early stage on that,” added White. “I’d say hotels and everything else is on the table. We need to have a view on what is going to help us be sustainable for a 15-20-year period, and not a 4-5-year period. We’re still relatively early in that process.”