De Luca extends with Edinburgh

Edinburgh man: Nick de Luca is staying put

Scotland centre Nick De Luca has agreed to a new two-year deal with Edinburgh while former Ulster stalwart David Humphreys has accepted the Operations Director position at the Irish region.

De Luca rejoined Edinburgh last summer and played an influential role in the club clinching fourth place in the Magners League - Edinburgh's highest ever finish in the competition - and has now extended his contract because he believes it is the perfect environment for him to fulfil his potential as a rugby player.

Dumfries-born De Luca was rewarded with his first Test cap for Scotland during the SixNations after impressing in Edinburgh's midfield and has since been included in the squad for the two Test tour of Argentina.

As a result, the 24-year-old says he has found the ideal setting for him to continue his marked progress on the pitch and that he wants to help Edinburgh regularly challenge for trophies.

"Edinburgh is the right environment for me and I am absolutely delighted to have extended my contract for another two years. I genuinely believe Edinburgh is a club that is going places," said De Luca.

"When I rejoined the team last summer nobody outside the camp predicted we would finish as high as we eventually did in the table (fourth).But there is a tremendous amount of self belief in the Edinburgh squad and that can't be underestimated.That was shown with some of our defensive performances at places like Dragons and at home against Leinster."

Edinburgh head coach Andy Robinson welcomed the news and underlined De Luca's importance in the club's future plans.

"As soon as I joined in October, I recognised what an exciting rugby player Nick is," said Robinson.

"He was short-listed for the Player of the Year award and that was a fitting tribute to the impact he had on Edinburgh's season. Not only does he have fantastic skill levels but he also has a tremendous amount of physicality which makes him an asset to any team's midfield.

"He is an attentive student of the game and his keenness to learn suggests he will keep on improving and become a key player for both Edinburgh and Scotland."

Scottish Rugby Chief Executive Gordon McKie backed the re-signing and says De Luca's decision to continue his development in the country is great news for Scottish Rugby.

"I'm delighted to hear that another one of our young national squad members has committed himself to continue playing professional rugby in Scotland," said McKie.

"This further demonstrates our stated intention to retain a significant number of our Scotland internationalists playing in this country and thus help us build upon the excellent results achieved in 2007/2008 season."

Meanwhile, Ulster announced on Wednesday that David Humphreys, recently retired from professional rugby, has been appointed to the role of Operations Director at the club.

The 72 times Ireland capped fly-half, who retired from playing rugby with an emotional and farewell appearance for Ulster in May against the Cardiff Blues, will be trading the tracksuit for a shirt and tie as he takes up his new position within the administration structure at the club, reporting to the Chief Executive.

With Humphreys categorically stating that he had no desire to pursue a career in coaching, most had expected him to begin his post-rugby career in the legal world with a firm of Belfast based solicitors, however, his appointment to the newly created role, based at Ravenhill is quite a coup for Ulster Rugby.

As Operations Director, Humphreys' has two main remits. With regard to off-field activity of the professional team and Academy, he will be responsible for ensuring the creation of an environment where the Ulster Rugby Squad and Management Team can perform to their optimum abilities. This part of his role will involve work on areas including player contracting and negotiations, facilities provision and the management of systems and while Humphreys will not be part of the Team Management panel, he will liaise closely with the coaching staff.

His second key function will involve working closely with senior administrative staff at Ravenhill, building the profile of Ulster Rugby both within the Province and further afield, and particularly within the business community.

"We are delighted that David has chosen to accept the Operations Director position, and that at the conclusion of his playing career, we have been able to keep him involved as part of the wider team at Ulster Rugby," commented Ulster Chief Executive Michael Reid.

"Having "been there and done that" in terms of his playing career he is respected by both the player group and the management team and will have a strong input into off-field issues going forward. He has been a wonderful ambassador for Ulster Rugby throughout his playing career and with this appointment he will also have a role to play within the business where we will also be looking to use his profile and association with the club in a very positive way commercially."

Humphreys will formally take up his new position at the beginning of July in preparation for the coming season and is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

"While my experiences as a player will stand me in good stead in terms of a number of my responsibilities relating to the professional team and the Academy, one of the main attractions of the role was the opportunity to get involved with the general management and business of Ulster Rugby, and stretch myself in a new area," said Humphreys.

"I've been involved in rugby long enough to know that the off-pitch aspects of running a club are vital to the success of the on-field team and having spent the best part of the last twenty years on the field with Ulster Rugby, I'm looking forward to becoming a part of that structure and helping to make Ulster one of Europe's premier rugby clubs both on and off the pitch."