INTERNATIONAL centre Nick De Luca is backing his Edinburgh club to reach the knockout stages of the Heineken European Cup for only the second time in their history.
The campaign gets underway on Saturday when Edinburgh entertain Leinster as part of a group that also includes London Wasps and Castres Olympique.
But, despite that daunting opposition, De Luca, who gained his third Scotland cap on the summer tour
of Argentina, is optimistic, telling the latest edition of "Rugby World" magazine: "It's a good group for us. We'll certainly be looking to come out the other end, there's absolutely no reason why not."
De Luca is also hoping that a Test recall in Argentina can re-ignite his form on the bigger stage in claiming to have learned salutary lessons from his experiences in the last Six Nations when he lost his place after the first two rounds.
"I remember how I felt after the Six Nations games and I remember promising myself how it would all be different if I got another chance.
"I may only have got seven minutes in Argentina but it was part of a win which was tremendous and it sort of got it (the Six Nations) out of my system."
• EDINBURGH have launched the latest member of a proud rugby dynasty into the professional scene. Michael Tait, son of former Scotland and Lions centre Alan and whose grandfather was a rugby league star with Workington, turned out for the Edinburgh back-up team at Glasgow reserves yesterday. Tait has been scoring tries regularly in the Kelso threequarter line.
Edinburgh lost 14-35 despite tries from Calum Macrae and Ben Mayer. Also included for Edinburgh was Alex Blair, younger brother of Capital stalwarts Mike and David.
The full article contains 298 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
