Nick De Luca

De Luca was born in Dumfries and grew up in Lockerbie. ==Club rugby==

De Luca's position of choice is as a Centre. He can also operate at Full back and Wing. In his early career he caught the eye with his notable 'outside breaks', opening up defences and creating chances. His creative play has been noted for deceptive strength, slick handling De Luca's debut season was marked by memorable try against Toulouse in the Heineken Cup where he stood up the famed Yannick Jauzion to touch down, and he also contributed a spellbinding effort during the dramatic win at Ospreys later on that year. He was named in the Pro12 Dream team at the end of the 2007–08 season. ==International==

De Luca was a member of the Scotland A squads for the 2006 and 2007 Churchill Cup tournaments in Canada and England respectively. He made his debut for Scotland against France in the first game of the 2008 Six Nations Championship. De Luca held on to his position for the following game against Wales. De Luca was part of the Scotland team that recorded a historic series victory in Argentina in June 2010, starting at outside centre in the first test victory in Tucuman. His first international try was on 19 March 2011 in the 2011 Six Nations Championship match against Italy at Murrayfield, the first Scotland try at the stadium since November 2009. De Luca started for Scotland in the 2011 Rugby World Cup games against Georgia and Argentina. He displaced Joe Ansbro who had started in the first game for Scotland against Romania. In the next game, a decider against England, De Luca joined the game as a second-half substitute for the injured Max Evans. ==Personal life==

De Luca is married to Alissa, and together they have three daughters. Dumfries-born De Luca applauded the heroics of his local football team Queen of the South in reaching the 2008 Scottish Cup Final against the odds after recording a shock 4–3 semi-final win over Aberdeen. De Luca said: "Although I'm not a big football fan, it was really pleasing to see Queen of the South reach the Scottish Cup Final: that type of result is what sport is all about." ==References==