The Scotland centre - who made his international debut in this year's RBS 6 Nations – was born in Dumfries and played for the Park Farm side's colts section.

That makes him a Doonhamer and he was delighted to see Queen of the South progress to the Scottish FA Cup final with an incredible 4-3 victory over former European Cup Winners Cup champions Aberdeen.

The former Lockerbie Academy student hopes Edinburgh can stun league champions-to-be Leinster in a similar fashion when the Irish province visit Murrayfield on Friday.

The 23-year-old is aiming to return to first-team duty after a lay-off with an ankle injury and be a part of the Edinburgh side which prevent Leinster from being crowned title winners.

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.

“Nobody really gave them a chance against Aberdeen, but they showed what they were capable of by producing an inspiring performance.

“We now face Leinster, who are the runaway leaders in the league and after our recent run of results we may be seen as an outside bet to win our final home match.

“But we proved that we can beat them after our European Cup win over their full-strength side in December and we will be looking to repeat that achievement on Friday.”