De Luca was forced to withdraw minutes before kick-off with a hamstring strain however he insists such memories are behind him as Edinburgh prepare to face Ulster in the Heineken Cup semi-finals.

Edinburgh head into the clash having lost to Ulster twice already in the PRO12 this season and in De Luca’s eyes everyone is expecting the Irish outfit to chalk up another win in Dublin.

However the Scotland centre, who featured four times during this year’s RBS 6 Nations, admits as long as Edinburgh don’t doubt themselves they can pull off the unexpected.

“The build-up is very similar to an international. It is a huge game and if anything this is bigger because there is silverware on the line,” De Luca told the Scotsman.

“In the Six Nations we were just trying to get a win; this is a huge game in the history of Scottish rugby. But it is also fun because we are very close to getting something special out of this.

“We have had a great run of form in Europe and don’t want it to end yet. There is individual pressure on us and we are putting pressure on each other.

“We are not going there to make up the numbers by any means. Publicly, I don’t think anybody expects anything from us, but we do.”