Ulster ‘taken aback’ by Humpreys’ exit

Ulster director of rugby David Humphreys’ decision to quit his position and take up a similar role at Gloucester was a surprise to his Irish chief executive.

“His recruitment and retention of players at Ulster was second to none in Europe,” said Ulster chief executive Shane Logan.

“He’s always been very successful and has great morals and humility. I think his skill set fitted perfectly well with the people we’ve got at the club.”

Logan said he always knew that a day would come when Humphreys would move from the club for career reasons.

But he was left “taken aback” when Humphreys told him two days ago that he would be moving to the Premiership club. Asked whether any attempts had been made to make Humphreys change his mind, Logan replied: “I don’t think we tried to do anything.

“I think David has been consistent over the years that he wants his career to advance,” added the Ulster chief executive. “We’ve had a joint career plan. Part of that has been to advance excellent levels of success and a really good legacy here.

“We wouldn’t stand in David’s way.”

The 42-year-old will replace Nigel Davies who was dismissed by Gloucester last month.