Ireland's Rugby Giants: David Humphreys

...It is hard to imagine Friday nights at Ravenhill without Humphreys, in his trademark headgear, pulling the strings for Ulster…. In spite of the advancing years, he…lost little pace and his longevity is a tribute to the way in which this model professional and true gentleman of the game has looked after himself.

...A tremendously talented schoolboy star who made an immediate impression for Ulster by turning an away inter-pro against Munster, when he came on as a replacement to win his first cap, Humphreys had to wait for his Ireland debut. It finally came in Paris in February 1996 on the back of a virtuoso display for Oxford University in the Varsity match when he scored all 19 of his team’s points.

For the following decade until his retirement from international rugby in April 2006, Humphreys was never dropped from the match twenty-two or missed a Test through injury…He finished with seventy-two caps, the most won by any Ulsterman, and had often been the only Ravenhill representative in Ireland’s match twenty-two in his final few seasons before retiring to spend more time with wife Jayne and their three children.

The Broughshane boy was in the cockpit for record routs of our celtic cousins and kicked the winning penalty when Ireland won in Paris for the first time in nearly three decades while being man of the match in the 1999 victory over Wales at Wembley was also a highlight. He played a starring role as Dungannon became the first Ulster club to win the All Ireland League title in 2003 and, as well as the European Cup, has Celtic Cup and Celtic League winners medals for Ulster.

It was his dramatic drop goal away to the Ospreys which clinched the Celtic crown in 2006, one of many magical moments for which the little genius will be remembered along with the stunning try in the 1999 Euro semi-final against Stade Français. A true legend of the game Humphreys turned down discreet overtures from Ireland to reconsider his decision to retire from the international game and have one last hurrah at the World Cup 2007 in France.

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From the Appletree Press title
Ireland’s Rugby Giants by Ivan Martin