EVEN THOUGH IT has almost been a year since David Humphreys was appointed Director of Rugby at Gloucester, it’s still strange to see him working out of a coaching box in England’s West Country rather than at Ravenhill.

Humphreys is one of Ulster’s most iconic heroes, having won Heineken Cup and Celtic League medals during a ten-year career with the club before working behind the scenes for a further six seasons.

Humphreys initially joined Ulster’s backroom team as the Director of Operations but was the club’s Director of Rugby by the end of his tenure, a position he know holds with Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership.

The former out-half’s decisions to swap clubs was a big surprise last summer, especially because he was leaving a team stocked with young talent who seemed poised to make an imminent breakthrough.

Humphreys says that leaving Ulster wasn’t something that he had been planning, but once a chance came up, it made him evaluate what he was doing.

“We had been pretty successful at Ulster over the last few years considering where we were when I started and this job came up on short notice,” Humphreys told The42.

Both Ulster and Gloucester have struggled at times since the move. The Belfast-based province failed to make it out of their Champions Cup pool for the first time since 2010 while Gloucester currently sit ninth in the Aviva Premiership.

But the Cherry and Whites host Connacht in the Challenge Cup quarter-final tomorrow night and winning Europe’s second-tier tournament could provide a route into next season’s marquee competition.

Results have been mixed in Humphreys’ first season at Gloucester. Source: Inpho/Billy Stickland

Gloucester have some very talented players in their squad, especially in the backline where they can pick Greig Laidlaw, James Hook, Billy Twelvetrees and Jonny May.

And Humphrey’s thinks that while the results haven’t been as good as he had hoped, building blocks have been put in place by head coach Laurie Fisher ahead of next season.

“I’m not sure what expectations I had coming over really,” Humphreys said.

Recruitment is a big part of Humphreys’ job and he appears to be a shrewd judge of talent for the most part. Ulster’s South African trio of Johann Muller, Pedrie Wannenburg and Ruan Pienaar were all great additions to the side while Jared Payne has gone on to be an Irish international.

Humphreys is right to be optimistic about next season’s new signings as two have performed consistently in Super Rugby. Jeremy Thrush has been capped 11 times for the All Blacks in the second row while fullback Tom Marshall is one of the league’s more underrated attacking threats.

But besides getting out the checkbook, there are other aspects to working inside the framework of the Aviva Premiership that are different to what Humphreys experienced in the Pro12.

“Well the big thing is that Gloucester is owned – when you are at Ulster you are working under the IRFU who have a say in what you can do,” Humphreys said. “That doesn’t make things more difficult or easier. It is a huge strength for the national team and it is why Ireland have been so successful recently.”

In a few years time, Humphreys will have been in the coaches box longer than he was a professional rugby player and you experience the highs and lows of the game completely differently in the two roles. When he was a player, it was crucial that he get his own job right on matchday. But as a Director of Rugby, the most important thing is that he gets everybody else at the club firing.

All Black Jeremy Thrush is one of Gloucester’s big signings ahead of next season. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO

That challenge is something he enjoys.