Ross Samson is to leave Edinburgh at the end of the season and join Aviva Premiership side London Irish.
The 23-year-old scrum-half has spent the last two seasons with his home-town club, and today thanked the capital players and management for what he deems an “excellent learning experience.”
Samson continued: “I’ve had a very enjoyable and beneficial couple of years with Edinburgh: I’ve met some great people and certainly learned a lot.
“It’s obviously been frustrating not to be playing regularly, but I’ve taken a lot from my time here and I’ll continue to support the club from afar.”
Edinburgh chief executive Craig Docherty said: “I’d like to thank Ross for his efforts and wish him all the best with London Irish. We’ve got a lot of quality at scrum-half and he’s not been featuring as often as he would have liked, but he leaves with our best wishes and I’m sure he’ll make the most of this new opportunity.”
Ross Gordon Samson moved to his hometown team Edinburgh from Newcastle Falcons in the summer of 2009 and made his debut as a replacement against Bath in the Heineken Cup in the December of that year.
In the 2010/11 campaign, he struggled to dislodge Mike Blair and Greig Laidlaw from the scrum-half spot, but continued to be a regular presence in the Scotland 7s team.
A former pupil at Stewart’s Melville College, Samson is a swift and intelligent number nine and earned a first start in the black and red in the 1872 Cup match against Glasgow at Firhill in December 2009.
A History graduate from Newcastle University, Samson helped Tynedale to promotion to English National Two in 2009 and was a part of the Falcons’ Academy.
Highlights of his career so far include playing for the Barbarians against Edinburgh Academicals in the club’s 150th anniversary match and against Bedford in the Hobbs Challenge. He seized this prestigious opportunity by scoring a hat-trick.
Samson played for Edinburgh’s school and integrated under-16 and under-18 teams before selection in the Scotland squad in the Home Unions’ 2006 under-18 tournament in Gloucestershire.
He played for Scotland in the under-19 match against Italy in 2007, and he went on made his under-20 international debut against France at Falkirk in February 2008. He played in all five matches in that season's Six Nations championship, starting four of the games and being a half-time replacement against Ireland in Athlone.
He played in all five games for Scotland in the IRB Junior World Championship in Wales in June 2008, starting in two and scoring a try as a replacement against Canada at Newport.
A long term fan of Edinburgh, Samson lists Brendan “Chainsaw” Laney as his favourite all-time player.
