Edinburgh add to top prop options

The imposing, 6ft 2in, 18st 3lb tighthead has started 41 of his 66 Premiership appearances for Harlequins and the Warriors, after cutting his teeth in three seasons for then Championship side Exeter.

The former Ulsterman was an academy player, age-grade and A-internationalist during the tenure of now Edinburgh Rugby head coach Alan Solomons, with the chance to team up with the South African key to his decision to move north.

Andress said: "I'm really excited about joining Edinburgh Rugby. It's a fantastic rugby club in a great city.

"I've just had a young boy so I'm looking forward to bringing him up in the city, with a club with such a great history.

"I know how good a coach Alan Solomons is and what he brings to the table so I'm delighted to get a chance to work under his guidance again.

"He feels that the club has a good infrastructure in place and is now looking to build on it.

"He wants to make the club's academy system even stronger and build a really good first team for the youngsters to be exposed to, learn from, and grow into first-class players, in order to build a club structure that will become self-reliant.

"I've earned a lot of experience in two very tough scrummaging leagues and I'm keen to be part of this vision to build a successful club and work with the younger guys and help them develop."

Edinburgh Rugby head coach Alan Solomons, added: "John [Andress] is well known to me from my time in Ulster when he was young boy playing under-20 rugby.

"He came through the age-grades in Ireland and then, in my opinion, did the right thing in signing for Exeter who were playing in the Championship.

"After a couple of successful years there he joined Harlequins and Worcester in the Premiership, which means he comes to us with a lot of tight-head experience earned in the two very competitive divisions.

"He is an outstanding scrummager, but is also good around the field. I think he will bring a lot to this club.

"We need depth in that tighthead position, and he'll give us a lot of experience in that role."

John Andress (30), tighthead prop
Born: 20 January 1984 in Belfast
Height: 6ft 2in (1.88m), weight: 18st 3lb (116 kg)
Previous clubs: Ulster, Exeter (2007-09), Harlequins (2009-11), Exeter (2011/12), Worcester Warriors (2012-14)
Honours: Ireland A (Wolfhounds), Ireland under-19 and U21