Rumours of Leonardo Senatore, a stalwart of the Argentina back row during this World Cup, arriving on a short term deal to back up the acquisition of teammate Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino had Munster fans excited earlier today.
Obviously, the retirement of Felix Jones has since tempered any glee they were feeling.
Head coach Anthony Foley said on Tuesday that back row cover for long-term absentees Peter O'Mahony and Tommy O'Donnell would be announced later in the week.
According to the Limerick Post's Donn O'Sullivan, the man coming in as cover is not Senatore, but former Ulster player Sean Doyle (pictured above after victory at Thomond Park last year).
Doyle was born in Australia but is qualified to play for Ireland. The flanker, who spent two seasons with Ulster, left the province in 2014 to join the Brumbies.
Initially, compared with the high profile of Senatore at the moment, it may appear like an underwhelming signing, but Doyle was highly regarded during his time with Ulster.
Ulster head coach at the time, Mark Anscombe, spoke with regret regarding the 26-year-old's departure.
The one that stands out for me and who I'd be most regretful of all to be losing is Sean Doyle. I think he's got the potential to be an outstanding loose forward.
But we were always going to have our work cut out to keep him – particularly when a Super 15 team came knocking – because you've got to understand that with Sean learning and growing here and working into the structures and ways rugby is played here, he's grown up all his life under Super 15 rugby.
There's no word yet on the possible length of the Australian's contract.
Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene / SPORTSFILE
