Munster have signed Springbok forward Jean Deysel on a short-term long contract to cover a number of injury blows in their second row.
The seven-times capped South African joins from Sharks after it was confirmed that Dave Foley will undergo surgery on a wrist complaint while Jean Kleyn is also ruled out with a neck injury.
Deysel comes in on a three-month loan deal, subject to being granted a work permit.
The 32-year-old, who has made seven appearances for South Africa and over 70 Super Rugby appearances, will join the province later this month.
Ahead of the quarter-final clash with Toulouse in just over two weeks' time, Deysel and Young Munster scrum-half Abrie Griesel have been nominated as Munster's additional players for the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.
Meanwhile, Munster have also announced that academy products Jack O'Donoghue, Ronan O'Mahony and Alex Wootton have all penned new two-year contracts, which will keep them with the province until June 2019 at least.
"It's always a challenge when we have two of our experienced players ruled out through injury, and we have a third, Mark Chisholm, only back training after a year out from the game due to concussion," director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said.
“We needed to bolster the squad in that area with the trio unavailable, especially as we enter the business end of both the Champions Cup and Guinness PRO12. Jean (Deysel) comes with the talent and experience to hit the ground running at this busy period. He will be a valuable addition to the squad.”
