The news of Ulster's promised 'exciting signing' broke yesterday but considering what happened with Ryan Kankowski last week, Ulster fans would have been forgiven for waiting for official confirmation before getting their hopes up.
Well here's the official confirmation that they need. 24 year old South Africa international Marcell Coetzee is heading for the Kingspan Stadium this summer on a three year deal.
What a signing! @Springboks international Marcell Coetzee will join us this summer on a three year deal #SUFTUM pic.twitter.com/l1baRjniGd
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) February 11, 2016
Coetzee arrives from the Sharks in Super Rugby with a very hefty reputation stemming from his performances with the Springboks over the past couple of years and if Kankowski was going to be an exciting signing then Coetzee's arrival should pushed that excitement up quite a few notches.
With a couple of exceptions, the NIQ arrivals to the Irish provinces over the past couple of seasons have been in the latter half of their careers. That's not always necessarily a negative but to bring in someone like Coetzee with the vast majority of his career still ahead of him can be put down as a massive coup for Les Kiss and Ulster.
Coetzee joins having largely played as a flanker but with Nick Williams departure this summer, it would seem that Ulster fans can expect the South African to slot in at number 8 judging by what Kiss has had to say about the new arrival.
It is a major coup for us to sign a player of Marcell's quality and experience. His age profile, positional versatility, leadership ability and character were some of the key ingredients as to why he was such an important target for us.
He has played most of his international rugby between 6 and 7, but he has also played a huge amount at number 8, where we feel he could have a big impact for Ulster. That versatility is absolutely vital for us, as not only can Marcell be hugely effective across the three positions, but this can also accommodate the development of a number of our home-grown Irish-qualified players.
With Charles Piutau also on the way come the end of the season all eyes will be on the likes of Leinster and Munster to see if they can strengthen in a similar manner over the next couple of months.
