Irish clubs have had a great tradition of singing foreign players to improve the provincial game in the professional era. Imports like Doug Howlett, Ruan Pienaar and Isa Nacewa all had prolonged stays in Ireland and were leaders for their respective teams during their time in the country.
The impact of players such as Howlett and Pienaar, in particular, helped raise that standard of rugby in this part of the world as they imparted wisdom on their teammates at their respective provinces.
However, not every overseas signing has been a hit. In fact, some have been a bit closer to disaster.
With that in mind, here are six foreign imports to Irish rugby that didn't plan out the way the respective teams wanted to.
7 Foreign Imports To Irish Rugby That Didn't Work Out
Steven Kitshoff (Ulster)
1 January 2024; Steven Kitshoff of Ulster before the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ulster at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
He's the only player on this list currently playing in Ireland, but Kitshoff won't be around much longer as he has already announced his departure from Ulster to head back to South Africa.
The loosehead prop penned a three-year deal with the province prior to winning his second World Cup with the Springboks last year. However, he has failed to show his best form since making his debut in November and with Ulster's current financial woes this move has to go down as a flop.
Kane Douglas (Leinster)
29 November 2014; Kane Douglas, Leinster. Guinness PRO12, Round 9, Leinster v Ospreys, RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin. Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
The Aussie second joined Leinster in 2014 to a lot of hype after being part of Michael Chieka's Waratahs side that won Super Rugby, beating a star-studded Crusaders side that still had Richie McCaw, Kieron Reid and Dan Carter.
But his season at Leinster was very disappointing as Matt O'Connor's side failed to reach the Pro12 playoffs.
He would return to Australia in the summer of 2015 and started in the World Cup final for the Wallabies later that year.
Keynan Knox (Munster)
24 April 2021; Keynan Knox of Munster during the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup match between Leinster and Munster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Knox was a highly touted prospect when he joined the Munster academy in 2018 after finishing school in South Africa.
His time at Limerick would be blighted by injury and he only made 32 appearances over his 5 years in the Munster first team, before leaving in February of 2024.
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Ben Te'o (Leinster)
20 May 2016; Ben Te'o of Leinster during the Guinness PRO12 Play-off match between Leinster and Ulster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Te'o's signing was seen as a huge coup for Leinster as they lured him to Dublin from the NRL.
Te'o's time at Leinster came during probably the worst spell in recent history for them as they failed to reach the Pro12 playoffs in 2014/15 before losing in the final of the same competition in 2016 to Connacht.
Te'o himself wasn't the impact player many hoped and left soon after that defeat to Connacht in order to join Worcester Warriors and boost his chances of getting capped by England.
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Henry Speight (Ulster)
26 October 2018; Henry Speight of Ulster during the Guinness PRO14 Round 7 match between Ulster and Dragons at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile
Ulster's signing of Henry Speight in 2018 came with a lot of fanfare as the Wallabies winger was a consistent try scorer for the Brumbies in Super Rugby for most of the previous decade.
Unfortunately he didn't make much of a splash in his 11 games in Belfast and he was back in Canberra by the start of 2019.
Gerbrandt Grobler (Munster)
19 January 2018; Gerbrandt Grobler of Munster prior to the British & Irish Cup Round 6 match between Munster A and Ospreys Premiership Select at Irish Independent Park in Cork. Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile
Grobler's singing for Munster caused up a lot of controversy as the South African lock had just returned from a two-year doping ban the year prior to moving to Limerick in 2017.
Many in the Irish media felt that the IRFU shouldn't have allowed such a move to happen and, unfortunately for Grobler, he failed to silence the critics as he didn't play much at Thomond Park and was gone by the summer of 2018.
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