Ulster set to swoop for Richie Murphy’s son as one of four off-season arrivals from Leinster

According to The42, the northern province have agreed deals for fly-half Murphy, as well as centre prospects Sam Berman and Wilhelm de Klerk and senior loosehead prop Ed Byrne.

It is also believed that Ulster have shown interest in another Leinster loosehead, Academy star Jack Boyle, however that approach has been rebuffed by his current province as the 22-year-old is under contract for next season.

Fly-half Murphy featured heavily for Ireland’s Under-20s during their recent Six Nations campaign, which saw them finish second despite going unbeaten, and will add more depth at Ravenhill with Billy Burns moving to Munster in the off-season.

With Nathan Doak, Jake Flannery and James Humphreys forming an inexperienced trio holding down the No.10 jersey for next year, the hope is that one of them can take a significant step forward and establish themselves as first choice.

As well as being a talented addition to the Academy, Murphy’s arrival could also be an indication that father Richie is set to be given the Ulster job on a permanent basis, as is widely expected.

Meanwhile, Berman and De Klerk are also understood to be making the switch north, the latter of whom also featured prominently for the Under-20s during their Six Nations campaign.

Byrne appears to be the player who would make the biggest initial impact at Ulster, the experienced 30-year-old having made six appearances for Ireland but having been left short on game time in recent seasons due to the positional switch of Andrew Porter and resurgence of Cian Healy.

With Springbok World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff moving on at the end of the campaign, Ulster are short on loosehead options with Andrew Warwick now 33, the future of Eric O’Sullivan up in the air and Callum Reid dealing with repetitive injury problems.

Carlow man Byrne, who made the last of his Irish appearances against the USA in July 2021, would provide a solid option while Tom O’Toole learns the ropes on the left side of the scrum but still would not be a long-term solution to the position.

It is understood that Munster were also interested in Byrne but favoured a move for a non-Irish qualified loosehead, a petition which was rejected by the IRFU, while the Leinster man also garnered approaches from several English Premiership sides.

Murphy is not the only member of his family to be on the move this summer, too, with brother Ben, a scrum-half with Leinster, believed to be joining Connacht.