Cape Town - Ulster have announced that the proposed signing of former All Black flyhalf Stephen Donald will not be completed due to an injury.
Donald was set to replace the outgoing Christian Lealiifano at Kingspan Stadium, but now the province are set to be short in the pivot position.
"Unfortunately, Ulster Rugby is not in a position to proceed with the signing of Stephen Donald, after receiving a medical report on the player yesterday (Sunday)," read a statement released by the PRO14 outfit on Monday.
"Stephen had agreed a short-term deal to join the province, but he sustained an injury while representing his club in the final game of the Japanese season, which will rule him out for four plus weeks.
"The timeline now makes it very difficult to find a suitable replacement, but we will continue to monitor the market."