Former Munster lock Eoin O'Connor to join Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs have confirmed the signing of former Munster lock Eoin O'Connor.

The Waterford native departed Munster at the end of the 2022/23 season and is set to bolster the Irish contingent at the Premiership side, who also have former Leinster pair Jack Dunne and Rory O'Loughlin on their books.

O'Connor was one of several academy players to make their Munster debuts in the Champions Cup win against Wasps in December 2021, when the squad had been decimated by a Covid-19 outbreak.

The 6ft 7in second row played twice more for the province in the URC that season before moving onto a senior contract, but found opportunities limited behind the likes of Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne, RG Snyman, Fineen Wycyerley and Thomas Ahern at his native province.

O'Connor also featured regularly for Young Munster in the All Ireland League.

"Like with all the players we sign, we've done a lot of research into Eoin and watched quite a few of his games," said Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter.

"I’ve made no secret of the fact that we’re looking for a younger stable of players moving forward and Eoin fits that bill.

"Watching those games though, it’s clear he has a lot of talent, but there is still a bit more for us to unearth over the coming years. We’ve got a couple of things we need to work on in terms of making him more robust, both for training and in games, but we’ve done that before with others.

"That said, his work around the set-piece and his desire to work hard and stay in the fight, those are things that really stood out when I looked at him and I believe he has all the qualities to be a very good Premiership player for us."

O'Connor could end up taking on his native province later this year, with Exeter and Munster drawn together in Pool 3