Ulster have announced that Irish tighthead prop Marty Moore will join the province next summer on a two-year deal.
The move will see Moore reunited with Ulster's director of rugby Les Kiss and head coach Jono Gibbes, having been coached by both men in the recent past.
Moore represented Leinster and Ireland at various underage levels, before making his professional debut for his native province in April 2012, versus Edinburgh. He went on to amass 58 caps for Leinster, many of which were earned during Gibbes' tenure as forwards coach.
The 26-year-old has won 10 caps for Ireland since making his international bow in February 2014, against Scotland. He was part of Ireland's Six Nations title-winning squads in 2014 and 2015, which had Kiss on the highly successful coaching team.
Moore joined Wasps ahead of the 2016-17 season and he has made 34 appearances for the English Premiership side to date, including the Champions Cup Round 1 match against Ulster last month.
Commenting on his move to Kingspan Stadium, Moore said:
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge of playing for Ulster and it will be brilliant to have the opportunity to work with a few familiar faces. I know a number of the players pretty well and they speak very highly of the professionalism of the club and the ambition that it has.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Wasps so far and I’ve learned a lot from playing in the Premiership against some quality front row combinations. I feel that experience will benefit me massively when I get over to Belfast next summer.”
Kiss says the coaching staff are looking forward to welcoming Moore into the squad:
“This is a massive boost to our programme for next season and I must commend Bryn (operations director, Bryn Cunningham) for getting this deal tied up so early.
“Marty is someone that I know well from his time with the national side and he’s already proven that he’s an international-quality player. He’s a strong scrum and lineout operator, but he also makes positive contributions around the park and that is increasingly important in the modern game.
“At only 26 years of age, I believe that Marty has the potential to get even better and I know that he has the hunger and work ethic to do that. He’s determined to earn a starting position in a competitive environment here at Ulster, and also put himself back in contention for Ireland selection off the back of strong performances for us.
“The signing of Marty adds further quality and depth to our senior squad, while we are continuing to invest in our academy programme, where 13 of the 19 young players are forwards.”
