Wow.

If you’re a Munster fan reading this you might want to take a seat, because this is going to be a tough one for you to take.

Munster Rugby announced yesterday that that had signed Springbok Jason Jenkins ahead of next season on a one-year deal with the 25-year-old seen as a direct placement for CJ Stander due to his ability to play in the back-row and the second-row.

But it has now emerged that Jenkins was not their first-choice with the southern province provisionally agreeing a deal with the 2019 World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit, according to a report by The42.

The deal, worth a reported €600k-a-seasn, was set to be funded by a private investor, similar to the deals that saw the province sign Damian de Allende and RG Snyman but was blocked by IRFU performance director David Nucifora.

The reasoning was because of the financial impact that COVID has had on the IRFU with the organisation unwilling to sanction such a massive deal, despite the fact that it was largely privately funded.

A tough one to take for Munster fans.