Ulster sign Argentine prop Eduardo Bello

Ulster have agreed a deal to sign Newcastle Red Bulls tighthead Eduardo Bello on a one-year contract despite him being out of action for almost two years with a serious knee injury.

The Red Bulls, who finished bottom of the Gallagher PREM after only winning two of their eight games, recently announced that Bello was one of 26 players who will be leaving the club when their contracts run out at the end of the month.

Former Saracens ace Bello, 30, signed a one-year contract extension last August and hasn’t played since he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury playing for Los Pumas in the 2024 Rugby Championship.

He came off the replacements bench when Argentina lost the 2023 Rugby World Cup bronze final to England and last played in his country’s 67-27 Rugby Championship thrashing of Australia at the Estadio Brigadier in September 2024.

And he had attracted interest from PREM semi-finalists Northampton Saints and Ulster’s United Rugby Championship rivals and his former club Zebra, who were getting regular updates on his progress towards ending his long injury hell.

Ulster are looking for a tighthead, with Tom O’Toole, who started their Challenge Cup final defeat to Montpellier on the right-hand side of the front row, set to move to loosehead at the request of Ireland coach Andy Farrell.

Farrell started O’Toole at loosehead in their final two Six Nations games against Wales and Scotland, and the long-term plan is for him to play in the position for Ulster next season.

Bello, who played 83 games for Zebra before moving to Saracens, had been offered a short-term deal by Ulster to prove his fitness, but it is now understood that he will be getting a one-year deal after proving his fitness to Ravenhill bosses last week.

He had been a target for Stormers boss John Dobson last summer, but is expected to put pen to paper on a year-long contract with Ulster in the next few days.