Connacht duo Rowan Frost and Ronan McCormack have swapped provincial allegiance and signed up for Alan Solomon's Ulster side.
As Solomons sets about strengthening his options in the forward department the double loss comes as a further blow to Connacht, who are already the weakest of the four provinces.
The transfers resulted largely in Ulster's need to fill the void made by Justin Fitzpatrick's surprise move to Castres, with McCormack seen as an ideal replacement.
Likewise Frost, a teammate of McCormack's at Buccaneers, is likely to fill the void created by Mark Blair. However the English-born New Zealand-bred forward was apparently not Solomons's first choice.
The Ulster coach had to look for an alternative after Damien Browne, Frost's second row colleague, turned down the move.
Connacht are expected to lose more high-profile players with flanker Johnny O'Connor set to join Wasps while utility back Gavin Duffy is reported to be on his way back to Harlequins.
Just this week coach Steph Nel voiced disappointment at the attempted disbandment of the provincial team and the recent player exodus. Although the South African is contracted with the IRFU until next season, his future as Connacht coach still remains uncertain.
As if that was not bad enough news, Munster have also targeted hooker Jerry Flannery and scrum-half Eoin Reddan; Colm Rigney and John O'Sullivan have been linked with moves to Leeds and Narbonne respectively.