Kane Douglas could be in the blue of Leinster next season © Getty Images

Enlarge

Leinster are hopeful of completing the signing of Kane Douglas within the next two weeks.

Douglas, who has 14 caps for the Wallabies, has reportedly told the Australian Rugby Union he is not interested in renewing his contract with the Waratahs and is pursuing overseas offers.

Leinster are the widely reported front-runners for Douglas' services and their boss Matt O'Connor confirmed their interest in the second-row, a man who is likely to step into the sizeable shoes left by the retiring Leo Cullen.

"[Douglas] is a guy we have identified," O'Connor told the Irish Times. "The deal hasn't been done. If that gets across the line it would be positive for us. He fits the profile of what we were looking at and we'll have an announcement in the next couple of weeks hopefully."

The signing of Douglas may have an impact on Leinster's possible recruitment of a new outside centre to replace Brian O'Driscoll. They were heavily linked with Connacht's Robbie Henshaw but following their announcement of Mils Muliaina's capture on Monday and the frequent mentions of Henshaw in the press release, they appear to be adamant they are keeping him at the province.

When asked about potential replacements for O'Driscoll, his centre partner Gordon D'Arcy admitted the funds may have been used elsewhere.

"There seems to be talk of a second-row coming and how that's going to affect who we can sign for next year," said D'Arcy. "It may have to come from within our ranks. We may have to use players a bit more across the board. Lukey can play a bit at 13. I can. We've got Brendan Macken here. It might need more of a squad effort to fill that position until somebody kind of slips in there and makes a real play for it."