Tuohy injury adds to Ulster’s second row woes

Ulster have hit a second-row crisis after it emerged that Ireland lock Dan Tuohy suffered a pulled calf muscle and will be out until the new year.

Tuohy was forced off at the end of Ulster’s defeat by Northampton last Saturday and, following a scan yesterday, has been ruled out for at least four weeks.

With skipper Johann Muller already sidelined for eight weeks with a fractured arm and Lewis Stevenson still not back in full training following a knee injury, coach Mark Anscombe will be looking to back-row duo Iain Henderson and Robbie Diack to fill the void alongside Ravens skipper Neil McCombe.

It was a bad weekend for Ulster on all fronts in that they lost their unbeaten record this season and are also the likely to be without Tommy Bowe for the rest of the season, after the Ireland winger picked up serious damage to his right knee.

Ascombe is expected to roll out his best available side to face Leinster in the Pro12 on Friday night at Ravenhill, although there are doubts over the availability of fly-half Paddy Jackson who has a thigh injury.