Ankle woes end Ferris’s Lions hopes

Stephen Ferris’s Lions aspirations appear to be over after he was ruled out for another three months following a second operation on his injured ankle.

The Ulster and Ireland flanker suffered the injury on provincial duty in November, but had been expected to be back in action at some point during the RBS 6 Nations. However, the 27-year-old has had to undergo another procedure to clean out bone fragments and will be absent until late May or early June, just as the British & Irish Lions embark on their tour of Australia.

An Ulster statement read: “Ulster back-row forward, Stephen Ferris, was reviewed last week as part of his ongoing rehabilitation from an ankle injury that he sustained in November.