Ulster to monitor Marshall carefully

Luke Marshall’s return to rugby will be managed purely in the interests of the young centre’s health, Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe has insisted in the wake of his player’s third concussion in as many matches.

Marshall, 21, was helped from the field at Twickenham on Saturday after receiving a bang on the head in the second half of the Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat to Saracens. It was the third such end to his last three starts, having suffered concussions on Ireland duty against Scotland in his Test debut on February 24 and against Italy on March 16 when he clashed heads with Ireland team-mate Paddy Jackson in Rome.

Marshall had passed all the necessary cognitive tests between each game to comply with International Rugby Board return to play protocols but this third bang in succession, suffered in a 66th minute ruck, raises concerns about long-term health issues, even if Anscombe reported the Ulsterman in good form after the final whistle.

“He has taken another knock so that’s going to put him on the sideline for a little while, unfortunately,” Anscombe said after the match.

“Luke’s a great talent, now we’ve got to make sure we do the right thing for him.

“It appears very bad. He is down in the shed now but we have a good medical team who will do the right thing by Luke. I can assure you he will be assessed correctly and whatever comes from that he will have 100% support.”

Anscombe defended thedecision to play Marshall, who was replaced by Stuart Olding at the weekend. “He was as good as a box of birds last Thursday. If he had fronted up Monday with any self doubt we would not have played him.

“Look, at the end of the day, you want to win these big games but first and foremost you look after the individual. I’ll never as a coach put a guy on the field that could risk his health, I can assure you that.

“He proved he was right to play. Stuart Olding has done a great job for us and proved that when he came on there.”

Anscombe refused to speculate on whether Marshall would play again this season, preferring to wait until the player had undergone further medical tests.