Ulster crisis as injured quintet set to miss Scarlets return

Ulster’s injury list grows by the week, with five players from last Saturday’s Champions Cup squad against the Scarlets likely to be sidelined for the return Pool 3 clash at Parc y Scarlets on Sunday.

Both Ireland international Stuart Olding and Springbok Franco van der Merwe suffered concussion in the 14-9 win at the Kingspan and will follow the graduated return to play protocols. Wiehahn Herbst and Nick Williams suffered hamstring injuries which saw them limping off in the second half. They were due to undergo MRI scans last night but it is highly unlikely they will be available for the weekend.

Centre Stuart McCloskey suffered an elbow ligament injury and is awaiting specialist advice on how long he will be sidelined.

However, Ireland centre Luke Marshall is back into contention for a place in the match 23 after being out for seven weeks with a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Darren Cave, who was man-of-the-match against the Scarlets with a try-scoring performance, has signed a new three-year deal with the IRFU and Ulster which will keep him at Ravenhill at least until the end of the 2018 season.

The 27-year old made his debut for Ulster as a replacement against Border Reivers in April 2007 and has made 144 appearances, scoring 152 points.

He won his first cap for Ireland, against Canada, in 2009 and has won eight international caps so far.

Elsewhere, Connacht lock Mick Kearney has been ruled out of Saturday’s return fixture with Bayonne in the European Challenge Cup.

The 23-year-old lock, who was replaced within six minutes of last weekend’s 42-19 win over the French side, was to undergo an MRI on the injured ankle last evening to determine the extent of the damage.

It leaves Pat Lam’s squad short of second row cover for the second of the back-to-back fixtures with Andrew Browne is also unavailable due to a knee injury.

There is better news of Quinn Roux, who was cleared to resume training this week after suffering an ankle aggravation on Saturday evening.

In the backs, scrum-half Ian Porter is sidelined due to a foot sprain, and with John Cooney not eligible, academy scrum-half Caolin Blade could be called up again.

Just a point behind Pool 2 favourites Exeter, Connacht are expecting a tougher challenge from Bayonne on Saturday (7.45pm Irish time).