ULSTER WING CRAIG Gilroy’s hopes of Six Nations involvement were given a hammer blow by a cheekbone injury during the first-half of Saturday’s Champions Cup win over La Rochelle.
Ulster have since confirmed that Gilroy, who scored a hat-trick as a replacement against Italy in last year’s Championship, underwent surgery this week to have a plate inserted.
The 26-year-old is expected to be sidelined for at least a month. In theory, such a timeline could see him back in contention for the final Six Nations fixtures, but the intense competition for back three spaces – not least from provincial team-mate Jacob Stockdale – leaves Gilroy with a lot of ground to make up.
In more positive news for the northern province, Wiehahn Herbst has recovered from the calf knock which kept him out of the La Rochelle victory. The tighthead came through today’s training session and is expected to be fit to face Wasps at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday.
Luke Marshall is also close to a return to action, though he is most likely to take the field for Ulster ‘A’ in Saturday’s trip to face Scarlets Premiership XV.
Tommy Bowe, who announced this week that he will retire at the end of the season, is expected to be out for up to four weeks after picking up a sternoclavicular (chest) injury in the loss to Leinster.
