JOHN COONEY AND Kieran Treadwell have been ruled out of the northern province’s visit to the RDS to face Leinster on Friday night (eir Sport, 8:15pm).
Scrum-half Cooney sustained a neck injury in Ulster’s Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Leicester Tigers and remains an absentee, while lock Treadwell suffered an ankle injury in training and has joined Dan McFarland’s injury list ahead of the Rainbow Cup fixture in Dublin.
Ulster have also confirmed that back row Marcus Rea suffered a concussion in the defeat at Munster last Friday night and will follow return-to-play protocols.
Meanwhile, Jimmy O’Brien and Caelan Doris should be in contention for Leinster this weekend. As of Monday, Jamison Gibson-Park’s hamstring injury is still being managed and the scrum-half will be further assessed during the week ahead of selection.
Lion-to-be Jack Conan, who went off for a HIA in Leinster’s victory over Connacht on Saturday, will follow graduated return-to-play protocols this week while Ciarán Frawley, who injured both his shoulder and his hamstring in the same game, is definitively ruled out for Friday night. Leinster said on Monday that further assessment of Frawley’s injuries is still required.
