ULSTER FACE AN anxious wait to see if Stephen Ferris will be fit in time for Sunday’s all-Ireland clash against Munster in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

Ferris played just 33 minutes of Friday night’s RaboDirect Pro12 win against Aironi before he limped off with an ankle injury, and remains a doubt for the trip to Thomond Park after a scan revealed significant ligament and muscle damage.

Although the Easter Sunday kick-off gives Ferris an extra 24 hours to recover, Ulster are clearly concerned that they will be without one of their major ball-carrying threats. This morning, coach Brian McLaughlin admitted that the flanker’s injury is worse than he initially thought.

“We’ll know more on Stephen as the week progresses, but he’s going to be a bit of a doubt,” McLaughlin said (IRFU).

We’ve got an extra couple of days as it is a Sunday game, which could stand us in good stead.

He just rolled an ankle, it’s swollen and it’s probably worse than I thought. He is having a scan today just to see how it’s healing up. We’ll keep our fingers crossed, but we’re worried.

Ferris himself sounded much more optimistic on his prospects this evening, tweeting that “There is life in the old dog yet.”

‘Incidents on airplanes’ won’t distract Cardiff – O’Driscoll

Gavin Henson sacked by Cardiff Blues after drunken incident on flight