Big blow for Ulster as they lose Iain Henderson to long-term injury

Ulster and Ireland second-row Iain Henderson could miss Ireland's Six Nations campaign after undergoing thumb surgery on Monday.

The British & Irish Lions lock has been in great form for Ulster lately, scoring two tries in their win over Scarlets on Friday, but now looks set to spend the next 10-12 weeks on the sidelines after suffering a thumb injury. It's a big blow for Ulster with Henderson set to miss the province's final two Champions Cup Pool stage games with Racing and Leicester. He is likely to miss the start of the Six Nations too, with the games against England and Scotland both coming in early February. It is a massive blow for his province but Ireland can at least call on the likes of James Ryan, Devin Toner, Tadhg Beirne, Quinn Roux and Ultan Dillane. Henderson being injured would most likely see Toner and Ryan bringing their second row partnership from Leinster to Ireland. Despite Henderson's loss, Ulster have now won six of their last seven games and Trimble believes that the 30-15 win over the Scarlets was Ulster's most complete performance for some time.

"It was another big performance from Ulster," Trimble said on the latest episode of Baz & Andrew's House of Rugby. "Any side can produce a big bonus point win, just spontaneously throughout the season and that's what some people had suggested happened last week. Especially having been reasonably beaten by the Scarlets a few weeks before in the league but then whenever you back it up it just fills the squad with confidence."

"I think Ulster are in a really good position now," Trimble added, "because it's 10 points and consistent performances and I thought they were really good in both bonus point wins. They were a lot, lot better than Scarlets both weeks and their performance was so varied. "I thought there were big moments in defence, big moments with ball in hand, big moments in the scrum, big moments in the maul and I think Ulster were just better in every department."