Another season blighted by injury.
Ulster Rugby are set to confirm, this week, that Stuart Olding will not play for the remainder of the season after he sustained another bad knee injury.
The 22-year-old centre is thought to have ruptured a cruciate knee ligament in last weekend’s Guinness PRO12 game against Cardiff Blues.
Olding had returned from two months on the sideline, after injuring his elbow in a Champions Cup defeat to Toulon. He took the ball into contact after only 25 seconds of Ulster’s win and, having beaten one Cardiff player, was bundled into touch. It became immediately apparent that something serious had occurred.
Olding made his Ireland debut in the summer of 2013 after an impressive breakthrough season with Ulster. A knee ligament injury all but destroyed his 2013/14 season – he started one game and made three substitute appearances.
This season had seen him feature in 17 games, scoring two tries and knocking over a conversion against Edinburgh. He suffered two concussions, however, against Toulon, at Ravenhill, and Munster, at Thomond Park.
Official word should come through from Ulster this afternoon, but a knee reconstruction has been signalled for Olding, which would mean eight-to-nine months out. That would wipe out any dreams he may have help of making Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad.
Hat-tip: UAFC (clip)
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