Best case scenario: Iain Henderson will be back in early March.
Worst case scenario: Iain Henderson’s season is over.
Ulster lost four senior players to injury during their Guinness PRO12 victory over Edinburgh at Kingspan Stadium.
Darren Cave is the only player with a chance of featuring again this year. Peter Nelson’s season is over and Dan Tuohy is out for at least six weeks – no surgery is required on his damaged ankle.
Henderson will not be back for four to six months, according to Ulster’s assistant coach Joe Barakat. It means the 23-year-old will miss the 2016 Six Nations.
Barakat told SportsJOE no-one saw the forward’s injury coming. He said, “We charged down a kick into the right corner. He and Dan were chasing the kick.
“Iain went to make a tackle on the person that retrieved the ball and he just fell in a screaming heap.”
As for the comeback plan, Barakat says Ulster will soon have one in place.
“We’re still to get the results back from the surgeon about the [exact] severity of the injury but we know it is a severe hamstring injury,” he said. “That could mean a severe tear or a tear off the bone.
“We’re planning on four to six months. Whether that is our plan or what you expect from these sort of hamstring injuries – you can’t bring guys back too early. That is often what brings players down – they try to come back too early.
“Normally you see a guy, after a hamstring tear, you see a guy off the crutches two or three days later. Iain is still on crutches. To me, that indicates some level of severity.
“You’ve got to move on, don’t you? We really feel for Hendo – he is an important part of our club – but he’s got to take his time coming back.”
Rob Herring, Joe Barakat and Craig Gilroy. Ulster take on Toulouse @KingspanStadium this Friday.
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