Ulster await news on extent of ankle injury to captain Rory Best

The talismanic captain suffered the left ankle injury during the first quarter of Ulster’s 21-18 loss to Leinster in the quarter-final of the European Champions Cup.

Although Best was able to limp off and was later seen in a boot, head coach Dan McFarland said immediately after the match that was precautionary and was the normal course of action for an injury of that type.

At yesterday’s weekly pre-match media briefing ahead of the Guinness PRO14 game in Glasgow on Friday, skills coach Dan Soper agreed with the suggestion that Best would probably not be available for the trip to Scotland.

“He (Rory) is in this morning with the medica. They will have a good look at him and we will know later how he is,” said Soper.

“Hopefully it is not too bad. He played on for seven or eight minutes after, and he was keen to keep going, but he felt he was going to let the team down.”

With Best having already said he will probably end his international career at the end of the World Cup and still pondering his Ulster future, Saturday could well have been the last European Champions Cup match for the British Lion hooker.

With three huge PRO14 games to come in the battle for the play-offs, Ulster will certainly hope Best’s injury is not season ending - and Ireland will be keeping a close eye on the situation ahead of the World Cup.