Ulster extended their lead at the top of the RaboDirect PRO12 with a 47-17 walloping of Scarlets in Belfast on Friday night – but head coach, Mark Anscombe was left sweating over the extent of his injury list ahead of two massive Heineken Cup pool matches.
Having just returned from a four week lay-off from injury, lock Dan Tuohy limped off with what looked his a recurrence of a calf problem. Luke Marshall was replaced at half time with a finger injury.
With fullback Jared Payne being withdrawn earlier in the week due to a troublesome groin, Anscombe said he was “really worried” about his injury situation.
Anscombe said: “It is not looking good for Dan.
“That has got to be a concern, it is early to tell but it is not looking good at this stage.
“Luke is a real concern with his finger. He backed up last week’s game with another superb 40 minutes tonight.
“Jared is a really big concern, he is really important, but hopefully the few days off allows him sufficient time to be up for next week.
“We hopefully will have Rory Best back and hopefully nothing else will come out of the woodwork.”
Anscombe admitted he was relieved to come away with a bonus point on Friday night.
“We were a bit flat in that first half and were not looking after the ball and our break down work was pretty average. It was concerning to be honest.
“In fairness to the boys, they got it going early in second half and we pretty well controlled it. It was disappointing to concede that try at the end.”
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