Injury Woe For Trimble And Marshall

Ulster duo Andrew Trimble and Luke Marshall will be unavailable for Ireland’s GUINNESS Series matches next month, it has been confirmed.

Andrew Trimble is expeced to be out of rugby for ‘a period of months’ after suffering significant ligament damage to his big toe during Ulster’s recent GUINNESS PRO12 win over Glasgow Warriors.

A statement from Ulster Rugby revealed: “Ulster Rugby, in conjunction with the national medical staff, will seek second opinion on the management of the injury, however it’s is expected that he will be out of rugby for a period of months. A further update on his injury will be released later in the week.”

That means the influential winger will miss some crucial upcoming games for the Ulstermen in both the PRO12 and European Champions Cup.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt will also have to plan without the reigning IRUPA Players’ Player of the Year for the November Tests against South Africa, Georgia and Australia.

Trimble, who turned 30 yesterday, was a key member of the Six Nations title-winning side last season, starting all five Championship fixtures as well as the two summer Tests against Argentina.

He crossed for tries against Scotland, Italy, France and the Pumas during that run of games, and had started the 2014/15 campaign in fine form with four tries in six PRO12 outings.

Meanwhile, fellow back Luke Marshall has been added to Ulster and Ireland’s injury list due to a knee injury he suffered while playing for Ulster Ravens over the weekend.

Ulster Rugby confirmed: “Luke sustained a medial ligament injury to his left knee playing for the Ravens against Yorkshire Carnegie (in the British & Irish Cup) on Saturday. He is expected to be out of rugby for six weeks.”

The 23-year-old centre took his Ireland caps haul to six with starts against Scotland and Argentina last season. He featured for Ulster against the Scarlets and Zebre in the opening rounds of the PRO12.