Dan McFarland faces a nervous wait over the extent of Michael Lowry’s head injury sustained in Friday night’s crucial United Rugby Championship win over the Sharks in Belfast.
Lowry scored the opening try in a pulsating 24-21 victory that secured Ulster a home tie in the quarter-finals which will be played on the weekend of June 4.
But the 23-year-old’s evening ended in the 32nd minute when he required medical treatment following a crunching tackle on Sharks full-back Aphelele Fassi.
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TV footage showed blood flowing from Lowry’s face and a heavy swelling developing around his cheek below the right eye socket as he walked off the pitch.
Asked for a prognosis on the injury after the game, head coach McFarland said: “We don’t know yet. It was a permanent removal so he was never coming back on.
“We’ll have to wait and find out at the beginning of the week when the doctors have assessed him.”
Lowry has been one of the bright sparks of Ulster’s attack this season and it would be a major blow to lose the fleet footed full-back for the knockout stages of the URC.
On the plus side, McFarland is confident James Hume will be fit for the play-offs despite undergoing a first-half HIA and being replaced by Stewart Moore late on.
The 23-year-old centre, who was in the thick of the physical battle, returned from his HIA at the start of the second half and raced clear to score Ulster’s third try.
“Why did he come off in the end? It was getting pretty tense at that point,” said McFarland. “I can’t remember why he came off but I don’t think there’s anything significant.”
Ulster required a win over their South African opponents to secure a home quarter-final and they did it in a breathtaking encounter at the Kingspan Stadium.
Lowry scampered over to help McFarland’s men ease themselves into a 10-0 half-time lead, before second-half tries from Stuart McCloskey and Hume gave them a 24-7 advantage.
The Sharks, who had pulled it back to 17-7 with a Ntuthuko Mchunu try, scored two tries in three minutes at the death through Marius Louw and the lightning quick Grant Williams.
That late flurry teed up a grandstand finish but Ulster held on to climb to second in the URC table and seal a home quarter-final in the process.
The identity of their last-eight opponents will be known following Saturday’s games which include an Interpro between Leinster and Munster at the Aviva and Scarlets against the Stormers.
If Munster and the Stormers fail to win, Ulster would be guaranteed a runners-up finish in the table and a home semi-final if they reach that stage of the competition.
McFarland said: “We’ve got a week without a game and whoever we’re going to be playing our breakdown work and attack work is going to be pretty important.
“It could be a South African side, it could be a Scottish side, the same thing will apply to any of them. I’m just looking forward to playing a home quarter-final.”
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