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Baloucoune runs in a try last year. Dan Sheridan/INPHO

McFarland laments loss of Baloucoune to horrible hamstring injury

The young wing must undergo surgery after the worst outcome to a training ground jackal.

ULSTER WILL HAVE to go without wing Robert Baloucoune for a large part of the forthcoming extended season after the Enniskillen man tore his hamstring off the bone in training.

Baloucoune will turn 23 tomorrow, but celebrations will be muted as he requires surgery on the issue. Head coach Dan McFarland today revealed that the injury occurred in a ruck, when players attempting a poach so often have to leave themselves prone.

“Robert’s (injury) is really upsetting,” McFarland said in a video conference call today.

“It’s a hamstring avulsion that occurred in a jackal position. It’s one of those injuries in a mechanism that you can’t do anything about.

“Caught in that position, that ends up happening, for him that’s really upsetting and for us because he’s been really good in pre-season.

“He’s got something special that a lot people would love to have and that’s his speed. But as a player, he’s a really good learner. Defensively he’s excellent and he’s a smart defender.

“He can be very physical and he was progressing well. But these things happen, he’s a mentally tough guy and he’ll work through that.”

While ‘months’ was the only timeline placed on Baloucoune’s return, the other man on Ulster’s injury update has a more straightforward rehab ahead. Sean Reidy will likely miss the Pro14 matches ahead, but the northern province’s medical team hope he will be back in four weeks to compete for a place in the Champions Cup quarter-final against Toulouse.

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