Ulster could be set for a very inexperienced centre pairing in their United Rugby Championship clash with the Vodacom Bulls at the weekend after Ireland star Stuart McCloskey was ruled out of Saturday’s clash.
The Bangor man sustained both a right knee and right ankle injury in Ulster’s defeat to the Emirates Lions last weekend and will be unavailable for the second game of their South African mini-tour at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.
The province have not confirmed exactly how long McCloskey will be out for, with his status for their round four game against Connacht at Ravenhill in a week’s time still to be determined.
However, in the short term, it leaves head coach Richie Murphy with a significant headache in the centre as he will either have to get creative in the position or rely on one of two inexperienced options in Ben Carson or Ben Moxham to partner Stewart Moore.
While Moxham is the more experienced of the two having at least started in the centre before, he hasn’t been named to start in the midfield since January 2022 and has been predominantly preferred on the wing instead.
Carson, on the other hand, is a bona fide centre and has worked with Murphy extensively in the Ireland Under-20s system, however he has only made one appearance before – a cameo off the bench against Connacht in round three last season – and, should he step in, would be making his first Ulster start in Pretoria.
The alternative is for Murphy to turn to a more experienced face but one that is not as adept in the centre such as Werner Kok or Jacob Stockdale, both of whom are also predominantly wingers but have limited experience in the centre, too.
Regardless of who is selected, it is a less than ideal situation for Murphy who came into the season without star centre James Hume, who is rehabbing an ACL injury sustained in April and is not expected back until the new year, and has since lost Jude Postlethwaite to the Emerging Ireland tour.
The former RBAI Schools’ Cup winner has been named on the bench for Ireland’s opening fixture of their three-game tour of South Africa against the Pumas on Wednesday and Ulster could request his release, though it is unclear how likely it would be that the IRFU would agree to it.