Michael Lowry: Ireland back remains out for Ulster's URC semi-final against Stormers

Michael Lowry sustained his facial injury in Ulster's game against the Sharks in Belfast on 20 May

Michael Lowry will not feature in Ulster's United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday after undergoing surgery on his facial injury.

The injury will also rule him out of the final should Ulster progress to the decider against Leinster or the Bulls.

Lowry missed Friday's quarter-final win over Munster after picking up the injury in the win over the Sharks.

An Ulster statement said that he "remains unavailable for selection".

Assistant coach Dan Soper later said that Lowry "won't play for Ulster again this season" but it's not clear whether he will be available for Ireland's five-match summer tour of New Zealand.

The diminutive Lowry is an obvious candidate for Ireland's trip after producing a hugely impressive senior international debut in the Six Nations win over Italy.

Lowry's injury saw Stewart Moore start at full-back in the dominant 36-17 win over their fellow Irish province.

Ulster will travel to South Africa on Tuesday after training on Monday morning.

Assistant coach Dan Soper said a "strong message" in Monday's session had been the necessity of backing up Friday's impressive display with another strong performance in Cape Town, which hasn't always been the case for Ulster so far during this campaign.

"Billy [Burns made a really good point…..yes it's a good performance but it doesn't mean that you can sit back and fall in love with yourself and think you've accomplished that and you're finished," said Soper.

"It was good to hear the senior players driving that message that we want to go again."

The Ulster assistant coach played down any suggestion that the side's controversial defeat by the Stormers in March would give the visiting players more resolve this weekend.

On that occasion, Callum Reid had a late match-winning try ruled for a knock on in what the head of the United Rugby Championship's officiating later admitted was probably an incorrect decision.

"Everyone knows the last couple of minutes of that game but it is what it is. That's certainly not anything that's going to motivate us.

"That was one incident. Yes it might have got us the result but there were a lot of things in that game if we'd got right, we could have won that game without having to worry about that TMO call."