European Champions Cup: Henderson and Cooney likely to miss Ulster's Sale game
- Published
Iain Henderson and John Cooney were both forced off in their third quarter of Ulster's defeat by Leinster on Saturday
Ulster are set to be without Iain Henderson and John Cooney in their European Champions Cup opener at Sale on Sunday.
The Ireland pair and hooker Tom Stewart had to come off during Ulster's defeat by Leinster on Saturday under World Rugby's Head Injury Assessment process.
Ulster defence coach Jonny Bell said Henderson and Cooney are "big doubts".
"We've got to go through the whole protocols but I'd say they are probably highly unlikely [to play]," said Bell.
Cooney was injured in a collision with James Lowe with Henderson coming off after 56 minutes.
Stewart was replaced by Rob Herring after only 20 minutes with Nathan Doak and Duane Vermeulen taking over from Cooney and Henderson in the third quarter.
Hooker Stewart needed treatment for a blood injury following the head clash which resulted in Leinster's Cian Healy receiving a red card but his prospects of featuring against Sale appear better.
Bell admitted that the Ulster management and players were "hugely disappointed" by the 38-29 defeat against their 14-man Irish provincial rivals after leading 22-3, adding that Ronan Kelleher's try just before half-time which cut the margin to 12 points at the break was a crucial score.
"That try just before half-time gave them a little bit of hope so we're disappointed that moment happened."
The Ulster defence coach attributed the team's subsequent collapse to an "inability to get good field position", allied to the mistake of trying to "close the game out rather than trying to to win it".
"But we've had a good review today and the beauty about this game is that you've got a European Cup game this weekend so there's no licking your wounds for too long.
"There were a lot of really good things that went right against Leinster. It just doesn't feel like that when you are looking back on the scoreline.
"We've got to take those into this game because Sale are a different animal but a big, physical, aggressive side and playing very well in the Premiership at the moment."