Ulster Rugby: Injuries and World Cup absentees hit Irish province before Zebre URC opener

Luke Marshall is ruled out after sustaining a concussion

Ulster will be minus several injured players in addition to being without their World Cup contingent in Saturday's URC opener against Zebre.

Ireland squad members Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Stuart McCloskey and Tom O'Toole are unavailable along with South Africa's Steven Kitshoff.

The squad is further depleted by injuries to senior players John Cooney, Alan O'Connor and Luke Marshall.

Eric O'Sullivan, Sean Reffell and Greg Jones are also among the injured men.

Marty Moore remains unavailable for the Parma contest as he continues his rehabilitation from the serious knee injury he sustained against Munster on New Year's Day last while James McCormick will also not be considered for selection because of a shoulder injury.

Luckless Ireland centre Marshall is out of contention as he undertakes graduated return to play protocols after sustaining another concussion.

Lock O'Connor and flanker Reffell both have ankle issues with O'Sullivan and Jones troubled by shoulder problems and scrum-half Cooney ruled out by a calf injury.

Henderson started Ireland's last two World Cup games and had one of his hands noticeably taped during Saturday's heartbreaking quarter-final defeat by New Zealand.

Asked about suggestions Henderson's hand might now require some kind of procedure, Ulster's defence coach Jonny Bell replied: "I can see his hand taped up pretty well but I haven't had any confirmation [of that]. It's probably above my pay grade to be honest with you."

Henderson and Ulster's other Ireland World Cup players will not be available to the province for another three-and-a-half weeks under the IRFU's player management programme while Bell said Kitshoff's availability after the conclusion of South Africa's tournament would be a "discussion between Dan [McFarland] and Steven".

Ulster will be facing a Zebre side that lost all 18 of their URC fixtures season but with the Irish province set to be under-strength for the opener, the Italian may fancy their chances of causing an upset.

Zebre had five players in Italy's World Cup squad - Danilo Fischetti, David Sisi, Alessandro Fusco, Pierre Bruno and Lorenzo Pani - and it's not clear if any of them will be available for Saturday's game in Parma.

Defence coach Bell warned that Zebre will not prove the pushover that some expect.

"They ran Leinster pretty close over the last year and gave the Bulls a bit of a scare so it's it's definitely going to be a really competitive game."