Coetzee set for speedy Ulster return

ULSTER have been boosted by the news that Marcell Coetzee is likely to only miss a week of action with his latest injury.

The Springbok flanker (below) has played just nine times in three seasons since arriving in Belfast from his native South Africa but the shoulder issue he picked up against Cheetahs is believed to be relatively minor.

With John Cooney and Iain Henderson both set to feature against Munster in Thomond Park this Saturday (7.35pm kickoff ), Ulster are hoping to deploy all their international stars in tandem for a first time this season when Connacht come to Kingspan on Friday week.

Irish front-liners Rory Best and Jacob Stockdale have both re-joined full training having yet to feature this campaign, while summer signings Jordi Murphy and Marty Moore are also believed to be nearing their own returns from injury.

Having gone unbeaten over their first four PRO14 games, assistant coach Dwayne Peel wants the side’s in-form youngsters to keep pushing on even with the side’s more illustrious names soon to be back in harness.

The likes of Angus Kernohan, Angus Curtis and Tom O’Toole have all featured heavily in the early weeks.

“They’ve gotten their chance and they’ve taken it,” said Peel.

WINGER Kernohan, who bagged both his first senior start and try on the recent trip to South Africa despite having only been handed his first senior deal after the season began, was singled out for special praise.

“With the (experienced) guys who left, it meant we had to look at the younger guys in the squad,” Peel continued.

“Angus Kernohan has been excellent I think. He’s been really good, really attentive and he works really hard. That’s all you can ask for and it goes for all of the younger boys.

“The challenge for us at the start was saying to them that we were looking at them to really push the senior group and they’ve done that.”

Will there now be a challenge to balance rewarding that form while also filtering the more established names back into the starting line-up?

“That’s the nature of it,” Peel said. “Form dictates a lot. What we want is guys putting pressure on those above. That’s what we want, competition for places. It’s a good problem to have.”

While Ulster have rode their luck on a number of occasions this season, three wins and a draw has them trailing only Leinster in the PRO14’s Conference B with just two rounds of action remaining before the first European fixtures.

“We’re not far from happy,” Peel reflected. “We’re content with where we are but we need to get better. We’ve lost a bit of ball in contact, especially against Kings. There’s areas we’re constantly trying to improve.

“We’re happy with the unbeaten start but there’s loads of improvement to be at the level that we want to be at.”